Last year I competed in a cookie bake-off at work, making chocolate raspberry french macaroons inspired by fading memories of tasting Pierre Hermé's creations in Paris in 2005.

Earlier this year I returned to Paris and partook of many more Hermé macarons that incorporated unusual flavors such as olive oil, white truffle, and grapefruit. I left newly inspired not only to make more of my own, but to strive for excellence and innovation in all my endeavors.

Only with the onset of cool weather and another impending bake-off have I gotten around to macarons again, but this time I intend to make a thorough study of these cookies and find out how far I can take them: I'm thinking of it as a meditation (rather than, say, an obsession, or a compulsion).

Although last year's results were tasty and good for a first try, there are several specific areas that had room for improvement:

• Shell Texture: my shells had the requisite "feet" and avoided some apparently common trouble spots such as cracking, but they were flatter than they should be. I also need to practice piping out a consistent size and shape.


• Shell Appearance: most cooks try to make their food look good by natural means, but when it comes to macaroons, the color and decoration are a big part of the experience. Hermé achieves intense colors and glittery effects on some flavors. Last year I put in some red coloring, but it pretty much disappeared when the shells were done baking.


• Filling: I made a dark chocolate ganache with strained raspberry juice, let it set in the refrigerator, and then spread it on with a knife. Hermé pipes it on, achieving a perfect fat cylinder shape. He also uses a lot; I don't think I had enough and the crumbling shell may have actually prevented enough of the filling from reaching the taste buds.

Last year I used a combination of elements from a recipe in The Sweet Life, a dessert cookbook, and this recipe from Epicurious. The first thing I've done this year is to research any other recipes out there for any differences in technique.

You can't accuse Pierre Hermé of being too secretive. He has several cookbooks, but the recipe for his most famous Ispahan macaroons is right there on the web from a restaurant industry magazine.

A few other resources: Foodbeam is written by a French woman who did a one week internship at Hermé. She doesn't give away many details, but does talk about the process of filling and closing, and has lots of photos and descriptions of different flavors.

Mad Baker is written by a woman in Singapore who makes all sorts of pastries, including macaroons, and sells them from her website. It's clear that she's done a lot of experimentation, both with techniques and flavors, and that she achieves brilliant results. She doesn't give much away either, but has made some helpful comments.

(To be continued)