chef…or shall i say…baker ben {macarons}

as some of you may recall, my chef ben decided to set a new year’s resolution for himself – to become baker ben.  he normally isn’t too keen on the baking arts.  cooking fine cuisine, yes.  making up tasty recipes, absolutely.  but for some reason he has always left the baking up to me.  not that he isn’t into baked goods.  he is a cookie fiend.  but, he prefers preparing a savory entrée over frosting a layer cake.

so, when he decided to take on the baking realm, naturally, he started with the tough stuff.  delicate and intricate and temperamental macarons.  way to ease into things, chef.  and naturally {slash sickeningly} he killed it.  i mean, he totally killed it.  and as a result, i have eaten WAY TOO MANY of these little pretties.  i can’t wait for the next round.  baker ben said that he will make some intense chocolate for me so i expect those to last all of three hours.

{step 1}

create the candied grapefruit peel with star anise and vanilla bean

{step 2}

whip the egg whites to create the merengue and then gently fold in the other ingredients.  including a perfectly measured amount of food coloring to create a vibrant pink-orange hue.

{step 3}

melt the white chocolate for the ganache.  add in the campari to give it that citrus zing.

{step 4}

assemble the cookies

{step 5}

refrigerate the cookies for 24 hours to let the flavors meld. 

AKA endure the brutal wait until you can FINALLY eat the long-awaited cookies.  {darn those french and their delayed gratification} but let me say, it is more than worth the wait. 

and then…you eat as many as you can handle before slipping into a sugar coma.  amazing