Successful in structure but not appearance

Taste : 8/10 (a little too sweet)

Appearance : 8.5 / 10 (I think the appearance of the gloosy shell and shape turned out to be the best out of my three tries but the darker spots makes it look different.)

First try was nearly a success

Taste : 6/10 (The ganache was too salty which threw off the flavour of the macarons, plus they were hollow)

Appearance : 8/10 (looked very shint but there were some abnormal shells due to my piping skills)

While researching the tools used to make macarons I realized I didn't have an electric mixer and other items. Which meant I had to figure out how to get them.

I struggle to follow instructions if it's not verbally told to me. I have a habit of skimming through things and making macarons is my goal as there are precise instructions that are crucial to follow so that the macarons can come out well.

Effective communication and developing my communication skills will help me meet my expectations and allow me to listen to other people's knowledge which can help me in the future.

My mentor told me I should start with something not too easy and not too hard which is why we ended up picking Macarons because my mentor also had prior knowledge.

My plan was :

• that to make macarons every Sunday

• read the recipe

• watch videos

• buy the ingredients

Taking the opportunity I am also improving my communication skills, especially around understanding and accepting feedback from others.

I believe improving my communication and reaching my goal of making macarons can help me beyond school.

Macarons are not made with normal flour but almond flour, with aged eff whites and sugar. Macarons can be any color and be filled with many different fillings like jam and ganache. It is small, and round with a glossy top and ruffled edge which is called a foot.

The Texture should be crispy outside and soft chew interior. The flavors I am focusing on are vanilla with white chocolate ganache and chocolate with dark chocolate ganache.

Before starting the baking I had to get all the ingredients first. The thing that was the hardest to get out of all the ingredients was the 57 grams of white aged egg. This means you had to measure how much white of the egg you had and put it in the fridge for over 12 hours. I also bought other ingredients like:

• Almond flower

• Icing Sugar

• Chocolate

• Sugar

• Salt

• Cream of tatar

• Vanilla essence

• Cocoa Powder.

• Measure all the ingredients carefully

• Clean Workspace

• Once the macarons are piped out you have them let them dry enough for them to have a skin outside. To check if it's dried enough, touch it gently, and if it doesn't stick to your skin it means it's ready to go into the oven.

• If the macarons aren't dried enough, once they are baked they won't have any feet which is the base of the macarons

• If the macarons are out too long the "skin" will prevent them from rising properly and will prevent cracking which is the "feet".

My mentor said " You can over whip eggs which will lead the macarons not to puff out but if you under mix macarons will lead them to rise since the mixture will spread once u pipe them out. The mixture will also spread if you over mix the batter as it will release the oils in the almond flour and also beat out all the air leading the mixture to be spread out."

To test out if the mixture and the meringue was mixed I was adviced by my mentor to see if the mixture would form into an 8 sign and then fade away. If it did, it would be ready for piping.

My mentor gave me some tips on how to pipe :

• Hold the piping bag straight

• Even pressure through the whole time

• Do not go in a circle

• After piping all of them use the tiniest dab of water on your fingers and dab down the tips

• Use a toothpick to pop all the big bubbles

If you look at the image some of them looked uneven and messy due to the fact I first tried out the intructions given by a video I watch but failed which is why my mentor stepped in and gave me advice.

Successful in taste and structure but this time again not the best in appearance

Taste : 10/10 (This time the white chocolate ganache paired well with the chocolate shells)

Appearance : 7/10 (they were good shapes but the batter was too thick making it look unporportioned)

There was no challenges this time but instead I misread the Instructions as I didn't have enough egg whites for all the mixture made therefore making the batter very thick and rough.

Something that will hinder my progress is my carelessness and impatience. From previous experiences in food tech and other classes, I realised that I tend to skim through instructions sometimes leading things to not going the right way. I am also impatient and usually when I don't see quick results I get fustrated and always try to think of a way to finish it up quicker. To avoided these problems when waiting for the macaron shells to form and cook I will keep myself occupied by other assignments or activities. While for my carelessness I will just have to remind myself and maintain my motivation for taking a step forward towards my goal.