Valentine's Day Macarons

I. Love. Macarons. There, I said it. I actually think I may be a bit obsessed with macarons but that's ok right? They are divine and I can eat an entire patch, but I won't. I will savor each one slowly over time.

I was fortunate enough to spend the morning with fellow military spouse Stacy Martin, owner of Bonkers For Baking. She made a patch of heart macarons from scratch and learned just how difficult it is to make them.

The macaron cookie was born in Italy. French queen Catherine de' Medici's Italian pastry chefs made them when she brought them with her to France in 1533.

Macarons, as we know them today were created by a Parisian baker (Claude Gerbet and Pierre Desfontaines both claim credit) had the idea of sandwiching the cookie by putting jam or ganache between the two individual macarons. HEAVENLY!

I learned you must be very precise when measuring your ingredients. We had a scale and measure every gram. It got me thinking. How did they make these in 1533? Food for thought. There is even a Macaronage process. Macaronage is the technique where you continue folding the mixture past full incorporation until you've achieved the perfect consistency. "Hot lava" is one phrase I often see used to describe that consistency, but I just like "ribbon." The batter shouldn't plop, it should flow according to food52.com
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Here are a few reasons why we love macarons.
The texture in the first bite is unexpected.
The shell is delicately crisp and the interior is so soft and chewy.
They are just plain cute. 
They are the perfect “bite sized” treat
Fun Fact: Macarons are GLUTEN FREE!

If you are ready to tackle making macarons here is the heart template that Stacy uses for her heart shaped macarons and a link to the stencil for the conversation sayings.

Joyeuse Saint Valentin!