I love making macarons! Not sure how I first learned about them, but I do remember the first recipe I tried, it was by Eugenie on Youtube and then through Pinterest and google searches I found awesome reciepes and teachers like AlbaRock, Inratable and your blog Food Nouveau, which I've been following for at least two years! Nice to see this class taught by you. I haven't made any in a while, so this class is perfect for getting my mac groove back. I still have my macaron Youtube playlist where I've collected a number of how-to videos for reference.

I traveled to France about 4 years ago for two months and got a chance to sample macarons in Paris, needless to say my mind was blown not only by the macaroons, but the total food experiences in France. I must return! 

Some of my macaron pics through the years

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The Filling

Not sure what kind of filling I want ot use just yet and I'm not sure what fruit's in season. I have Dominique Ansel's book, The Secret Recipes, and inside he covers some fillings for macarons. I'll look at that for reference. do like your suggestion of using Nutella, or something similar. With Eugenie's recipe, I used raspberry jam. 

I love mango, passion fruit flavors. But, I don't know...

Ok, so I decided to go with a coconut, vanilla bean buttercream. I spent last night documenting, prepping and baking my macs.

My ingredients and a few of my tools I used. I found coconut cream at Whole Foods, never heard of it or used it before you suggested adding it to my buttercream. It's very fragrant. 

I need a new sieve! It's not as fine as I'd like it to be and my almond flour/powdered sugar mixture was a bit pebble-y.

First time making macarons in a while, so I was nervous and excited. I went a little overboard with the food color. I wanted a blush, or pale pink color and added too many drops.

Macronage! Ahhhh oui.

Pink, glossy beauties!

I once used a buttercream recipe that put me off this type of fillng. It was way too greasy, but your recipe and balance of ingredients was tasty--not cloying, not greasy.  As you suggested, I used half a stick of butter and the same amount of coconut cream. After mixing together, I found the texture of my buttercream a bit too stiff, so I added just one tablespoon extra of butter and the consistency was just right. 

Whoops! First batch and I got mostly cracked shells. I think I overmixed!?!

Second batch came out perfect! Yes, they're not all even, a few are oval-y. But I think they look cute.

Toasted coconut!

Not sure why I decided to garnish my macs with sugared rose petals, it's always something I wanted to try, so I did it. 

Ouais cool! I can't wait to share these with friends today. I'll keep the cracked shells for myself.

These smell really good and they taste even better! Again, thanks for all of your suggestions and help Marie! This class has reignited my passion/obssesion for these cookies! I'm gonna try that Black Forest Cake macaron next!!