Macaron buddies, if you’ve ever had disasters whilst macaron-making; this is your moment of joy! Look no further for you will no longer have to bin them or eat them grudgingly or be annoyed at how cracked up they are.
Turn it around, do something special for you, and your macarons. You will remain blessed for it!!!!!!!! Though it is called a rather awkward name, make no mistake; this tasty serving bears little resemblance to its other meanings like a sloppy or unappetizing preparation of food or a state of embarrassing confusion!
It is a fabulous dessert and is sure to elevate you to the ranks of gourmet cook when served up. The beauty of it is the time it takes to knock it together! Literally none…..done in minutes! There is also very little you can do to go wrong! Hence, the thumbs up!!!!!!!
Long before I succeeded at finding my feet with chocolate macarons, I knew I would fail in some aspects and I actually looked forward to that bit the most. For I knew already what I would do – make a chocolate and raspberry macaron mess, which is exactly what I did with my broken, cracked and un-presentable macarons!
This is modeled after the famous Eton Mess, traditionally, a combination of broken meringues, cream and strawberries. Of course, like with most things gastro, numerous variations now exist. Sometimes raspberries are used instead/in combination with strawberries, the cream may be ditched for Greek/Turkish yoghurt, crème fraiche, sour cream, ice cream or a combination of all of these and you’ll even find a few recipes with shots of wine and alcohol.
Of course, there are also people like me, who’ve made them before with store-bought meringues, as opposed to homemade! Forgive me. I’ll use the 3 kids excuse this time :-)!!!!
The last time I had Eton mess was in the autumn when we (the husband and I) went to London and so I decided that I would update this stat!
This version, ladies and gentlemen tasted amazing…if I might say so myself. The combination of broken-up chocolate macarons (in place of the meringues) is followed by a ‘raspberry mess’ of crushed raspberries, icing sugar, white chocolate liqueur, cream and crème fraiche. It is verrukelijk (superior Dutch for Delicious).
This is heading on over to MacTweets and Macattack 3. The challenge was ‘Out with the old, in with the new!’ Deeba and Jamie implored us to
DO SOMETHING OR ADD SOMETHING YOU’VE NEVER DONE BEFORE BUT HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO TRY!
“Maybe drying out fruit to create a flavor/color powder, try Italian meringue, try new flavor combos, try getting feet if you’ve never done that before… or use your macs to create a new dessert.
What you need
75g crushed/broken up (chocolate) macarons 200g whole raspberries 2 tablespoons icing sugar 40 ml cream 2 tablespoons crème fraiche 2 tablespoons chocolate liqueur (like Baileys Irish Cream or the White Liqueur in Tia Maria) To garnish: Mint leaves, whole raspberries and mini macaron halves
Traditionally, when making Eton Mess, all the ingredients are tossed together save for a few whole berries and meringue bits for garnish. This combination is then refrigerated for a couple of hours before serving.
In this case, when I made the ‘cream’, I didn’t add any macarons because I didn’t want them to go super soggy and form creamy cereal.
To make the cream, place all but 10-12 raspberries in a bowl and gently crush.
Combine with the sugar, liqueur, cream and crème fraiche.
Stir well to combine.
Then add the 10-12 whole raspberries. Stir again and place a lid over the cream/wrap some cling film over the top. Refrigerate till ready to serve.
It is best served in individual glasses….. so no one fights ! Place a spoonful of chocolate macarons at the base of each glass, followed by a spoonful of the creamy mixture. Repeat to make another layer and top finally with crushed macarons. Top with one or more of the garnishes and serve…. immediately.
Enjoy the rich, silky creaminess and freshness of the mess and the slightly bitter, often sweet bite of chocolate from the macs, which slips through ever so lightly.
Gobble up the whole raspberries, knowing that you’ve had 1 of your 5 a day!!!!!
I call it a tremendous balance between light, dark and ruby red!!!!
The freshness and light tartness of creme fraiche is balanced by the richness of the cream and evened out by the icing sugar to give a smooth, silky blend!
Feeling more confident that your disastrous Macs can find a place called home now? I am!!!!
Enjoy it. We did!
[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Chocolate and Raspberry Macaron Mess – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]
Thanks Velva, Ash!
Lauren, fantastic….nothing should go to waste and I’ll be honest, I would ruin PERFECT macs for this dessert cause if truth be told, I’ve had nicer cookies 🙂
Thanks Nic, Blond Duck.
Mary Moh….I loved being able to finally say, I’ve made macarons!
Pei-Lin, love food recycling!
Laura, yes Jamie and Deeba started MacTweets – all about the macaron!!!!
Kate, Shayma, Gracie – thanks
Thanks Carol
Trissa :-), I agree!
I am just loving the improvisation! When life gives you lemons make lemonade eh? Or rather – when life give you broken macarons – make the raspberry macaron mess!
Your photographs and description make me want to lick the screen. This looks amazing!
what an innovative idea! i love eton mess and this is JUST as yummy. Ozoz, you really do take really beautiful photos. x
Oh, man, I think I’ll make some failures just to do this with them! You’re a genius, hon!
Oh My Gosh!!! Looks so YUMMY!
I would much rather eat them this way. And I didn’t know Jamie and Deeba have something going on. Are they doing something new? I love them both!
Laura
LOL!! That sure is a great way to solve the “mac” problems! I’ve had failed macs in pots de creme!! Yummo!!
Salute you for making the macaroons even though you may think it’s a mess. I haven’t even taken up the challenge yet. I can only wonder what in the world will mine turn out the day when I decide to make them 😀
Those look amazing!
Great photos Oz, and a good way to use up the broken ones – I love the dessert!
To clarify, not because my macs were perfect, but because I’ve already thrown out all the broken ones 😉
I have to admit that I have done similar things with some of my macarons before, although nowhere near as prettily as yours.
Now I am just wondering if it is sacrilege to destroy some macarons for this dessert!
I love how this turned out!! This is one fine mess!!
This rocks! I love it.
Thanks everyone for your comments. I can see the world is a happier place for macaron lovers :-). Thanks.
They look beautiful to me! 🙂
I have said in the past and still say that I am not a huge fan of chocolate BUT, you have fruit and chocolate which I adore! Can’t wait to try…may have to first use store bought macaroons…
I tried making something with sweet little clementines, new for me. 🙂
I love that you name what we call plastic wrap “cling wrap” there. I am going to start using Euro English. 🙂
MMMMM,..;raspberry combined with chocolate is always an excellent combination!! How can you fail???
I so love messes & you are very funny & ooh so creative, girl!
You ROCK!!!
What an amazing post! I truly think this is the best dessert I’ve ever seen on a blog. My husband is a raspberry fanatic, and I’m a choco-aholic, so you’ve pretty much sent us to heaven. Now, if you’d just throw in some coffee…
Yum, raspberry and chocolate are my favourite dessert pairings. I love “messes”, and this one looks particularly awesome 🙂 Great job on the feet too.
Ozoz!! u are so funny and creative, I love the way u turned things around. I wld have just eaten them grumpily. :)beautiful pics!
So beautiful! Not sure when I’ll get around to making macarons, but I’m definitely trying this the next time I have a less than perfect batch of cookies!
Heel verruklijk, indeed!! En pragtige fotos 🙂
You have given me a confidence boost – even if I make macarons and they totally and utterly screw up, I can make this! Hurrah! (LOVE that Mozart chocolate cream liqueur, by the way…)
I have yet to try making macarons. Been reading too many disasters and I am never a baker.
But this makes me fear less. I might get the courage to do it.
You are such a clever creature! I cant tell you how many macs I’ve thrown away. Next time I’m going to try this.
One day, we are going to get this totally right my dahling!
*kisses* HH
p.s. thanks for the tips on the thermometer.
this is an ingenious idea! love it – i am a huge fan of the eton mess and to be honest i would break up perfect looking macarons to make this! nice!
Where I come from we have a saying, “Every fault is a fashion” How clever of you to set a trend for less than perfect macaroons.
That’s the way, AHA AHA, I like it!! This is dangerously delicious stuff Oz, and I wish mine had been like this, and not ‘binned’ after several attempts! Can’t wait for my next round of macmaking! I love your spirit & how beautifully you turned your ‘disaster’ around into this awesome Eton mess! KUDOS!!
Thank you for joining Jamie & me at MacTweets! Wonderful to have you with us!
These look amazing. Dare I say I might even like this better than regular macs!
What a relief! Even disasters can be delicious… GREG
Yum! This looks delicious! Love it, because you can say that you intended to make a mess of the macarons!
Isn’t it lovely when one disaster turns into a fabulous treat. Your photos are great.
Mimi
Wow! What a killer combination, I love chocolate and raspberries (who doesn’t?!) shall have to try this variation on the Eton Mess 🙂
Wow, love the idea! I will use it when finally trying to make my macarons! Love all those photos! Brilliant. 🙂
i was just thinking how when i start making macarons myself (when i’m home and have an oven), i’ll need to be prepared for a lot of waste! the last time i had failed meringues i threw them all away. don’t know why i didn’t think to ‘recycle’ it for my fav pudding – eton mess! thanks for reminding me how we can still be ‘green’ with our failures and turn them to something great! yum yum Ozoz xxx
ooohhh…I just drooled on my screen over your dessert. They are fabulously delicious looking. If only I can really lick it off my screen. Love your pics.
So beautiful! “Mess” seems hardly the right word!
I looove the chocolate and raspberry combination, and it really sounds quite healthy, as far as desserts go – not too much added fat or sugar!
Honestly, Oz, your photography seems to get better every time I look (which, I might point out, is daily). You’re putting Donna Hay and Delicious magazines to shame, girl!
You know what they say about life and lemons! You made lemonade all right. Eton Mess is actually one of our fave desserts around here!
You lovely, lovely soul. 🙂 Your mess is gorgeous! You’ve inspired me. 🙂
Looks delicious! I haven’t tried anything but the typical coconut macaroons-the chocolates look divine, even all squished up. Great photos, too. I love the action shots! I definitely need to get more creative with my photos.
This looks fabulous! My macarons were all hard and amaretti like but I’ve now sussed out I’ve been using the wrong type of sugar. Hopefully I won’t have any more disasters but if I do I’ll know what to do with them.
I cannot believe the level of detail you break your recipes down into. I always get sucked into what I’m doing and forget to pick up the camera again and suddenly realise I’ve forgotten to photograph about 3 stages!
What a simply gorgeous dessert. And such a great idea to have a recipe on hand so that macaron disasters are welcomed! I love Eton mess, and I’m so keen to give this version a try, I may even have to have another go at macarons!
They still look delicious decorated with raspberries.
So many of my macarons end up in stuff like this – last time I tried to make some, a whole tray ended up in cups with cream and fruit! Tasty way to go though 🙂
I love messy delicacy!
Your a braver woman than me, I have not tried making macaron’s yet, I certainly want to but still trying to figure out what the heck “feet” are. I love what you did with your less that perfect batch. I look forward to the post with perfect macarons.
I LOVE what you did with your “mess” – though I do see some feet in there too! I have been so disgusted with my own disasters that I have simple binned them. Next time I will follow your lead!
I have to come back a second time because all of the photos didn’t uplaod but oh lord this is fabulous! I just had a huge mac disaster and this is right up my alley! Gorgeous, scrumptious and brilliant! I love it! And sometimes disasters are truly a blessing in disguise!
What a genius idea honey! I’m sure many will need ideas on how to make use of feetless or nipple ridden mac’s (mine all came out with nipples)