MACTWEETS: April 2011

Thursday, April 28, 2011

MacAttack #18 ... Round Up - Everything is coming up Decadently Chocolate

SINFULLY CHOCOLATE

Who dares deny the seductive power of chocolate? Luxurious, decadent, sinful, addictive are only a few of the words that come to mind when this most wonderful of flavors is mentioned. Passion, temptation, bliss the emotions stirred up when offered a taste. Whether dark and bitter, milk and creamy light or white and smoothly subtle, the aroma whirls up and stops us in our path, we close our eyes and breath in, our imagination roiling with lust, our taste buds tingling with desire. Love is a wonderful thing, but when love brings you chocolate the world stops spinning and the gates of heaven, for so many, open.

And what doesn't taste better with chocolate? Covered, drenched, oozing, dripping, rolled in chocolate, spices, fruit, nuts, almost everything is enhanced by this most perfect marriage. Now follow the chocolate trail left behind by our MacPassionate Bakers just to tempt you. You get the idea....

Deeba @ Passionate About Baking with Chocolate Macarons with Strawberry Fresh Mint & Lime Sorbet

Arthi @ Soul Curry with Chocolate Excess Macarons

Victoria @ The District Chocoholic with Triple Chocolate Macarons

Lora @ Diary of a Mad Hausefrau with Chocolate Dandelion Macarons

KG with Chocolate Lady Gray Macarons

Lady Macaron 20ten with Dutch Cocoa and Marshmallow Macarons

Roller Scraper @ My Pink Kitchen with Strawberry balsamic brown sugar chocolate ganache macarons

Astral @ The Art of Being Perfect with Easter Oreo Macarons

Mardi @ Eat Live Travel Write with Choc-mint macarons and plain macarons with chocolate ganache

Hi Cookery with Chocolate macarons with Whiskey-White Chocolate Ganache filling

Amrita @ The Sweet Art with Inverted S'more Macarons

Mira @ Marmottes et Chocolat with Dark Chocolate Macarons with White Chocolate and Hibiscus Ganache, Strawberry and Champagne Jelly

Poires Au Chooclat with Chocolate Easter Egg Macarons with Dark Chocolate Ganache and a Popping Candy Surprise Inside

Mamatkamaal @ Moroccan Cuisine Morracaine with Chocolate and Almond Macarons

Shaz @ Test With Skewer with Cinammon, Chocolate, Pomegranate Macaron

Tina @ My Domestic Inner Bliss with Matrimonial Macarons

Lea @ Aeroflotreh with Dark Chocolate-Espresso Macarons

Janna @ Try It You Might Like It with Chocolate Marble Macarons

Kim @ Macaron Fetish with Salty Mint Choc' Macaron

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets with Snicker Macarons

@lifesafeast and @vindee

Sunday, April 03, 2011

Mac Attack #18 ... EVERYTHING IS COMING UP CHOCOLATE!

DECADENTLY CHOCOLATE!

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.
- Charles M. Schulz

As John Q. Tullius once said, "Nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth person always lies." And even the most ardent of all macaron haters simply cannot refuse, cannot dislike, cannot but enjoy the perfect chocolate macaron. Yes, for most of us chocolate is the nec plus ultra, the ultimate flavor, perfection itself. It is addictive and sensual, soothing and sublime. We are happy to sit quietly hour after hour and eat gooey brownies, elegant truffles, bon bons one after the next, creamy, dreamy puddings, a slice of rich, decadent chocolate cake dripping with ganache. The addition of nuts or dried fruit or liqueur only serves to heighten the flavor of the chocolate and the sense of delight. No one, I say, no one will or can say no. A gorgeous chocolate macaron, tasting of brownie in one little mouthful, that delicate crack as one bites down into the shell and then quickly finding oneself pulled into the dense, chewy, rich center. Yes, a chocolate macaron is pure heaven!

So, of course, with Easter quickly upon us, Spring (or Autumn) arriving at a gallop and Spring Break not far behind, what better solace from the rambunctiousness and turmoil of the season or what better celebratory feast than chocolate?

This month of April, the MacKitchen is being devoted to chocolate. Chocolate Macarons are taking over!

Now asking you to create a simple chocolate macaron is just too easy for a Mac Attack, isn’t it?! So we want to up the challenge by asking each of you to create something sensational, surprising, unique, something beautiful, delectable, tantalizing, something worthy of a Mac Attack! Use chocolate in some form, some way, whether in the shells or the filling or even both, but blend it, mix it, shake it up with another flavor or two, a spice or a fruit, something sweet or spicy or tart, anything with an alcoholic kick, a novel ingredient which will add texture or flavor or color, something, anything which will accentuate, complement the chocolate flavor and make for one spectacular mac!

Everything is coming up Decadently Chocolate... be inspired! Make sure that your April Macarons have something chocolate about them!

Here are the rules of the game:

1. Once you have posted your Mac Attack macarons on your blog, make sure that you mention the Mactweets Mac Attack challenge in your post and link back to the Mactweets blog. Please make sure that your Mac Attack #18 macarons are inspired by the theme!

2. Please link back to this challenge on your post.

3. Feel free to promote the Mactweets blog by proudly displaying the Mactweets badge in your Mac Attack post as well as in your sidebar! It isn't mandatory but is a nice way to get the word out!

4. Have your Decadently Chocolate Macs posted on your own blog by April 25, 2011. And being just a little bit late never hurt anybody...

5. Once your post is up, simply leave the link to the post as a comment to this Mac Attack Challenge post!

The round up will be posted on or about May 1, 2011!

@lifesafeast and @vindee

Friday, April 01, 2011

Round up Macttack #17 ... Sugar & Spice & everything nice...and Fruity

"Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity."
Voltaire

In like a lion, out like a lamb? The food passionate tend to think of the passing calendar and welcome the changing seasons not in terms of animals but rather by what they see at the market. And this change of season from Winter to Spring or from Summer to Autumn, depending on where you are, is measured in fruit. We say goodbye to oranges and grapefruit, figs and pears and get ready for cherries, peaches and plums. We wait impatiently for the first strawberries and raspberries, grab up the late-season tangerines, revel in one more dish with pomegranates and the excitement has already set in! And, of course, as bakers and cooks we cannot think of fruit without wondering which herbs or spices will marry best with our favorite berries, citrus or stone fruit.

And this month of March as she makes way for April has us back in our MacKitchens selecting the perfect fruit and pairing it with the perfect spice, or maybe even two, creating something with which to weather the changing weather, to nibble on as we feel the change of the breeze from warm to cool or back again, something exciting, vibrant and flavorful to jazz up, add a little zip to this usually turbulent period of the year.

And we have! The March Mac Attack challenge had us each cooking up something sweet and fruity with a dash of spice, something sensational to start off the new season! Here, once again, is the amazing roundup! It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?