Macaron Making 101 – Le Dolci Workshop

Before we even get started here, I’m going to warn you about the obnoxious amount of pictures that are in this post. I coudn’t help it. And the reason for the overload is that they all string together to tell a story. So? Let’s tell it.

Over my years as a home cook and baker I have never been able to master two things:

1. An avocado rose

2. The elusive Macaron

I’m just going to forget about that rose…..BECAUSE the macaron is where it’s AT.

Notice that I’m referring to this cookie as just a Macaron and not a French Macaron? That’s because there’s a difference between a French Macaron and an Italian Macaron. I learned to tell the two apart this past weekend at a Macaron Making Workshop at Le Dolci Bake Shop in downtown Toronto where we were invited to attend their 2 hour class.

We couldn’t have been more excited. My Director of Sponsorships (Daniella Visconti) was even more pumped to try her hand at this delicate task because she is set on making a “macaron tower” for her upcoming bridal shower. A tower? I’m was just aiming for a few cookies that didn’t fall apart or look like BOOBS.

When we arrived at Le Dolci (and found a stellar parking spot) we were greeted by two lovely ladies – Lindsey (the instructor and pastry chef extraordinaire) and Stephanie (who is the “I do everything” gal).

We donned our aprons, which in my opinion were super cute. Thank you for hooking us up with these Kitchen Stuff Plus! Then we washed our hands in preparation for us getting all “Mac’d up” and settled into our seats. Other “macaron” students filed in one by one until the table was full.

You can definitely tell that my partner is a school teacher. She sat with her pen poised, taking oodles of notes and actually paid attention to the instructor. Unlike me who used to talk in class when I was little, got in loads of trouble for yapping AND still haven’t changed since Grade 3.

And then…..

It began.

The instructor/chef – Lindsey started the tutorial by explaining the difference between French and Italian Macaron recipes. What I absorbed out of that was …..we were not going to Paris but instead to Rome for these Macs. If you want to know the difference I found this blog that explains it perfectly – CLICK HERE

Here were the next steps in condensed form along with a pictorial:

THE WHIPPING

THE RAIN (of sugar)

THE BLOWING

THE COLORING

I THINK THERE WAS WHIPPING AGAIN ( I can’t remember because I was too busy snap chatting, shooting, eating my sample macaron and most likely TALKING)

THE FOLDING

THE PIPING

THE SLAPPING (too violent to photograph so I’m going to jump to the next pic)

THE BAKING (again no photo because this is what we did while they were in the oven – SMILING AND PRAYING)

THE COOLING

THE LICKING – (ya, you heard me….this was the best part)

THE FROSTING

THE GILDING (with gold by the way…..uh ya….like real gold)

And finally….

THE PACKING

When all was said and done, we each had a load of macs to take home with us AND the recipe for these delicate little beauties.

The one thing I do remember the instructor saying was “you will try this recipe at least 3 times before you get the hang of it”.

3 TIMES???!!!!

Oh and the weather needs to be good AND you can’t make macaron if you’re stressed. I’m convinced the perfect place for making these would be in Arizona at a Spa.

But seriously? If you want to spend a wonderful, fun afternoon by yourself or with friends, head down to Le Dolci for this class or others that they offer (I want to do donuts next) or to purchase one of their beautiful custom baked products.

Thank you so much for having us Le Dolci ! We loved the lesson and hope to try it at home soon.

Want to watch the whole shebang on You Tube? Grab your macarons by the feet and let’s go!