Moved from: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=331.0

Me being the way I am, loves all things poofy and pretty. Penchant for the sweet and elegant XD Of course my sewing and baking skills are just beginner but my love for Parisian Macarons pushed me along to try making some. Ihad just made some matcha cupcakes for a friend's b-day (with some awful icing skills...I really should learn how to do it properly) and had 2 egg whites left over. I intended to learn how to make creme brule also but not for a while. Luckily I stumbled upon a cute little matcha maracon recipe that only required 2 egg whites. I'd heard so many horror stories of people failing with maracons or people who made a large batch only to have a handful come out half decent looking. So I went on the hunt on YouTube to make sure I was going about it right

Anyhoo here are the results (marconage was really not as scary as I thought it would be)

Finished product! (My friends who I made this for love nutella so the filling was very simple. I was feeling under the weather so no slaving over the stove to make a nice choco filling this time) I think it turned out pretty well for my first go at it. I didn't really bother pushing down the little 'tips' because I think they're kinda cute XD



And so you can see the size...



FYI Almond meal is hella expensive in Canada for some reason (at least in Vancouver $3-4 for a 100g bag). My last trip south of the border I found it for less than half the price at Trader Joes...so if you live in my area and need some...see if you can con a friend into picking some up while they're down there or make a quick jaunt over the border for some.

And for laughs, some of the failed macarons...let's just say I learned my lesson well from the failed stuff from the first set that went into the oven.

This one I had used water to push the 'tip' down and used too much. it didn't try properly and hence when it went into the oven it parted like a miniature Pangea >.< after this first failure I waited patiently for the raw macarons to dry and form a nice 'crust' on them before popping them into a hot oven



And this was when I hadn't figured out how to pipe the bloody things. It turned out well other than the slight swirly shape on the top XD



Anyhoo they were surprisingly a lot of fun to make. I can't wait to try making some other flavors and colours of macarons now~!

Hello all~!

Let's see, I created this account probably last year and promptly forgot about it, telling myself I would delve into this forum further at a later date (yeah I know...that usually means being filed away to never be seen again). but finally I'm back after remembering while I was slaving away baking for an event for 2 days.

Er...about me, let's see the best description is that I dabble in far too many things and whatever seems shiniest at the moment grabs my attention. A bit of sewing, a bit of baking and cooking, a little drawing, music...you get the idea Hobbies run pretty wide as well from music, to collecting Ball Jointed Dolls (of the asian resin variety) and Japanese street fashions like Lolita along with a slew of other geeky things (at one time painting metal minatures for a friend for some war game he was playing)

Hoping to be able to glean a lot of inspiration and helpful tips for all areas of crafting that I seem to meddle in (lately the newest thing I've been introduced to is amigurumi which I blame entirely on a friend of mine).

Anyhoo nice to meet everyone

and this is me looking very smug in my (at the time) new blond wig...not sure I make a good blond lol

I'm a total newbie at amigurumi. My friend only just introduced me to it but it's been quite fun so far. I've made a couple of items but I'm wanting to make a cute strawberry and not able to find great instructions for one. Does anyone have any to share? Looking for more of a round cute strawberry than a terribly realistic one.

Any help would be greatly appreciated <3

My first real post here on Craftster...I've had an account for ages but forgot about it now that I'm crafting again I should start posting (was my thought process)

Anyhoo last Sunday (June 5th) was International Lolita day (as in the Japanese street fashion not the book or movie) and a friend and I planned a gathering at the local beach for some sports day activities. Of course this included lunch with sweets and a mini cupcake eating contest as well. I baked 2 cakes and a horde of cupcakes both normal sized and mini.

Edit: apparently I can't post photos yet so they're all just links for now maybe once I'm allowed I'll edit these back into photos.

Here are photos of the finished products (not sure if I should post in process photos etc or not...)

Mini Vanilla Cupcakes (about 96 in total) frosted with regular icing


Regular Cupcakes (also vanilla) but decorated this time with fondant icing (my first time making fondant!). The fondant circles that cover the cupcakes were made from the lid of my corn starch tub lol. The recipe I found on youtube and was altered slightly (though by accident but turned out not as dense which I prefer anyways)


Mint Chocolate Marble cake (which I didn't get a photo of before people started eating it). Next time I'll be adding rum to the chocolate part and see how that tastes.


And the only photo I managed to get with the Victoria Sandwich in it was this one...(unfortunately I don't think it turned out as well as my previous one since I was in a baking frenzy and needed to eat dinner just after finishing the batter - it sat around for a good hour so it definitely isn't as fluffy and crumb happy as before). Recipe came from a book my aunt had (older than I am! I think it's about 49 yrs old so it has over a decade on me lol)


Other than the Victoria Sandwich everything else I made was my first time baking them. Normally I stick to easy stuff like chocolate chip cookies XD but I think it turned out pretty well and everyone seemed to like them. The mini cupcakes were given away to random people out picnicking near us since there was too much food and we couldn't finish them.

And just for fun a photo of the egg & spoon race and us having fun