Daring Bakers: Macarons

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

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One of my best memories is eating a traditional French macaron at Harrods in London 12 years ago.  A delicate, light, crunchy exterior with a sweet luscious filling.  They were about the size of your palm, and I think we went back to Harrods a few times just to buy more.  I haven’t had a real macaron that delicious since.  This challenge made me crave those macarons and want to recreate them.  Was I successful in this endeavor?  No way.  But, it was still a fun challenge.

I made two kinds of macarons.  One plain almond with a white chocolate eggnog ganache filling.  The second was a chocolate macaron with chocolate ganache.

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Crock Pot Applesauce

Our front yard is covered in leaves.  Trees in our neighborhood are boasting leaves in all shades of red, yellow and orange.  The grocery store is selling several different kinds of pumpkins and gourds, and my previously neglected scarf and gloves are being used daily.  It is fall.

A bushel of apples picked at an orchard in New Mexico arrived at Ben’s office last week, courtesy of a client.  Ben came home with about a dozen of the cute, little, red apples.  I’m not sure what kind they are.  Originally Ben thought we could make a pie, but I wasn’t sure how the apples would bake.  Quite frankly, I did not want to put in the effort necessary to bake a pie just to have it be less than delicious thanks to shoddy apples.  So, applesauce it is.

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This recipe comes from Cookin’ Canuk.  I hadn’t ever read this blog before yesterday, so naturally I spent some time perusing the recipes and enjoying the step-by-step photos accompanying each tasty blog post.  Some other recipes I would like to try are the crock pot gingered chickpea and spicy tomato stew, and the pine nut and brown sugar ice cream.

The applesauce was a nice combination between chunky and smooth.  The cinnamon gave it a warm and satisfying flavor.  The apples were not too sweet, not too tart, and make a delicious, warm, comforting applesauce.  I think this was a great choice for using our plethora of apples.

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Crock Pot Applesauce

  • 10 medium sized apples (gala, golden delicious, granny smith, fuji, whatever you have)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • a pinch cardamom
  • 1/4 cups water or apple juice
  1. Peel, core, quarter and slice the apples.
  2. Combine apples, sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a large bowl and stir to combine.
  3. Pour water or apple juice on the crock pot, then add apple mixture.
  4. Cook on low, stirring occasionally, for 8 hours.
  5. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.