The May Mac Attack challenged us to create a macaron inspired by a beloved childhood book. One of the books that I loved growing up was From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg.

When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn’t just want to run from somewhere she wants to run to somewhere–to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and preferably elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Claudia usually spent her weekly allowance on a hot fudge sundae and she had to sacrifice three weeks of hot fudge sundaes to save enough for the train fare into NYC.

In the meantime, she almost forgot why she was running away. But not entirely. Claudia knew that it had to do with injustice. She was the oldest child and the only girl and was subject to a lot of injustice. Perhaps it was because she had to both empty the dishwasher and set the table on the same night while her brothers got out of everything. And, perhaps, there was another reason more clear to me than to Claudia. A reason that had to do with the sameness of each and every week. She was bored with simply being straight-A’s Claudia Kincaid. She was tired of arguing about whose turn it was to choose the Sunday night seven-thirty television show, of injustice, and of the monotony of everything.

I too grew up in a house with much injustice. We didn’t even have a dishwasher. And I too long to escape the monotony of everything. And, of course, if I was going to run away it would definitely have to be some place comfortable, beautiful and preferably elegant.

In fact, I think perhaps my love of travel and my need to try new recipes stems from my need to escape the sameness of each and every week. So I’m sure Claudia would be as happy as I was with these scrumptious Hot Fudge Sundae Macs I created in her honor.

I used the David Lebovitz Chocolate Macaron recipe that I’ve had success with before and I think they may be my best macs yet. The piped batter spread just enough so that the peak disappeared on most of the macs, but it still held it shape well. I got beautiful little feet and not ruffles.

My big mistake was that I forgot to put parchment on top of the macaron template and piped and baked them right on my ink jet printer paper. Luckily, with a little coaxing, they came off the paper.

I filled them with Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and topped them with our favorite hot fudge.

The hot fudge recipe is quick and easy to make, uses ingredients I always have in the pantry, and it turns out smooth and creamy every time. The recipe was given on the Martha Stewart’s show in 2002 as part of a Chocolate Profiteroles recipe and we’ve been making it ever since.

Chocolate macs are my family’s favorite mac and these were really fun to make and eat. Our favorite way to eat them was open faced or crumbled on top of the ice cream then drizzled with hot fudge. So this would be a perfect way to serve any imperfect macs you might make.

Yield: about 1 1/2 cups

Hot Fudge Sauce

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Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 3 minutes

Total Time 8 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup light cream or evaporated milk
• 1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Combine cocoa powder, sugar, corn syrup, light cream, salt and butter in a small saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a full boil.
2. Boil briskly for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.
3. The sauce may be stored, refrigerated in an airtight, heatproof container for up to 1 week.
4. To reheat, place the container of sauce in a pan of hot, but not boiling, water until the sauce warms and thins to a pouring consistency.