I Heart Macarons, by Hisako Ogita

As you can tell from my posting spree this week, I have a little love affair with the macaron. So when I Love Macarons by Hisako Ogita came up for presale on Amazon, I added it to my cart immediately. Here’s a funny thing about macarons – they’ve become really popular with Japanese chefs, who are taking this elegant little cookie to new heights.

Aesthetics

First, a bit about the book itself: it’s thin. This book is only 80 pages long. I guess I was hoping for a Tome de Hermé, but macarons are a fairly simple recipe that requires a lot of personal precision, so I guess it makes sense that you wouldn’t need to dedicate a few hundred pages to the process.

Second, I love the photos. I’m such a sucker for colorful photos, especially photos of macarons, and this book is full of them. Woot.

A Plethora of Macaron Recipes

The recipes themselves are inspired, such as pistachio with bitter ganache filling and purple yam with chestnut cream, and there are lots of photos of the macaron making process, which is undoubtedly helpful for beginners. Ogita also talks about two different ways of making macaron batter – the classic method, using a French meringue that results in a softer cookie, and a second Italian meringue method, which yields macarons with a crunchier surface.

These photos are not from the book!When it comes to baking, Ogita’s directions are easy. Actually, almost too easy. Macarons are relatively simple to make, though there are countless pitfalls that beginners can fall into. Fortunately, she has included a section at the end of the first chapter that provides some basic troubleshooting techniques, though recommendations are only one or two lines and leave a lot for interpretation. And therein may be the problem – the book was originally translated from Japanese, so something may have been lost in translation.

If you have a Japanese copy of the book, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, though, I really liked this book. While it might not be appropriate for someone with no baking skills at all, if you know your way around a silpat, you’ll probably work through the recipes just fine. Ogita dedicates an entire chapter to making a variety of fillings, another on how to creatively wrap your sweet little gems (big plus in my book), and a final chapter on how to use the leftover egg yolks you will inevitably end up with after an afternoon of baking macarons.

If, like me, you love macarons, then you’ll enjoy I Love Macarons by Hisako Ogita. In fact, I’d say order it now, or give it as a gift to someone you know who is equally obsessed. Maybe wrap it up with a box of colorful macarons, straight from a local bakery. If anyone did that for me, I have to say I’d have a hard time controlling myself.

These photos are not from the book!

Win a copy of I Heart Macarons by Hisako Ogita!

I love this book, and you will too. And I’ve got a copy here to give away to one beloved Wasabimon reader. To win, leave comment on this post telling me why you love macarons (don’t forget to include your email address so I can reach you in you win!). For additional chances to win, you can subscribe to the email newsletter and post the following phrase on Twitter, verbatim: Hey! @sstiavetti is giving away a copy of Hisako Ogita’s “I Heart Macarons” book on @wasabimon: http://www.theculinarylife.com/2010/i-heart-macarons-hisako-ogita/ – note: you need to leave a comment here in order to enter, even if you tweet.

I’ll pick a winner on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010. Sorry, but you have to live in the continental US to win, unless you want to pay for shipping.

You know you want a copy of this book!