I was excited to see this month’s Mactweets theme: Tell me a Story with macarons inspired by a favourite book from childhood. I knew immediately what book I wanted to use for inspiration – a classic Seuss:
(Image source: Salon.com)
Many of you who know me will be aware that I am just emerging from a fairly stressful month of school yearbook deadlines, grad school papers and various other projects but all the while, I knew I had the Mactweets deadline coming up and was not feeling very confident – it seems like it’s been so long since the last time I made them! Plus, the whole “green” part was stumping me a little.
(Image source: Motherhood Examiner)
Once I had the idea, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head and I struggled to figure out a way of making these “Green Eggs and Ham” themed macarons. I oscillated between ideas as to how to execute them and finally decided that I would just make snow white macs and attempt to colour the middles green (as above). I figured the easiest way to do this was to set aside a tiny amount of the macaron mixture and quickly colour it before I piped the white ones, then pipe a small amount of green into the middle.
Surprisingly, my cunning plan looked like it was working as I popped them in the oven…
And imagine my surprise when after baking at 320F for 12 minutes (turning the tray mid-way), they emerged from the oven with feet!!!!
I was pretty excited, I have to say – definitely a “happy feet dance” moment!
Ok, now for the “ham”. I took my inspiration from Rachael at La Fuji Mama who used Baking Obsession’s recipe for chocolate plastic (basically corn syrup and melted chocolate – surprisingly easy!) to make fillings for her “Big Mac” macarons. Here it is going into the plastic to be refrigerated overnight.
For the filling, I took my inspiration from the colours on the book cover and used Martha Stewart’s basic buttercream frosting, coloured a vibrant orange and flavoured with orange essence.
They’re very “Seussian” don’t you think?
Here they are “served” with their “ham”:
And because it’s Mother’s Day, I brought out a little memory from when my mum used to serve me boiled eggs (which I hated when I was little but I loved the cups!):
I have to admit, I was pretty chuffed with this batch and I found it relaxing and even therapeutic this time around. That will tell you a little about how stressful the past few weeks have been – have you ever known me and my macs to be a less than stressful experience????
LOVE THEM! How creative and fun. Sounds like they were a pleasure to make, compared to the deadlines filling the rest of your past few weeks/months. Still, this is not helping my craving for macs at all. I’m about to head off to Camp Blogaway, and with my track record, this is exactly when I would attempt to make macs. But I just can’t do it this week. Maybe when I get back?
Nicely done!
Best,
Casey
Aw Casey you need to join us over in MacTweets!!
What a great job, Mardi! And yeah, when making macs is *relaxing*, I know you’ve been having a stressful time of it. 🙂
Love your green eggs and ham, Sam I Am!
Cheers Renée 🙂 Sorry I stole your idea…
well done and I love your Dr. Seuss theme. I am a big fan.
Thanks – I love Seuss too.
Beautiful and fun at the same time…you are fast joining the league of Mac Queens in my book (or Dr. Seuss’s even!).
Wow – high praise indeed!
These look beautiful!!! Very Suess-like!
Thanks Ann!
Mardi, what a excellent post. the Green Eggs and Ham theme is sooo fun, I can see you really had a great time making these. You are quite an accomplished Macaron maker. It was nice to see your old Bunnikins egg-cup made an appearance.
Thanks Mum – I was happy to use the Bunnykins!!!
(With creative support and additional props courtesy Mr. Neil.)
“support” = leaving the house whilst they were in the oven!! LOL!
Seussian macs… whoa! What a great idea and how beautifully they ‘feeted’!! Love the inspired story idea, your Mom’s egg cup and the plastic chocolate. So glad they worked out Mardi. After the rough touch weeks gone by, these must have been the most welcome feet to hear in a while! I have always enjoyed Dr Seuss and now you’ve added a new dimension to it!
Thanks for joining Jamie and me at MacTweets! Fun to have you on!!
Yes they were the most welcome sight in a while, I admit!!!! Thanks for “egging” me on!!!
Fantastic Mardi! They look amazing! the two-toned macs turned out perfect!!!
I admit I was shocked!!!
well knock me over with thing one and thing two- this represents a new feat of mac-making for sure. you may almost have me convinced that I could actually eat a macaron and like it. almost. they are so beautiful and splendoriffic, congrats!
Aw coming from you Linda this is high praise indeed 🙂
Very creative! Love!
Thanks for dropping by!
Those Dr. Seuss macs are too cool! What a creative idea!
Thanks Natasha! They’re pretty funky, huh? 😉
Those are PRECIOUS!! I am a HUGE fan of Dr. Seuss. In college, they served us green eggs and ham in his honor (he was an alum). I love these (and love the mug!)
I have never eaten green eggs and green ham – think this chocolate version is probably the best I could manage.
I would have had a “happy feet dance” moment too! These are so beyond cute! You’ve done Seuss proud!
Thanks Babara – I was so happy to see those little feet!
simply gorgeous! and yes the plan was ingenious! well done!
hahaha! Yes I was shocked that my cunning plan worked out!
oooh…they are so beautiful! I just want to eat them. I love Dr Seusse books. 🙂 Been reading it to poppet since she was 1.
Poppet is a lucky little girl!!!
These are brilliant, I can’t believe I have never ate one of these no less tried to make one….looks so hard but very professional…amazing little alicia and wonderland or rabbit cup they are in, love that little touch there. I have every book on Dr Suess so a big fan here, green eggs and ham I am~lol
Thanks Claudia – they DO require a lot of practice and I am fully expecting the next lot to not work out!
Dr. Seuss couldn’t have been prouder with these macarons. I’ll say you handled the “green” part in style. Your macarons are gorgeous.
Thanks Aparna! I am in good company with the “gorgeous” macs this month!
They look amazing!! Look what you can do on a “relaxing” day. Hope they taste as good as they look.
They did taste wonderful actually – the orange essence was delicious!
They look very arty! Love the use of props (well done Mr Neil!)
In a way they remind me of those psych tests where they show people food under different lighting to see if they’d eat it!
Actually the props were Seuss figurines that I didn’t end up using.. And yes, you are eerily right about the colours there!!
These are very cute! Great idea. Congrats on the macs as well as getting through the stressful time. I hope things are quieter now.
Things are definitely calming down now, for sure. Hopefully the macs are the signal for calmer days!
PERFECT! These are so brilliant and so well done and what a clever mac for this month’s theme! You are the best! And hip hip horray for feet! And calm, calm, honey. A little stress to keep you going but there is no time on this earth to let big stress get you down. One day and one mac at a time!
Thanks for your constant support on Twitter Jamie – you make me believe I can do it!!
Absolutely stunning. Brilliant idea and execution of it.
🙂
Valerie
Aw thanks Valerie!
How fun! Love these!
Thanks for stopping by!
So fun – and the Bunnykins are the crowning touch!
Thanks Alicia – I love my Bunnykins too…
They look stellar, I must say,
and I want some to eat today.
With their green tops and handsome feeties,
They put to shame my bowl of Wheaties.
About which Dr. Seuss stayed mum,
and with just cause, because
ho-hum.
And I hope you get to enjoy the Spring once this stressful period is over. When is that, exactly?
Oh Carrie – you’ve made my day!!!!! And yes, the year is winding down a little now! Looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks!
Stunning Mardi! Green Eggs and Ham was one of my fave books as a child and your recreation in macaron form makes me love it even more as an adult! Great job!!
Thanks Andrea – I am pretty pleased how they came out!
And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed.
You have feet in your shoes (macarons).
[pseudonym Tami :-)]
LOL – you’re just too clever for words!
These are too cute, and such an inspired idea! You should check out another blogger who LOVES her macarons: http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/04/macarons-101-french-meringue.html
Gosh, macarons are just so adorable…
Thanks – I checked out the link and could relate very well to her experiences!!!
I’m so loving these macs Mardi, you totally hit it right on. These are so clever, and look those feet! Ah… bellisimo…
Cheers! I was ecstatic when I saw the feet too!!
Oh my! I’d say these are just about the cutest things I have ever seen!
Well thank you kindly!
Absolutely genius! I love love love how they look!
Thanks Rachael and thanks for your cheering on of the feet!
I thought that green eggs were the eggs from araucana hens.
Carol LOL!
What a fantastic idea! These macs look wonderful.. Such a cute idea.
Thanks Jen – we will make a mac addict out of you too!!!
I’m a little late to the party on saying this, but “wow, these are the coolest!” 🙂 They turned out SO WELL and I love your creativity.
That egg cup is lovely too, takes me back to my years of eggs and solders, when I enjoyed the fun of cracking the top and dipping the toast in, but wasn’t a huge fan of the eggs.
Me too on the eggs and toast soldiers – The fun part was definitely not in the eating!
These are so fun…what a great idea!
Thanks, I was pretty pleased with them!
Love your idea and execution! Such a beautiful combination of colors. I think once you get the hang of it you end up finding macaron making very relaxing. My favorite part is piping them, and piping the filling to then sandwich them together. I find it to be very therapeutic.
Thanks – I really liked the finished colours too!
These are so fun. They look just like green eggs! I love Dr. Seuss books but was not brave enough to try a macaron inspired by him. You did him proud!
Thanks Bonnie – I appreciate your kind words!
Creative. Love your splash of green. Very fun.
Cheers! I have never been a big fan of food colouring in macs but I am slowly changing my mind!
Brilliant..absolutely brilliant, AND beautiful!! Such a fun macaron and so perfectly ‘green eggs and ham’ 🙂
Thanks Lisa – I was pretty happy with this lot!
mardi, these are gorgeous! the colors are so vivid and they are so wonderfully creative! and those feet? well done, girl, well done.
Practice makes perfect, as they say. I am pretty much guaranteed to have the next batch fail now!!
These look great. I have made 2 color macarons and every time they crack right around the middle color. Has this happened to you? Also the last ones I made they were actually crispy and no chewy. Do you have any idea what I may have done wrong?
No this hasn’t happened, sorry. And I’m sorry I can’t tell you why they might be crispy not chewy – though it does sound to me like they were overbaked – there are so many different factors that can affect macaron success – it’s difficult for me to figure anything out without knowing a few more details.