Are You a Master Baker or Disaster Baker? Contest and Giveaway RECIPE #4

Are You a Master Baker or Disaster Baker? Contest and Giveaway

Recipe #4 Manuela's White Macarons with Milk Chocolate Fudge

I've never made a macaron in my life and the thought of having to bake one for this challenge made my heart pound. I've been dreading this week ever since I learned macarons were on Manuela's hand-picked list of recipes for the challenge.  Making something so delicate and beautiful is very intimidating for my skill level, but despite my mixed emotions towards the macaron; I knew I had to overcome my anxiety and push myself for the sake of the challenge. I just kept telling myself, "relax, take it easy, you got this. Now just do it and bake like a master!" I feel a headache coming on! 

If you’re here for the first time and would like to join the challenge or check out what we’ve been up to, click the links to view Recipe #1 Mocca Meringues Ice Cream Cake, Recipe #2 Norwegian Cream Cake  and Recipe #3 Manuela's Best Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe . 

The requirements for this weeks challenge are the same as the previous three weeks and are written below: 

Bake the next recipe in the challenge series then take a photo of your “Master or Disaster” piece. The Woobox Submission Form is listed at the end of this post, and it's also where you will share a photo of your creation. The link will be available on all my social media sites for easy access to post your photos for the entire duration of the contest. 

*NOTE* 

In order to be eligible to win the $700.00 Ankarsrum Original Mixer you must enter a photo for ALL 6 recipes in the challenge. To win the Baking Book: Love Manuela,  you are required to enter 3 recipe photos.

FOR THE OFFICIAL RULES CLICK HERE

RECIPE #4

Manuela's White Macarons with Milk Chocolate Fudge

White Macarons with Chocolate Fudge: Recipe by Manuela Kjeilen. (All photos courtesy of passionforbaking.com‘s Lise Sternersen, and the dishes featured in the photos were created by Manuela Kjelien unless otherwise noted) 

This stunning creation is the work of Norwegian born award-winning blogger and “Master Home Baker” –  Manuela Kjeilen.

( You can read more about Manuela and the Contests Official Rules HERE )

Attached to each of the six recipes sent to me by Manuela were notes written by her as they related to each one of the recipes. Below is what Manuela said about Recipe #4:

I would love it if they (that's you) try my recipe for macarons, I know a lot of people have problems with macarons, but this recipe I never have gotten a complaint about! These macarons go straight in the oven, no need to rest before baking as many recipes ask for.

Manuela's  inspiration for her macaron recipe is also accredited to the recent Royal Wedding of Megan Markle and Prince Harry. 

Manuela said, I wanted to make elegant macarons with a romantic touch, that would be perfect for a wedding! I have always loved the simple look when it comes to cakes, cupcakes, and cookies and always focus on taste first and by just adding a little chocolate hearth on top of the macarons, gave it a beautiful look.

Manuela's macarons are beautifully "royal," and the perfect bite for any wedding. 

In all honesty, I'm terrified to make Manuela's beautiful recipe but I have high hopes it will go well based on my success with her other recipes in the baking challenge.  This recipe is straight forward and sounds easy enough to make. I especially like that it does not require any resting time for the batter.

So now that you’ve seen the STUNNING photo of Manuela’s White Macarons with Chocolate Fudge, here's a photo of my rendition. 

This recipe had me sweating bullets and actually gave me a pounding headache. I was so focused on creating the perfect macaron that I didn't drink or eat anything except macaroons all day as my anticipation had gotten the better of me.

My batter tasted delicious but the almonds were not fine enough to achieve Manuela's perfectly smooth-white cookie. I over baked them AGAIN, leaving the bottoms browned and too crunchy for a perfect macaron. The filling is simple to make but I had issues during the frosting step as I managed to get chocolate finger prints all over my cookies. Thankfully, I had enough nice ones to take photos. 

Despite the errors, my family loved these sweet morsels. The cookie was chewy and flavorful, and the chocolate frosting more like caramel than chocolate. They definitely  went down easy!

I will make macarons again and go into the next bake with less panic and more knowledge. Like Manuela always says, "Practice, practice, practice!"  

Recipe by Manuela Kjeilen, Food and Photo by At Home with Rebecka

What I Love About This Challenge

This week’s challenge was crazy-hard for me and my kitchen looked like bomb went off in there. I'm proud to have lived through my first attempt at making macarons and happy to add two more of Manuela’s recipes to my baking repertoire (Manuela’s White Macarons and Chocolate Fudge Frosting). The list keeps getting longer and my skills are growing with every delicious recipe.

Manuela’s White Chocolate Macarons with Chocolate Fudge

You will need the following items in order to “successfully” bake this recipe: 

1. Macaron templates (find free downloadable templates HERE and HERE)
2. 2 large baking sheets lined with parchment paper
3. 1 -10 mm piping tip
4. 1 Medium disposable piping bag
5. The recipe conversions from European Measurements are Manuela’s US converted recipes or were calculated with the iPhone APP “Kitchen Pro”
6. Chocolate candy hearts (optional)

I’ve added a few more notes in the recipe; however if you need step-by-step instructions after reading Manuela’s recipe, then please check out her helpful how to videos. (Manuela’s beautiful photos of her creations are located HERE)

Now it’s your turn to bake your “Master or Disaster” piece! Remember you must post a photo of your completed dish to the WooBox link (listed below) by August 15, 2018 Midnight CST

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