Get Baked: Adriano Zumbo salted caramel macaron mix review

 So the other day I finally tested out the Adriano Zumbo macaron mix that's been sitting in my pantry for about 6 weeks. From memory, they are easier than the Donna Hay mix I've tried before (just add water!... and maybe a bit of butter) and definitely more 'beginner/lazy person friendly'.

In the box: salted caramel mix, almond flour mix, icing mix, cardboard ring for tracing and 2 piping bags. This is definitely a big plus in my books- the one pain in the ass thing about making macarons is getting them the same size to be able to pair them up, so marking out the sizing on baking paper and being able to pipe them out instead of dolloping them out using a spoon makes this a heck of a lot easier.

I had a bit of a giggle at the fact that Adriano knows that there will be some screw ups. The instructions say that the mix will allow you to pipe at least 40 cases.... then pick your best 30 and pair them up. I was like screw that, these things are so delicious I'm pairing up the crappy ones too.

The first batch I put in the oven looked pretty good aside from the fact that for some reason (probably the heat distribution from the fan... or whatever) that the cases only developed 'feet' on one side. Also, looks can be deceiving; I baked these for 14 minutes since I didn't want to burn them (instructions say 14-18minutes) but after letting the cases cool and attempting to remove them, half of the filling was left on the paper and I had 2 batches of almost hollow shells (oh well, more room for that sweet, sweet icing).

Below is what happens when you pipe out your cases, remember you have to go have coffee with someone, put them in the fridge and then pop them in the oven over 2 hours later. They don't rise evenly, and basically turn out looking like mini volcanoes. So I don't recommend doing that. But again, so tasty it doesn't matter.

Finished product above. All in all I think I made about 20 or so (including all the misshapen ones). They are super tasty and keep well in the fridge for a few days (not going to lie, I've been having these for breakfast). Again, they get big points for the sizing ring and piping bags included and I'll definitely be trying these again in the passionfruit flavour. Yum!

Get baked

On Thursday during my lunch break on a trip to Woolies for afternoon snacks, I whizzed past the baking aisle to see that the Donna Hay macaron mixes were on special and figured I'd give them a go. They are relatively simple to make, as traditional macaron recipes require you to measure out all the ingredients precisely (weight wise, not volume wise) but this mix just comes in little sachets and all you need to add is some water and cream. 

The only trouble I had was that the lids didn't rise properly to create the little 'feet' they should have (my friend later mentioned that the Donna Hay magazine says you should tap the bottom of the tray to remove air bubbles- Gee, thanks for excluding that little tip on the box) and a lot of the filling kind of burst/ran out of the sides. Although, that was easily fixed I just removed the overflow and was left with reasonably round shapes to work with. 

The 'ganache' was more like cake icing, so I put them in the fridge and boy do they taste amazing once the filling has chilled a bit. They're not overly sweet, but are quite filling. So if you've ever wanted to try making your own macarons, but have been put off by all the fiddly processes and ingredients, I highly recommend you give this a try :)

Melbourne via Instagram.

So for the last 2 weeks I've been over in Melbourne for work and since I'm lazy I didn't bring my camera with me so I thought I'd do another my-life-according-to-instagram post.


We ended up having to work an extra day so I didn't get to do as much wandering around the city as I would have liked (kicking myself for not taking more photos of the street art), but we did end up getting to the football and some rooftop bars on a chilly night.


I kind of lost my shopping mojo while I was over there, which I guess is a good thing, since I'll have more moolah for Hong Kong at the end of the year :)


Chai and macarons from Brunetti. Eagles vs Cats. Botox @ the Croft Institute. Old distiller also @ Croft. Post night out breakfast (at lunch time). Post-post night out breakfast cupcake from Little Cupcakes. Room service wagyu beef burger. All the crap I managed to fit in my handbag. Bentley inside Thoroughbred. More macarons.

The Melbourne Diaries- Day 1, 2 & 3

Day 1- Our flight got in at around 7am, and by the time we got the SkyBus to our hotel in peak traffic it was around 8:30am. Of course we couldn't check in yet, so we went gallivanting in search of breakfast (2 eggs on toast any way you like for $5.50!) Found some delish macarons, browsed some cute and eclectic stores, indulged in Krispy Kremes. Moseyed on down to Fed Square and had a quick stroll by the river then back to the hotel for a much needed afternoon nanna nap. Hoped to go see the Disney art exhibit at the ACMI, but we were a few minutes too late and ended up watching the free show at Fed Sq that night before hunting out some dinner (ended up at Nandos haha).

Day 2- Slept in until 10:30 (I think our bodies were still on WA time- and the hotel light blocking curtains didn't help!) Made our way on to Sally's Kitchen for coffees and lunch before heading to Docklands for a spot of DFO shopping together. The boy later left me to do my thing (shop for hours) while he ventured to the Crown and put his poker skills to good use and we met up later for dinner at an Indian restaurant. Ben like to be funny sometimes. This usually results in glasses being tipped over, bread baskets tumbling to the floor and the entire restaurant falling to an awkward silence :P it's why I love him.

Day 3- Breakfast at the lovely AIX Creperie on Centre Place, this alleyway is full of street art (actually most of the alleys are full of street art, but I think I heard a tour guide mention that this one is actually a commissioned/legal one). Further on down the lane I just could not go past Little Cupcakes and the pistachio mini cupcake was absolutely divine! Later on in the day I became a pseudo Essendon supporter for our outing to the MCG. I'm not usually into AFL but it was quite an exciting game to watch and squished in among 78,000 other people the atmosphere was quite amazing (if only I could repeat some of the heckles being yelled by the guy behind us haha) the nail biting game ended up being the 3rd draw for the 2011 season. Ben lost all his bets, although Fletcher gained him some decent Dream Team points. I think.

Partial photo credits to Ben :)