Lemon Curd Macarons

Baking, either at our place or at my parents' place, is never easy.  Here at our place, because of our tiny kitchen, we don't have enough counter top space for the two of us to bake at the same time.  If we do our bakefest at my parents' place, none of my regular baking pans fit because my Mom has a small oven.

It was driving both of us crazy.  So last week, we bought a new oven.  YEY!!

It's bigger; it can fit four 13 inch pans and has an even heating element.  I was practically jumping up and down all the way to my parents' home.    I was so excited to try it out!  I gathered all my macaron ingredients and went to work.

Unfortunately, because it's a new oven, our first batch was a dismal failure.  I totally forgot how quirky new ovens were.  It took my sister and I several baking attempts to get to know the oven.  Six batches of macarons to be exact.  (Most were still edible, but looked really pitiful though.)

On our seventh batch, after a lot of tweaks with our recipe as well as adjustments with the oven temp and baking time, we finally got it right.  I was squealing with delight when I saw the ruffled feet peek out from beneath the intact shiny meringue domes.  Finally!  A good batch of macarons that we can properly fill with the lemon curd I prepared.

Love the bokeh on this photo. :) 

Inspired by my sister (who loves doing origami), I made little origami boxes for the samplers we gave a few friends.  (Origami paper from Saizen.)

I'm thrilled that we now have orders for Christmas. :D