Due to the spread of the COVID-19, I quickly got bored. Then, one brilliant idea crossed my mind: baking. When COVID-19 broke out, the number of people doing baking increased dramatically, which is reflected by the huge increase in baking videos on YouTube. Moreover, many celebrities, such as Selena Gomez and Emma Chamberlain, are now frequently posting their cooking videos. Sufficiently motivated by them, I chose macarons and bought all the cooking supplies I needed.
[Cooking supplies for macarons. Photo courtesy of Minji Kwon]
With my ingredients ready, I baked step by step:
- I started by cracking the egg and putting the butter, powdered sugar, almond flour, salt, and egg whites in the bowl.
- Gradually, I added granulated sugar and vanilla extract.
- After mixing these around, I piped the macaron batter onto the parchment paper and let the macaron shells dry for 30 minutes before putting them into the oven.
- Meanwhile, I made the buttercream with vanilla extract and sugar powder.
- When the macaron shells were ready, I transferred the buttercream to a piping bag and added a dollop of buttercream to each shell. Boom! With the buttercream between my macaron shells, I made my macarons.
Although making my macaron was entertaining, there were some trivial challenges involved. For example, gradually adding the ingredients took a lot of time and effort because I had to add them little by little and mix them around for three separate times. Moreover, some of the macaron shells were stuck on the unoiled parchment paper, which caused some edges of the macaron shells to break apart. Lastly, I had to let it sit for a total of 1 hour, which took a lot of patience.
[Finalized Macarons. Photo courtesy of Minji Kwon]
However, through this activity, I explored many ways of making creative macarons. Although I encountered some trivial challenges, I am pleased with my overall baking experience. While making macarons all started from my simple effort to avoid boredom, I am ready to make more tasty macarons based on my previous mistakes. Therefore, not only learning how to bake, but I also gained a valuable lesson that I should always review my mistakes and strive to make better macarons in the future. This experience was precious, and there are indeed no limitations to making more delicious macarons.
by. Minji Kwon