Heaven on Earth

Heaven on Earth

Friday, August 13, 2010

What's Up Doc?

Summer Flick was the theme for this month's Mac Tweet challenge and our favorite movie is the inspiration for our macaron this month. 

My all-time favorite movie is what the movie industry terms a screwball comedy. 

It's What's Up Doc?, starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neil, made in 1972 and set in San Francisco  A remake of the old classic, Bringing up Baby, I think What's up Doc? is much more entertaining.  It will have you laughing so hard you'll cry.
Here's the You tube link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3ncFob_dF0http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3ncFob_dF0
Howard Bannister (played by Ryan O’Neal) travels to San Fransisco with his fiance to compete for a musicology research grant, when he runs into a wild, unpredictable college drop out, Judy (Barbra Streisand),who brings "havoc and chaos everywhere she goes." Howard, Judy, wealthy Mrs. Van Hoskins and reporter Mr. Smith - the latter two who are staying at the same hotel as Howard - all have the identical red plaid overnight bag respectively carrying Howard's igneous rocks, Judy's clothes, Mrs. Van Hoskins jewels and top secret government documents, the latter two which are eyed by others who are trying to get their hands on the contents.  Howard is of course depending on these rocks in his plaid bag  to win him the grant.  Add to this a case of mistaken luggage, a jewel theft, and some government spies, and several plot twists. You must see this movie.  It is side-splitting hilarity. 

My initial response was to try and make carrot macarons, but then I thought about these...Pop Rocks candy.  Igneous rocks.....Pop Rocks.  Of course.

Have you ever eaten Pop Rocks candy? They are small pieces of hard candy that pop in your mouth when they get wet (think Rice Krispie candy), they snap and crackle and pop in your mouth.
 I bought some strawberry Pop Rocks.  I had some dried strawberries from Just Tomatoes.  They make dehydrated fruit and veggies.  I whizzed the dried strawberries up in my blender; mixed 3 Tablespoons of dried strawberry dust into the almond meal, piped them and sprinkled more Pop Rocks
 on the tops, which of course melted.   I got little feet.  Not my best feet, but I was baking at 5800 ft. above sea level so I don't know if that had anything to do with it.  I need to work on the feet a little more here at the homestead and maybe tweek this recipe just a bit to accomodate the dried fruit dust.

I sprinkled more Pop Rocks on the inside bottoms and drizzled them with bittersweet chocolate to keep them from coming in contact with the wetter filling.  I let the chocolate harden and them made a filling with cream cheese, vanilla, and more strawberry dust.  Just in case we didn't have enough strawberry flavor, I cut very thin slices of fresh strawberry rounds and sandwiched them between the chocolate and cream cheese.

Boy were these good!  A little messy to eat because of the fresh strawberry slice, but we loved the banana macaron I made a while back so I thought,"Why not strawberry?"  These were a hit with the family.  They have so much flavor and the little drizzle of chocolate and the cream cheese filling helps cut the sweetness.  I might have added a little bit of red coloring but I forgot to bring it with me.  Be sure to get these slowly.  Let them melt in your mouth.  The Pop Rocks begin to pop and dance on your tongue, which is a nice little surprise.

These were the most fun macarons I have made to date.  Thanks Deeba and Jamie, for another great challenge.


POP on over to Mac Tweets  on August 20th and see what inspiration the other members came up with this month.

UPDATE:  These were one of the best tasting macarons I have made to date, however,.........
They did not hold up well.  The strawberry slice is too moist.  The day after, they still tasted great, but they were messy.  The drier banana worked better, but the strawberry can't be beat for taste.

11 comments:

  1. Sooooo fun! And they look pretty too.

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  2. Your macs have all sorts of great taste sensations going on! I love the strawberry slice right in the middle:) They turned out GREAT!

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  3. Very cool - great idea using the pop rocks. I just had some at a fancy masterclass in a dessert as well. They do add an unexpected element don't they.

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  4. This is such a fun idea. Who doesn't love strawberries and chocolate. I'm going to have to put this movie on my Netflix list. I'm not sure I've ever seen.

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  5. Love your creatvity and all the work you put into the flavors. The Pop Rocks idea was inspired. I love the movie as well.

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  6. I l♥ve pop rocks and I love the way you brought these together! What an absolutely cool idea! Great pairing ... film, feet, flavours ... all wonderful!
    {IMHO any feet are good! I can't seem to find any! LOL!}

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  7. Such creative macs! I love pop rocks, they look beautiful melted on the macaron shells! Your strawberry macs look delicious!

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  8. I have two frat boys in college and I think these will be a big hit with them. thanks for sharing.

    Plan B

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  9. What a fun mac to make with Pop Rocks. It definitely screams Summer.

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  10. What a fun clever way to use Pop Rock. It certainly screams Summer.

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