Liz's Christmas Specialty

For years now Helen has made a buche de noel for Christmas and it has become "her" dessert specialty. This year Liz wanted to come up with something equally fancy that she could be known for. She decided to try making macarons.  We had them in England at the British Museum and have been searching for them ever since.

I bought her some almond flour and she set forth on what is a pretty complicated recipe. I hung out nearby as scullery maid, partly for my own sanity and partly so I could provide a few tips. She learned what egg whites should look like when they are ready and she learned how to fold into batter without collapsing it.

Here they are and wow were they good.  

Extremely rich, but oh my gosh, better that the British Museum.

She set us all up for a "beaver" which in our family means tea and a treat by the fire in the afternoon.

Nelson and I had champagne :)

I can safely say that Liz has found her specialty dessert as we will be asking her to make them again.