Mactweets Challenge – Macboobies for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Jamie and Deeba, those wonderful gals over at Mactweets dedicated this month’s challenge to Pink for Breast Cancer awareness month. We were tasked with creating a Pinkaron.

These Macboobies are a tribute to the Feel Your Boobies campaign founded by fellow Ithaca College alumni, Leigh Hurst. Feel your boobies is not about just reminding women to do self examinations. They encourage women to feel their breasts often to be observant of any changes that may occur.

Once I got past the visual gag of these Macboobies shells, I thought hard about what to fill them with.  I did a bit of research on breast healthy foods. Flax seed and lemons and oranges are on the list. Butter is also there on some  as it is rich in CLA. However, it’s a no no on others. I went with the butter is breast healthy peeps and created two different buttercreams for fillings.  For the pink Macboobies, I used orange and lemon buttercream. For the chocolate ones I made a vanilla flax seed version.

The feet on the pink ones . not so good but the chocolate ones, much better.* I used Tartelette’s recipe for the pink ones and David Lebowitz’s recipe for the chocolate macarons.

*Disclaimer:  I am in no way initiating a Tartelette/Lebovitz macaron recipe smackdown. The state of all feet on macarons on this blog past and future are all my fault in execution and have zero to do with anyone’s recipes.

For the shells I used Tartelette’s recipe. (Use a kitchen scale for precise measurements)

• 3 egg whites – aged at least 2 days. Let them sit out on the counter uncovered.
• 25-50 grams of fine granulated sugar
• 200 grams of powdered sugar
• 110 Grams of almond flour*

• Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together or pulse them together briefly in a food processor. Make sure there are no large pieces and set aside. 
• Whip the egg whites. When they start to get foamy, slowly add the sugar. Continue whipping until you can turn the bowl upside down and nothing slides out. (I also add a pinch each of salt and cream of tartar)
• Add the powdered sugar/almond mixture to the egg white mixture and fold, using quick strokes at first then slow down.  No more than 50 strokes all together. The batter should have a “flowing like lava” consistency. Here is where I added a dab of pink gel food coloring. 
• Fill a Pastry bag and pipe circles onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or on a silpat. When I first started making macarons, I used to trace circles using a small cookies cutter onto the parchment. Then I would flip it over and use it as a guide for piping perfect circles.
• Let the macarons dry for about one hour until they harden.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
• Bake for 18-20 minutes.
• Let cool completely.

• 1/4 stick butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed orange juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 + 1/4 cups powdered sugar

• Cream the butter, juices and zest together. Add sugar a little at a time.

• 1/4 stick butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon powdered vanilla bean seeds
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 + 1/4 cups powdered sugar

• Cream the butter, milk, extract and powdered vanilla seeds together.Add sugar a little at a time.
• Oh and this one was a special request from my husband. While I was making these, he kept egging me on to pierce one.