Mini Egg Macaroons

Macarons/Macaroons Take 2

Despite the hit and [mainly] miss results of my first attempt, I am hoping that this is all down to practice, rather than the recipe [including my almond reduction, so I could be very, very wrong!], so I followed the method again and having already had a go, I did feel more relaxed.  Rather than complicate with different pretty Spring pastels added to the mixture, I also stuck to the creation of one colour.  Or rather, no colour, which equals almond/cream. 

I didn't cut my cupcake case bottoms to use as guide either, instead I used a cookie cutter as a guide and traced the outlines on to the back of parchment paper:

Having learnt from my first attempt that the mixture expands a little more than you'd expect, I felt
I gauged the amount to pipe better and a little more even/uniform in shape:

 

When ready to bake I did keep the oven door ajar, turning the macaroons after 2 minutes to
reduce the browning of my first attempt and swapping shelves to ensure an even bake
[or as even as I could manage]:

I also left them to cool for longer on the paper before transferring to the wire rack to try and limit the damage to the bottoms when peeling off the parchment.

Once cool, I added a small drop of melted white chocolate to half of the successful tops and added a mini egg, leaving to dry and stick:

 ...and I went for a whipped cream filling again:

...and my result was 12 macaroon tops = 6 full macaroons!  Better.

I'm really pleased that I seem to have learnt from my first attempt...so this just makes me want to 

try again! ...but I don't think I'll inflict another experiment on my family yet:

I think I am going in the right direction, so the next occassion that give me an excuse to try again, I'll be taking!  I have so many decoration ideas for these, but I am understanding that having the method and results right at the basic level is so important before I get carried away with the appearance!  As always, any tips - I'd love to know!