Hi Lauren! Thanks! Well, maybe not perfect but certainly interesting :)

Hi Steph! I was close to sanity’s edge. I didn’t find out about Tartlette’s until I was done with the good batch.

Hi betty! You know, I felt that when I joined after the vol au vents/puff pastry challenge. We’ll see how we go for next month’s event.

Hi billy! Yeah, certainly not cheap and Zumbo’s would have been far better. However, I would have had to settle for not having apple pie flavour :)

Hi Leona! Thanks! If it wasn’t a couple of stuff-ups during the challenge it was many months or years of experience that had gotten people over the line.

Surprisingly I think one or two people had gotten it right first go without any prior experience.

Hi shaz! Thanks! Well, I’d started off with the idea of cookie dough as a filling, with the apple pie one in the back of my mind. Worked out that the apple pie needed the cookie dough as a base and tasted better as well :)

Hi shez! Yeah, I don’t know if I’m being a sucker for punishment for attempting both. Time will tell :)

Hi jo! Thanks! Now I’ve achieved Daring, all I need to do now is work on this Baker thing :P

Hi Ellie! To borrow the title of a TV show, I think Eight is Enough. Any more than that and I’m sure I would have settled for second best :)

Hi penny! I’m always surprised how often having so few ingredients, it often takes something else e.g. care & attention to detail by producers or in this case, technique, to turn the dish/meal into something special. It’s quite special too when you can pull it off :)

Hi Cheap Ethnic Eats! Thanks! Believe me, my ego wasn’t the only one to suffer a bruise. Don’t think my wallet will forgive me :)

Hi Nutmeg Nanny! Thanks :) I wouldn’t go so far as amazing but they were nice.

Hi Audax Artifex! Thanks dude! :)

Hi anna! Follow the instructions in the post and, with a little luck, you can have too! hehe :)

Hi mademoiselle délicieuse! Thanks! :)

Hi Alpineberry Mary! Thanks! :)

Hi sabiilaa! Thanks, and thanks for the info regarding your macarons :)

Hi Simone! You’re welcome!

Hi dollydoesdesserts! Same here. Wish that there were more of them around! :)

Hi Barabara Bakes! Thankfully, since I only made the filling after the successful batch, there wasn’t a lot of filling wastage. Shame I can’t say the same about the macaron shells…

Hi Julie! Thanks!

Hi Celeste! Thanks!

Hi Jenni! Thanks! I don’t know about the fall but it was certainly yummy!

Hi Kate! I had a similar idea i.e. flavouring the shells. However, considering the failure rate of my test batches, I figured I’d keep it simple.

I might revisit this idea when making macaron shells becomes second nature.

Hi Marcellina! Thanks, much appreciated! :)

Hi Trissa! Yeah, when you put it that way, 8 batches doesn’t sound like all that much when compared to 4 years.

Hi Helen! Thankfully, family and friends were there to help out. Without them, I don’t know if I would have made it through all those jokes- erm, I mean batches! All those batches :P

Hi Olga! Thanks :)

Hi TeenieCakes! Thanks! Glad my post could be of some help :)

Hi Corry! Nice! Thanks for letting me know about your tips. Will have to reference them the next time I make macarons :)

Hi Karen! Thanks! It’s worth plenty considering it’s coming from the Baroness of Baking :)

LOL silly me :(

Anyway, 8 batches?! I applaude your steely determination! For what it’s worth, your singularly successful batch looks ansolutely incredible! No doubt it’s up from here on out… once you get over the macaron coma…

Your macarons look fantastic. I admire your tenacity – eight batches is fantastic. Now you are on top of it and won’t look back (Yep!, you will be a bit macaroned out for a while but keep going – it only gets better).

Thanks for your comment on my blog. I’ve been making macarons since I did a class in August (at ‘Savour’ – a professional Patisserie School in Melbourne) and I haven’t looked back. I’ve had a lot of macawrongs to begin with but am now really on top of them.

I have put up some tips,tricks, info and photos on my blog about macs and ‘macaronner’ technique (both from what i’ve read on the web and also from my own notes from class). No doubt though, after 8 batches you’re really on top of them also.

Cheers.