Macaroon or Macaron?

So today, my husband woke up with a burning desire to bake French Macarons for the first time. I've no idea why, but we tried it anyway. Now, bearing in mind that I don't have any macaron recipes so Bren amalgamated several recipes he found on the internet. Also consider that I've never even tasted a macaron, let alone made one.

All things considered: what's the worst that could happen?? 

Well, they turned out ok in the end. Well, that's what Bren says. I have nothing to compare it to but they do taste pretty good! 

First we made the meringue from egg whites and caster sugar. Then, we added some red food colouring to turn the mixture pink. We made the main mixture from ground almonds and sifted icing sugar, then folded that into the meringue. After that, we piped the mixture into circular discs onto baking trays (covered in baking paper) and banged the trays in the surface to release air bubbles. Of course, the discs are all different sizes, so let's say that's part of the charm! Then, we left them to rest on the side for half an hour before putting them in the oven for 15-20 minutes. 

Soft Peaks!

While they were baking in the oven, we made some strawberry buttercream filling from butter, caster sugar, milk and strawberry jam. Finally, Bren sandwiched the filling between two macaron discs and voilá! 

Bon Appetit! 

 Bren says that as far as macarons go, the mixture is good but the meringue is usually crispier. Again, I wouldn't know! Either way, was a pretty good experiment for a Saturday afternoon!