The Temple of Doom

I ♥ Macarons

By Hisako Ogita

The Good: Very pretty, macaron-like pictures and detailed step-by-step photos.

The Bad: I say "macaron-like" for the cookies come out stick-to-your-teeth-toffee chewy and too sweet.

And the Ugly: Major conversion mistakes abound perhaps caused by Japanese to English translations.

The Grade: C+

I LOVE macarons. Love. Love so much that when I bite into a good one, let's say from La Maison Du Chocolat or La Maison Du Macaron (no relation) I break out into a smile and almost giggle. Yes, that's right. Giggle with glee. I disturb people on the subway with my giddiness.

So think of my disappointment when I sweated over batch after batch of macarons after purchasing this book. Not disappointment with the book. Not at first. But with me. Everything was done perfectly to their specifications down to the gram on my electronic scale. And they looked gorgeous. Beautiful bounties of pink pastels and lime green. It was any well-groomed baker's prideful masterpiece. I took those babies out of the oven with such serenity on my face. Until a couple of hours passed and the smile turned upside down.

(Above: My beautiful and too-chewy confections)

The cookies continually were too chewy. I tried lowering the temperature. I tried taking away sugar. I tried mixing less. I tried drying more. Days turned into weeks. Weeks into a month. My macaron obsession was taking over my life and whittling down my sanity.

And then the little flaws began to appear before my eyes. I admit that my hesitancy to blame the book was because past reviewers, for the most part, were satisfied. Their (and my) creations looked like the cute macarons promised in the pictures. Well, let me tell ya something boys and girls. Macarons are more than pretty little treats. They are almond clouds of joy! And if I don't get my almond clouds of joy I get very angry!

Whew! Sorry guys. I don't know where all this aggression is coming from. Maybe the second batch of Peppermint Chocolate Macarons that wouldn't come off the Silpat was the straw that broke my back.

Look. If you're a first time macaron maker like myself then a flip through this book may serve you well. But just flip. Take away from it the good tips like:

1) Let the piped macarons dry for about 15 minutes or until they don't stick to your finger.

2) Rack the pan with your hand and against the counter as it dries.

3) Bake your macarons in double pans so they don't get too hot.

4) Use organic powdered sugar.

5) Bring your egg whites to room temperature.

6) Do not use old almond flour.

And then step away! Put the book down. Drop it. Do not look any further except to peruse the pictures. And for the love of macarons do not use their measurements.

1.5 cups of powdered sugar on one page equaled 5.75 ounces and 1 cup on another page only amounted to 1.75 ounces. My spidey sense should had gone off when on the first page there is a conversion table for general measurement-to-weight. As if 1 cup of almond flour would weigh the same as 1 cup of powdered sugar!

Ogita makes the attempt to add useful egg yolk recipes within the book which I do appreciate. I hate wasting yolks and I can't eat pudding every day. I've also tried using Eggology egg whites for meringue and wasted away over my KitchenAid for over an hour.

Unfortunately, their butter cream #2 recipe with yolks came out tasting more like custard than buttercream.

I'd like to blame the translators. This book had all the potential in the world to be a great manual for macaron baking. There are just too many technical flaws. Maybe it's not that easy to convert measurements. Maybe they use convection ovens more readily in Japan and, hence, use a much higher temperature gauge.

Or you the reader might be thinking... maybe the Cookbook Worm doesn't know a macaron from an Oreo. Well, hah! Not the case. I found another recipe for Chocolate Macarons in La Maison Du Chocolat: Transcendent Desserts by the Legendary Chocolatier and guess what. Almond clouds of joy.