My obsession of Roses & Macarons

Ever since i got back from the paris trip, my mind was all about Rose Macarons. I wasnt a big fan of the idea of flowers in cooking, for some reason i thought they were too fragrant and probably because the they tend to be over-dosed in cooking in order to let the flavours to come through. Who likes drinking perfumes anyway!

In chinese tea culture, beautiful rose buds are added to green tea to make Rose tea. Its not just beautiful to look at, but its very good for the health. Im familiar with the taste of rose tea, so my initial guess of the taste of Rose Macarons wouldn't be too far off from ... Rose tea.

Okay, i was totally wrong and the role of roses in tea has nothing resemble its role in Macarons. Roses brewed in tea water not just bring out the fragrance but also the harshness of the rose. But when its made into Rose buttercream.... all the harshness is removed and what is left is the pure goodness of roses that is really creamy. The centre of the pink Macaron shells fused with rose buttercream... it was truly a bite to the girly heaven.

To make Rose Macarons from Pierre Herme's recipe, pink macaron shells are combined with rose buttercream. Obtaining a recipe is rather straightforward, as there are plenty of resources on the web, but the biggest challenge is to 1) get the right colour powder for the pink macarons; 2) get the Rose syrup from the NATCO brand and Rose essence for the buttercream.

I think in Britain, food colouring doesnt normally come in the powder form, I read that powdered food colouring is recommended as it doesn't add more moisture to the meringue. There are some recipes state that liquid form is also okay...... hmm.... i will try to search for the powder! After searching for days on the internet, I came across the beetroot powder from Steenberg organic shops. I spoke to a lovely lady over the phone and was told that it is a specialist product so shops do not stock them but they do home delivery in a very reasonable price. I was very happy that i found the powdered food colouring and they also have the organic Rose water...... i placed the order immediately over the phone and the products arrived the next day in a very well packed box and a couple of organic teabags! Bless the lovely lady and the shop.

Organic Beetroot powder from Egypt

Rose Syrup.... i read that Pierre uses the syrup from the NATCO brand for his rose flavour. But apparently this NATCO Rose syrup is out of stock everywhere on the internet. I settled with an Atkin and Potts Rose syrup which i ordered from Lewis and Copper... oh and i also ordered a jar of Rose confiture (jam) to indulge myself after all the handwork of searching!

Also the new electric scale has arrived from amazon... im totally ready to get into the kitchen! Oh.. and T. is getting me an inferred thermometer for baking! I really hope that i could make something nice out of all these efforts.