On the same Saturday, I had the great pleasure and privilege of baking the afternoon away with Karen, who is an obsessively, obscenely good baker. I love that on the same day, I was fortunate enough to teach and be taught.
I certainly learnt a lot, enough to convince me that my process had been all wrong. I was inspired by Karen's meticulousness and her dedication to detail and aesthetics and truly impressed by her deliberate baking technique. To be honest, after noting all the work and ingredients that go into these little treasures, I'm not at all sure that it is worth her time, nor mine, to craft them!
What I did realize, was that she is such a talented yet earnest baker and it really made me feel that whatever she does, is a labour of love. She was kind enough to bake my favourites, a rich chocolate macaron piped with dark chocolate ganache and hazlenut macarons piped with salted caramel buttercream. If you look carefully into the filling, you can see the beautiful little black dots of fresh vanilla.
To sample some of her sublime work (if you're lucky!) or to inquire about classes, please see Karen's blog Mad Baker.
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