Unsurprisingly, a lot of eggs get cracked in my house. And a lot of egg boxes come and go, in all shapes and colours. They’re delivered in hundred plus packs, wrapped in clear packaging, under the watchful and confused gaze of the security guard, who is now convinced that we’re keeping chickens in our studio apartment.
Egg white, the most important ingredient in a macaron, is the gloopy beating heart of Alice’s Bakery. And the egg box packaging we use is a protective little reminder of that. Egg yolk, however, is the sworn enemy – one tiny spec can turn what-would-be stiff peaks into limp mounds. I’m kind of fed up of the by-products too – I’ve made enough hollandaise, mayonnaise and lemon curd to lubricate the entire London Underground for another 150 years.
But standing bum to bum each Saturday with a vegan market trader, who can’t eat macarons, got me thinking about making some egg-free ones. And so I nonchalantly promised to whip some up for next week.
I stocked up on Orgran egg replacer, pectin, xanthan gum and stuck my chemistry goggles on – surely this mix of bizarre ingredients can’t taste good. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to find out. My macarons sunk into a seriously sorry state (salami like photo evidence below).
I’ll be walking on egg shells until I crack this one – so if there are any vegan bakers out there willing to share their tips, please, please do. I would hate to be left with egg on my face. OK. Dad yolks over.
In good news, I’ve just had some beautiful heart-shaped egg boxes delivered for my Valentine’s day packaging. We’ll be delivering on Thursday 13th and Friday 14th so get in touch if you’d like to say I love you with macarons this year.
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Alice's Bakery 