Sunday, October 30, 2016

Sweetness (& GLITTER!) on Sunday

Something a little special for you today, readers!! And something I'm particularly proud of!  I'm sure most of you have seen this gorgeous cover. This book with it's bright bold shocks of color, it's nod to Marie Antoinette, and it's very bizarre twist on Versaille court-life---the second I saw it, I wanted nothing more than to make french macarons to match!! :D Now, I'm a fairly skilled baker, if I do say so myself, but these blasted cookies have continually eluded me. I've had three failed attempts to get them to come out looking pretty AND achieving the perfect texture balance of crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside. Well, inspired by this desire to make the cover-inspired cookies, I decided to give them yet another try. And LOOK!! :D I did it! ♥♥♥

As for the recipe, I'm actually just going to point you right to the blog that helped me finally achieve this success. The tips I learned here were invaluable and when followed to the tee, I think they will give anyone brave enough to attempt them, a beautiful batch of french macarons! Check it out here:
http://entertainingwithbeth.com/foolproof-french-macaron-recipe/

I filled these with a lemon buttercream filling:
•2 sticks of room-temperature butter
•4 cups of powdered sugar
•1 tsp vanilla
•1/4 tsp salt
•lemon extract, 1-2 tsp (add a little at a time until you get your preferred flavor!)
Mix all ingredients in a stand mixer for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl often. Pipe or use a teaspoon to drop a mound of buttercream onto one side of each macaron shell. Sandwich two shells together.  For these, I also dusted the buttercream edges with purple edible glitter to bring in the colors of the book cover :D

That's all there is to it!! Bon appetit!

Outside the palace of Versailles, it’s modern day. Inside, the people dress, eat, and act like it’s the eighteenth century—with the added bonus of technology to make court life lavish, privileged, and frivolous. The palace has every indulgence, but for one pretty young thing, it’s about to become a very beautiful prison.

When Danica witnesses an act of murder by the young king, her mother makes a cruel power play . . . blackmailing the king into making Dani his queen. When she turns eighteen, Dani will marry the most ruthless and dangerous man of the court. She has six months to escape her terrifying destiny. Six months to raise enough money to disappear into the real world beyond the palace gates. 

Her ticket out? Glitter. A drug so powerful that a tiny pinch mixed into a pot of rouge or lip gloss can make the wearer hopelessly addicted. Addicted to a drug Dani can sell for more money than she ever dreamed.

But in Versailles, secrets are impossible to keep. And the most dangerous secret—falling for a drug dealer outside the palace walls—is one risk she has to take. 

Random House BYR  •  Hardcover, 384 pages  •  October 25th, 2017

Purchase book:  Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon 


Until next time,




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