Strawberry-Vanilla-Bean Macs for MACTWEETS Mac Attack #10 - A SUMMER FLICK

I thought black background might me good...obviously I was wrong.

MACS in the oven ;-)

Waiting to get the skin.

Remember the famous theme music? tan tan tantan...tan tan tantan...yp that's mission impossible one of my favourite flicks of all time. I somehow love action movies more than 'S' does. Hot guys make everything possible from jumping off a building, driving high speed vehicles, using hi-fi gadgets and also romancing chicks amidst all high-octane drama, not to forget their perfect 6-pack abs even in difficult times. Some of my favourites include Bond movies like Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Casino Royale...then the blue-eyed boy mel gibson's Lethal Weapon, gorgeous Bruce Willis's Die Hard series, Arnold's Terminator series...the Sci-fi flicks like Jurassic Park, Independence Day, X-files, Gattaca. I still remember...when Jurrasic Park was released we went to watch it with other kids as a school trip, then watched it again with my parents, my friends and have watched it gazillion times on tele and still will watch it every-time its aired. I dont think I will be ever tired of watching these flicks, curling up on my sofa with a big tub of spicy buttery popcorn. I have to admit I am big time movie buff and thank god that 'S' shares my liking except that some of his favourites are way too boring. (Gowd how can someone watch Startrek TOS..yawn yawn). Just when you thougt I am hopeless in matters of heart...I also love mushy romantic movies, animated and bollywood flicks but would need a separate post to mention my favourites. But will mention (Jamie this one is for ya!) Pretty Women...how gorgeous does Julia Roberts look in that?
This month Mac Attack challenge was to create that perfect macaroon inspired by a movie, an impossible mission at times! These Macaroons, they have a mind of their own too! So this month to make this Mission Impossible  possible I tried to make them with my Lethal ingredients like strawberry-vanilla inspired by romantic flicks and dark chocolate inspired by sci-fi/action flicks. Wild gone wilder recipe, but the Macs turned out perfect. They got their Happy Feet and did a bit of Dirty Dancing, while some were Gone in 60 seconds (not literally)! I love this summer flick idea, thanks to  Mardi of eat.live.travel.write,as the possibilities and inspirations are endless. I enjoyed my saturday watching Predetor 2, Lethal Weapon 3 and a bollywood flick!
Strawberry-Vanilla-Bean Macaroon adapted from mytartlette
Ingredients
For powdered strawberries:1/2 cup strawberries
For the macaron shells:Egg whites - 45 grms 
Granulated Sugar - 15 grms 
Powdered Sugar - 100 grms 
Ground Almonds - 55 grms 
a pinch cream of tarter
Vanilla beans scrapped from a beanPowdered Strawberries
Pink food colouring Method:
For the strawberries:
Hull and slice the strawberries and place over a kitchen towel cut side down and leave this in an air-tight container overnight. I found this step extremely useful as the strawberries were very fresh and I knew if I left them in the oven they would leave out a lot of juice. The towels soak most of the juice.
Preheat your oven to 150C and place the strawberry slices in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet and let them dry in the oven for about one hour. Let them cool completely. Powder these in a coffee grinder/mixer.For the macarons: Whisk the aged egg whites (I aged them for 5 days in the fridge) until foamy, gradually adding sugar and cream of tarter until a glossy peaks. Pulse the almonds, vanilla beans,powdered sugar, few drops of colour and powdered strawberries processor until finely ground. This is very important to get the strawberry bits extra fine and also incorporate the colour. Add them to whites, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a homogeneous batter. Fill a piping bag with a plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds using a template onto parchment paper or lined baking sheet. I got about 12 Macaroons out of the above quantity. Let the macarons sit out for for an hour or so to form a skin. Preheat oven to 150C and bake for about 20 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool. Transfer to a wire rack and cool further.
For the Chocolate Ganache:
Ingredients
Dark Chocolate 75 grams
Heavy Cream 1/4 cup
Method:
Heat cream in a pan and pour over broken chocolate and whisk until the chocolate melts. Leave to cool.
To pipe fill a piping bag with cooled ganache and pipe onto cooled macaroon shells. Let them cool a bit in the fridge for the icing to set.

Verdict: These are by far best macaroons I have ever made...The chewy shells and the smooth dark chocolate ganache were pure indulgence, a perfect combo. I was a bit worried about using the strawberry powder in the macaroons but trusted helen and followed her steps, although I did leave it for a bit longer in the oven.