Patisserie 16: Rhubarb and Rose Buttercream Macarons

 Once I got back to my home kitchen, I was determined to prove that my improved macaronage and troubleshooting from previous macaron bakes were the culprits of my issues with this pastry. So I made a batch of macarons, intending to fill them with a rhubarb and ginger white chocolate ganache. 

Suffice to say, white chocolate behaves significantly differently than other types of chocolate, and my ganache was an utter failure. Basically, the lack of cacao content means that it sets softer and in general requires far less liquid to make a ganache; my resulting ganache, based on a recipe for dark chocolate, was way too liquid. But I baked up a batch of the macaron shells anyways, figuring I'd find some other type of filling for them the next day when I was less frustrated. 

Patisserie Intermission: Baking Abroad

 It's kind of odd that, despite a monthlong trip in Europe while unemployed sounds like a relaxing time, it was actually one of the least relaxing trips I've taken here. Herein lies the trap of letting your hobbies become your responsibilities: it will follow you home through the goodness of your heart wanting to help you improve. I got the itch to bake and write, and so, funded by my parents' desire to stop hearing me threaten to go home because I couldn't cook in their kitchen, I purchased a few bare bones pieces of equipment and was able to make some decent pastry explorations while there. 

In total, I bought: 

• A kitchen scale
• A rubber spatula
• A pastry brush
• A single silicone mold
• Food coloring
• A set of circle cutters
• A piping bag (13")
  
• A piping tip (round, 10mm)
• An offset spatula
  

And with those, I was able to make...