Masterchef Australia has really raised the bar in thousand of houses around Australia. Raising it so high that mealtimes can become a mystery box Olympics. Invite me for dinner and I’m seriously expecting you to serve Twice baked cheese souffle, Roast Duck Breast with Wild Flower Salad, Chocolate Fondant with Amaretto Milkshake and Pina Coladas. Forget steak and three veg.


Recently Jeff and I went to the Lindt shop on Collins Street and had their macaroons, that they like to call Delice. Call em what you like, they’re delice-ious! So yesterday, Jeff and I decided to venture into the newly renovated kitchen determined to make French Almond Macaroons. I found a recipe on taste.com for macaroons with orange blossom and mandarin rind buttercream and another with rose and berry buttercream fillings. It all seemed easy enough, but, visually, the result wasn’t exactly what I’d hoped for. Here’s what they’re supposed to look like.

So what went wrong? The piping of the biscuits, for sure – note to self, try not to make biscuits look like dog turds. They were slightly overcooked, looking at the colour. The taste, however, was perfect and the texture was nice and crunchy on the outside and wonderfully squidgy and chewy towards the centre.