Making Life a Little Bit Sweeter

As most of my friends can attest, I have the biggest sweet tooth. In fact, I dare say that it's more accurate to say I have sweet teeth as opposed to a lonely, piddly sweet tooth.

My tendency to gravitate towards the dessert menu has resulted in me being more of a baker than a cook. Don't get me wrong, I CAN cook and I love cooking but I am happier making the sweet stuff.

There is one confection, however, that I have been very nervous about making.


The macaron.

That's right. Macaron NOT macaroon.

As much as I love trying new things, the macaron has a reputation for being one of the most finicky things to make. A successful macaron is built on so many variables that you can understand why I was so intimidated. No amount of encouragement from friends (be it in the form of verbal coaxing or sneaky presents of macaron cookbooks) could persuade me to give it a try.

Until this year.





I decided to bite the bullet and go in with a not-so secret weapon.

Patrick Vuaillat from Sweet Artist Academy.

In the second half of 2015, I enrolled in his academy to learn how to make (surprise, surprise) confectionery. He was an amazingly patient and knowledgeable teacher to learn from. He has a solid background in the chemistry of food and can break things down so that it's easy to understand. I left that afternoon armed with a truckload of caramels, fudge, nougat and marshmallows.

Most importantly, I left feeling inspired... which in my opinion, is the trademark of a good learning experience.

Within a fortnight of taking his class, I was experimenting with marshmallow flavours (durian, anyone?) and till this day, I have been semi-regularly whipping up batches of marshmallows. I'd like to make nougat again but I dare not do it without more bench space to back me up. Maybe when we move to our new house...

I digress.

My fantastic experience got me hooked and I created a priority list of Patrick's courses to attend. After much tussling, I decided to tackle the macaron. Who better to learn macaron making from than a French pastry chef, right?

So off I went to see Patrick again, and once again I had the best experience, I had a fantastic time picking his brains and scribbling ten million notes on my recipe book. I think Patrick was probably very amused by how messy I turned my book but hey, I like to be thorough! As predicted, I left with a better understanding of the not-so-humble macaron and I am now itching to get baking.

But first... I have over 100 macarons to dispose of. :)

I can't wait to go back for another course. That might have to wait till my bank balance is a bit healthier though... more on that in my next post.