Macarons! Ooh la la!

I have a little girl who is my teacher aide, and she is my former student from last year.  Her little brother is friends with my son, too.  She's just the sweetest girl, and not only is she a proud nerd, she's a little foodie at heart.

Last year she gave me homemade macarons for the holidays. I had one, and Aidan at the rest.  They were bomb!

So this year, I asked her for her recipe, and thought I'd get a card or a one page internet print.  No...

I got 3 hand-written pages, highlighted in pink with great care where I was warned to "fold...don't overmix or undermix" in the "macronage stage".  A recommendation for a Silpat over parchment paper was given.  Steps ended with "Voila!" and "now for the ganache".  OMG!  Love, love, love her.

Today was the day for the test.  I followed her suggestion to make my own almond flour, as it is REALLY expensive in the stores.  This is where we began:

Following her detailed instructions, they dried for 1 hour on the counter before baking at 280 for 10 minutes on one side, turn the pan, and baking for 10 more minutes.  Cool completely and then add the ganache. 

I opted for chocolate buttercream today because I had all the ingredients at home; but my master chef suggests ganache made from heavy cream, honey, and Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate shavings. My heart beams with pride!

And now, after the long process:

Yummy!