I’ve been experimenting with the macaron recipe; trying to perfect it and play with different flavours. Sorry if all the recipes appear superficially identical, but I assure you there are subtle but important variations.
First up:
Macarons with white chocolate and raspberry ganache
3 egg whites, allowed to sit for an hour
30g castor sugar
5g powdered egg white (if you can’t get it, Pavlova Magic works)
125g almond meal
200g pure icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp pure vanilla essence
few drops cochineal
Sift the icing sugar and baking powder and stir through the almond meal. Combine castor sugar and powdered egg white (or Pavlova Magic) in a separate little bowl.
Whisk the egg whites until firm and stiff enough to keep its shape when you turn the bowl upside down, I prefer to whisk by hand. Gradually add the castor sugar/powdered egg white mix whisking continuously and vigorously after each addition.
Add the icing sugar/baking powder/almond meal mix in five batches, stirring until mixed each time. Lastly, stir in the vanilla essence and the cochineal.
Transfer mixture to a piping bag and pipe rounds onto a baking sheet or baking paper, leaving an inch between each round, and let them sit on the bench for two hours or until they have developed a “skin” and do not feel sticky to the touch.Bake at 120C for 6 minutes, turn the tray around, bake for another 6 minutes then remove from the oven. Slide the baking sheet off the tray and onto the bench; partly so you can cook the next batch, but also the cold bench stops the cooking process in its tracks. When they are completely cold, peel them carefully off the paper.
For the ganache: (this ganache recipe found here)
50mL whipping cream
100g white chocolate
45g frozen raspberries, thawed and smooshed lightly with a fork
Bring the cream to a boil, then take off the heat and add the broken up chocolate, let it sit for a minute then stir in thoroughly to melt. Stir in the raspberry smoosh. When mixture is lukewarm, spread a little onto a macaron like spreading jam thickly on bread, then stick another macaron on top.
Verdict:
30g castor sugar
5g powdered egg white (if you can’t get it, Pavlova Magic works)
125g dehydrated almond meal
200g pure icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp pure coconut essence
Sift the icing sugar and baking powder and stir through the dehydrated almond meal. Combine castor sugar and powdered egg white (or Pavlova Magic) in a separate little bowl.
Whisk the egg whites until firm and stiff enough to keep its shape when you turn the bowl upside down, I prefer to whisk by hand. Gradually add the castor sugar/powdered egg white mix whisking continuously and vigorously after each addition.
Add the icing sugar/baking powder/almond meal mix in five batches, stirring until mixed each time. Lastly, stir in the coconut essence.
Transfer mixture to a piping bag and pipe rounds onto a baking sheet or baking paper, leaving an inch between each round, and let them sit on the bench for at least another hour or until they have developed a “skin” and do not feel sticky to the touch. I accidentally forgot mine and left them sitting for over two hours, but apparently that is a good thing 🙂
Bake at 120C for 6 minutes, turn the tray around, bake for another 6 minutes then remove from the oven. Slide the baking sheet off the tray and onto the bench; partly so you can cook the next batch, but also the cold bench stops the cooking process in its tracks. When they are completely cold, peel them carefully off the paper.
For the ganache:
180g white chocolate
50mL whipping cream
Bring the cream to a boil, then take off the heat and add the broken up chocolate, let it sit for a minute then stir in thoroughly to melt. Stir in the coconut essence. When mixture is lukewarm, spread a little onto a macaron like spreading jam thickly on bread, then stick another macaron on top.
30g castor sugar
5g powdered egg white (if you can’t get it, Pavlova Magic works)
125g almond meal
200g pure icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp pure vanilla essence
Sift the icing sugar, baking powder and almond meal. It takes a long time to sift the almond meal and you have to push it through with a spoon but it should mostly pass through the sieve eventually. Discard the small quantity of lumpy bits that do not pass through the sieve. Combine castor sugar and powdered egg white (or Pavlova Magic) in a separate little bowl.
Add the icing sugar/baking powder/almond meal mix in five batches, stirring until mixed each time. Lastly, stir in the vanilla essence and the blue food colouring.
Transfer mixture to a piping bag and pipe rounds onto a baking sheet or baking paper, leaving an inch between each round, and let them sit on the bench for two hours or until they have developed a “skin” and do not feel sticky to the touch.
Bake at 120C for 6 minutes, turn the tray around, bake for another 6 minutes then remove from the oven. Slide the baking sheet off the tray and onto the bench; partly so you can cook the next batch, but also the cold bench stops the cooking process in its tracks. When they are completely cold, peel them carefully off the paper.
For the ganache:
150g white chocolate
60mL whipping cream
a few drops blue food colouring
Bring the cream to a boil, then take off the heat and add the broken up chocolate, let it sit for a minute then stir in thoroughly to melt. Stir through the blueberries and food colouring. When mixture is lukewarm and has stiffened to spreading consistency, spread a little onto a macaron like spreading jam thickly on bread, then stick another macaron on top.
