Donna Hay Almond Macaron with Chocolate Filling

I was walking through the aisles in the supermarket the other day and something that I hadn't noticed before in the baking section caught my eye - Donna Hay's Macaron Mix. Now, I'm not normally one for packet mixes but since it was the last one left on the shelf I thought that it  must be pretty good so into my trolley it went.  I know that some bakeries also use powdered macaron mixes so a bit like Alice I was somewhat curious and curiouser to see what all the fuss was about. Could I make magnificent macarons or would they be a total disaster?  Not content with following the instructions I took the chance to add my own little twist and I was prepared for failure. I followed most of Donna's instructions on the box but added 1 tablespoon of freeze dried raspberries to the almond mix and a squirt of rose pink food colouring to the egg mix.  I also added a bit of pink bling to the shells before placing them in the oven.  To the ganache, I added 1 teaspoon of Demerara sugar and squirted in a couple of drops of rose essence.  This could go really pear shaped I thought but here's what happened.

Donna's magic mixes

Preparing the egg mix

All whipped up 

Waving my magic wand 

I just can't resist and have to pipe these little darlings - I can't plop them on with a teaspoon despite the box telling me so

Pretty little feet dancing in the oven

Preparing the ganache

Pink Raspberry & Rose Macarons - can you believe these are from a packet mix?

You've been a very bad, bad girl ladymacaron!  Instead of going to all the trouble to make macarons from scratch you've cheated for this Mactweets entry and made a packet mix!  And, if that wasn't bad enough it took you half the time to make up a normal batch - shame on you!  Well, girls I've decided that if you've got friends coming over at the last minute and you desperately want macarons then you need one of these little boxes hidden inside your cupboard.  You can whip up some gorgeous macarons at a whim and still look like the beauty queen that you are.  Next time however,  I'd cook the macarons at a lower temperature 135 to 140 degrees Celsius (fan-forced) for approx. 17 - 19 minutes and use a white chocolate ganache as I find the dark chocolate in macarons a bit too rich.  This packet mix has the thumbs up from me...  sorry for cheating, I promise I'll make macarons from scratch next time!