Many, many years ago I was in a relationship that ended before I was ready for it to end. I was utterly devastated and it took a very long time before I was ready to move on. I spent months crying over my friends shoulders, analysing what I did wrong and what I could do to get him back. In those days, I never understood why it took me ages to get over it.
Then one day, I think I was watching Oprah on TV and they were talking about relationships and break-ups and they kept on saying this one word – closure.
It was only then that it hit me – that’s exactly what I needed. When we broke up all the guy said then was he just “fell out of love” and then he said the famous five words “it’s not you, it’s me…”, being the proud person that I was, I just said “that’s fine” and we said our polite goodbyes, I turned my back and walked away. So months later, I felt cheated that I never had that proper last goodbye where I could find out what I did wrong and whether anything said or done could have changed the outcome of our relationship. There were still a lot of loose ends that needed to be tied up so that I could finally move on.
But how do you get closure when it’s only months later when you realize you need it? Too much time had passed that it would have been strange for me to pick up the phone and ask that we have that last goodbye talk. So I just let this feeling fade away on its own until one day I woke up and I just didn’t feel anything for him anymore. No hate, no anger, no feeling of regret – just total ambivalence. .. Do you ever understand what a word means only when you experience it? Finally… closure.
Same thing with macarons… I know, you must be sick of me talking about my struggles with macarons and how I agonized and analysed and wondered what went wrong, what could I do to fix it? I would trawl website and look at pictures of macarons and just feel this sense of frustration at not being able to make them.
Sometimes I feel the macaron was looking at me, apologetic without any feet saying “enough already, it’s not you, it’s me! I’m a tough cookie to make… don’t even bother trying to make me anymore. It’s a waste of time”
Even more so when I saw the gorgeous pictures of Pierre Herme’s Ispahan Macaron.
The Ispahan is Pierre Herme’s signature creation of a macaron flavoured with rose, raspberries and lychee. It’s beautiful to look at and even better to taste. There are many flavours and combinations that have been created over the years but this is the classic. This is the tiffany diamond ring, the little black dress and the Hermes Kelly watch of macarons.
So when I decided to try and make the Ispahan Macaron, I knew immediately the title of my blog. Because I thought if I can make a close approximation of his famous macaron, then I can move on already. No need to prove anything to myself anymore. Closure.
Oh, and the one thing I forgot to tell you. The difference between the macaron and the boy? The macaron will always hold a soft spot in my heart. 🙂
Recipe (adapted from Pierre Herme)
Rose Coloured Macaron Recipe can be found here:
Raspberry Gelee
Ingredients
- 420 grams raspberry puree
- 35 grams caster sugar
- 4 grams of gelatine leaves (gold strength)
- Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water.
- Heat the raspberry puree and sugar until the sugar dissolves and the puree comes to a boil.
- Remove the raspberry puree mixture from the heat.
- Remove the excess moisture from the gelatine and heat the gelatine in the microwave until it melts, around 15 to 20 seconds
- Temper the gelatine by adding a little bit of the raspberry puree to the gelatine and stir gently to combine
- Then add the raspberry and gelatine mixture to the rest of the raspberry puree.
- Pour into plastic ice cube trays and freeze until ready to use.
Rose and Lychee Ganache
Ingredients
- 410 grams white couverture chocolate, chopped
- 400 grams lychees in syrup
- 60 grams cream
- 3 grams of rose essence
- Drain the lychees from the can and puree them in a food processor. You will have around 240 grams.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 20 second intervals
- In a separate sauce pan, bring the lychee puree and cream to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, remove from the heat and pour this on to the melted white chocolate. Add the rose essence. Mix well.
- Cover the mixture with cling film and reserve until ready to assemble.
To assemble
You will need fresh raspberries
- Pipe the ganache onto half of the macaron.
- Add the frozen raspberry gelee.
- Cover the sides of the macaron with fresh raspberries.
- Top with more ganache and cover with the other half of the macaron.
How long do these last and do the shells get soggy from the raspberries?
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Oh trissa!! It was hard to read this post, but yet I wanted more and more! You such a strong and awesome person! Who needs counseling when you have macarons! Unless the actual macarons send you crazy! lol
Everything you’ve said is so true. Time heals all wounds, and so does cake. You’d give Herme and Zumbo a run for their money with your Ispahan macaron.
Aww Trissa how could anyone leave you? You’re funny, smart and gorgeous. It’s wasn’t you, it definitely was him!
Plus how dumb was he? He missed out on trying these macarons! 😛
You can well and truly consider yourself closured, because this is beautiful!
gorgeous indeed. Don’t you think when we are on a emotional ride, macarons are the best cure? 😉
That is stunning Trissa! I can only hope to make macarons that look as good as yours some day, I only just summoned the courage to make my first batch the other day.
I CAN’T WAIT for our masterclass! You are the goddess of macarons, Trissa!!!!! Oh and about that guy? Stuff him…. who cares about useless silly boys that uses cliched 5 word phrases when you have the mad skills of a macaron expert? 🙂 Go Trissa!
Trissa, you and your love of macarons 😀 Looking forward to the macaron masterclass with you!!
Oh Trissa. I had a total Oprah moment. Your photos look great. I cant wait to try those macarons. They look gorgeous.
Oh my goodness thank you SO MUCH for posting this! This is my absolute favorite macaron in the world (heh heh, just look at my profile pic, which has this macaron in the picture), and I had been planning to try making it this week. This will be very helpful if I decide to conquer the task. It will only be my second time ever making macarons, though, so we’ll see how ambitious I feel. 🙂
Wow…. these are absolutely gorgeous! You have mastered the macaron. I made my first macaron last winter and have been waiting for the cool months of fall to continue my love affair with this crisp meringue. After seeing your photo, I’m ready to start baking again.
omg reading throught the first couple of paragraph, I was about to cry, but then you made it all better with Macaron. I love the analogy between making the perfect macaron and breaking up. Now that you have perfected your macaron making technique, maybe you can conduct a class for failures like me =p
This looks so fabulous! Pierre Herme eat your heart out!
trissa i love how you just turned ‘break up’ into ‘macarons’
your photo’s are looking gorgeous!