Coconut Curd Chocolate French Macarons

 

The holidays are over and all of the gifts are unwrapped and packed away. What did you all get for Christmas?

I got curd. 

Yes, you read that right. I got curd. 

Now, like many Americans, when I was growing up I hadn't heard much of curd outside of little Miss Muffet's curd and whey snack (which is actually more like cottage cheese, but I digress...).

True curd is actually a dessert spread, similar to jam or jelly, but thick like pudding and very sweet. Fruit curds are a fancy dessert's best friend, like scones, tarts, and the French Macaron. It's a perfect pair for a fancy tea party.

While lemon curd is a common companion to the macaron, but there are many other flavors of curd around to try. This Christmas, I was given a jar of coconut curd from my mother-in-law. Inspired by the coconut chocolate candies that I make every holiday, I just knew that chocolate macaron shells would be a delicious pairing with the sweet coconut curd.

April Fools! Chocolate Avocado French Macaron

Here eat this...don't you trust me? Is it because it's green? Is it because of April Fool's Day?

The guinea pigs, er, I mean, the lunch crowd at work are notorious sugar fiends. Any one of them would be willing to trudge through a calorie-burning walk in the snow every break just for an extra doughnut. Of course, so would I!

But many of my taste-testers are also a bit Dutch, which means an instinctive distrust for green things, exotic things, flavors which no sane grandmother would ever think to combine. So, naturally, I wanted to scare their taste buds.

Especially when I saw this! This delicious recipe came from Steph over at Raspberri Cupcakes, who is such an inspiration to me as a baker and as a blogger. She takes such experimental risks with flavors and is so creative with the presentation. Learning new recipes and putting them to the test is my goal here on Tried & Twisted, so how on earth could I resist such a unique new flavor combination?

Would such a daring flavor combination as avocado and chocolate ever possibly be accepted by my taste-testers?

March of Macarons: Cadbury Creme Egg French Macaron

Every year a few weeks before Easter, I suspect minions of bunnies are dispatched from headquarters, sneak into supermarkets, and fill the shelves with delicious chocolate-covered candies that somehow magically jump into your shopping cart as you pass by.

Hm...perhaps they work in cahoots with the gremlins in the closet that sew clothing tighter while you sleep.

In either case, it is the day for chocolate-covered candies, like the coveted Cadbury creme egg. So to celebrate Easter and continue my March of Macarons series, here is a new macaron of my own: the Cadbury Creme Egg Macaron!