Out of Africa or Take a Walk on the Wild Side Mac Attack 8 Challenge

So the MacTweets challenge this month has to do with wild animals !  The challenge -"All aboard! The Mactweets Express leaves this month for adventure! Board along with us at your own peril, take your life into your own hands for if you come along with us to the Savannah, the desert, the forest or the jungle, as you choose, you can only survive by creating a macaron inspired by the wild animal of your choice, whether beast or bird, but well armed with the right equipment and a enough patience, you shall succeed and make it out of the dangerous wilderness of your kitchen alive! "

I thought  lions or tigers or bears oh my-but one of my favorite animals is the giraffe. I have always thought they were so graceful and I envied their height and long legs-things I have lusted for my whole life !  And their coats-those beautiful camouflage spots. And something I never knew about them is they have a super short sleep requirement anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours in a 24 hour period !  I would never look that spectacular after 2 hours of sleep !!

The wheels started turning when I was trying to figure out how to create a macaron giraffe.  I was going to do some type of spotted design  but I was fearful because so far I have enough trouble just creating normal macarons much less trying to add even more to the mix.  I remembered I had ordered some food coloring pens by KopyKake and thought ..hmm could I draw the giraffe pattern on the top of the macaron after baking without effecting the texture and quality ?   Surprise !  Yes I could .  So I sat down with my trusty orange colored KopyKake pen and hand sketched the giraffe coat onto a dozen of my chocolate macarons. I'm  happy with the results -what do you think ?

A side note to this I finally found a recipe and instructions that resulted in successful macarons and now I love Hisako Ogito and his "I Love Macarons" book !!  After using his basic recipe I waited patiently and with much anticipation for the oven timer to go off so I could see if I had created the elusive pied (foot) of the macaron along with the smooth glossy top. HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH !   Even on a rainy day in Seattle I got the macarons I have been trying to create.  I know there is lots of room for improvement but you have no idea what a great feeling it was to open that oven door and see those little feet and see the rise of the macaroon along with the glossy top.  Nothing can stop me now - I'm hooked ! Buy this book - it is fantastic - I followed his instructions to the T and success !

I used his basic vanilla macaron recipe and added 2 tablespoons of dutch process cocoa powder to the almond and powder sugar mix.  I wanted a light brown/beige color for my little giraffes .  The filling is Pierre Herme's chocolate ganache recipe (Pierre is the King of Macarons after all so I must include him in my baking endeavors ! )

Bon Appetit !