more macarons

They may look identical but there are actually two flavors and colors of macarons in this batch, anise and rum. Although the rum flavoring wasn't as potent as the anise, both came out pretty good. By now, I have somehow figured out the right consistency of the batter, knowing when to quit folding but I know I still need to keep practicing. My only consolation is that they always have feet, oftentimes rising taller than what I would have wanted. I have never tried the French macaron technique yet. I've been making them with the Italian sugar syrup technique so far. We like to eat them as is, with no fancy icing or filling. I'm not very fond of them but my husband couldn't stop eating them. I don't mind making them for him. He gets to eat them while I get to practice on my macaron making. Macarons actually remind me of "pacencia", which are bite-size Filipino cookies I've always loved since I was a child. They are much tinier but look exactly like French macarons, like a miniature version. There are two kinds of pacencia cookies, one with no feet like this and the other one with glossier tops and feet like macarons. Both taste great. I will attempt to make these later replacing some or all of the almond flour with all purpose flour and see if it works. I think for the experiment, I need to divide my recipe in half, just so there will be less waste in case it will not be successful. In the meantime, I need to save some more eggwhites for this project.

macaron sandwich with raspberry rhubarb jam filling