French Macarons with Chocolate Ganache and Marmalade
- 60g powdered almonds
- 120g powdered sugar
- 60g egg whites
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 45g granulated sugar
- food coloring of your choice
All I had to do was to blitz the sliced almonds in a food
processor/blender until it has become fine powder. To make sure the
consistency is good, I passed it through a fine strainer and I processed
the big pieces that were left. I didn’t toast the almonds in the oven
before I processed it. (My chef instructor told me I shouldn’t have
skipped that step so I could have removed the excess moisture in the
almonds)
I then mixed the almond meal with the powdered sugar, and then passed
it through a strainer again. It’s not so much obsessive as it is
necessary to remove the large lumps of sugar. My instructor also told me
I could go the extra mile and process the sugar-almond mixture again,
which I didn’t do. Is this part necessary? If I would get the chance to
make more macarons, I would have done this.
Whisking the egg whites is also another crucial step. Whisking
incorporates air into the whites causing it to become white and
stiff. Two things can go wrong: either it won’t rise to medium-stiff
peaks OR it will be overdone and resemble shampoo foam which is kind of
gross. In any case, it is crucial that the egg whites are clean, free
from fat in the form of traces of yolk.
I didn’t have a stand mixer so I had to use muscle power and elbow
grease to manually whip the whites. This part is physically taxing but
it gets the job done. I whisked the egg whites until medium peak. Then I
added the sugar and whisked until stiff. Medium peaks is the stage when
the whites are whisked until they form peaks whose tips droop. The
peaks when stiff are sharp, pointy and well, stiff.
Now that you have your meringue and almond-sugar mixture ready, it’s
now time to fold the two together. Folding is more gentle than mixing,
and I used my rubber scraper to do this. Folding requires a “lifting”
action that gently covers the meringue over the almonds and so on. When
it’s folded together, add a drop of food coloring, and fold to
distribute. Add more until the desired color is achieved. When you lift
the mixture using the rubber scraper, it has to fall in a thick stream,
not in clumps. If it’s still clumpy, add a little bit (a drop or two) of
egg white and fold again.
I then transferred the mixture to a pastry bag with a round tip
(#12), piped it as big as a 5 peso coin and left 2 inches of space in
between mounds because it will still spread. It’s important that you
allow the macaron to dry and form a skin. This is incredibly
temperamental because it depends of the humidity and temperature of the
area, which affects the drying time. What worked best for me was to
leave the tray in an air conditioned room for two – three hours, or
until a skin is felt on the surface when “lightly” felt/poked by the
finger. I had one tray dry at room temperature, roughly the same time
length of time received by the ones in the air conditioned room. They
also cracked.
The cracked macarons weren’t pretty at all. I probably set the oven
temperature too high. They cracked at 180 C. When I set the next batch
to bake at around 140 – 150C, then came out just fine, feet and all! I
baked them for about 12 – 15 minutes, until they look dry.
The piped a ring of chocolate ganache and filled the center with orange marmalade because the flavor pairing just works so well.
source : the Hungry Giant
DISCLAIMER: cookingpinay.blogspot.com is a Filipino food blog that features Filipino recipes from various sources around the web. We claim no
credit for any images, texts, recipes and videos posted on this blog unless
otherwise mentioned.
Coffee Buttercream Sans Rival
serves around 8
Meringue
This recipe is good enough to make three rectangular sheets that
could fit in a half-sheet tray (18 by 13 inches). I decided to pipe the
meringue into rounds instead of rectangles, but I still used a sheet
tray lined with a silicone mat that measures 11 5/8 by 16 ½ inches. Two
rounds fit in the silicone mat so I worked in batches. Alternatively,
you can also use cake pans, greased, lined with parchment, greased
again, and floured.
- 180 grams clean egg whites
- a pinch of cream of tartar
- 170 grams granulated sugar
- 10 grams all-purpose flour
- 50 grams granulated sugar (for the flour and nut mixture)
- 60 grams cashew nuts, processed/chopped into very small pieces
- additional cashew nuts for decoration
Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks. Gradually
add the sugar and whip until stiff.Combine the sugar, flour and nuts and
fold it into the meringue, working in 3 additions. Use a piping bag to
pipe the mixture onto the pan, using a spiral motion to create equal
circles. Bake at 350 F/180 C for 30 – 45 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow to cool at room temperature.
Coffee Buttercream
recipe adapted from Memories of Philippine Kitchens by Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan
- 7 egg yolks
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 454 grams/1 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons coffee powder (or more if a stronger flavor is desired)
Beat the yolks and sugar using an electric mixer fitted with a whisk
attachment, until it becomes light and lemon-colored. Warm the heavy
cream in a large saucepan, until bubbles appear around the sides. Whisk
the heavy cream into the yolks and return it to the saucepan. Stir over
low heat until thick, around 10 – 12 minutes. Be careful not to let it
boil or else it will curdle. Remove from heat, transfer to a large bowl
(or the bowl of an electric mixer) and let it cool.
You can whisk the buttercream by hand or use an electric mixer, with
the paddle attachment. Either way, add the butter into the cooled
custard bit by bit, beating the pieces in until completely absorbed
before adding in the next. Add the vanilla extract. When all the butter
has been incorporated and the mixture is smooth, you can set aside 1/3
of the buttercream, and mix in the coffee powder into the remaining 2/3.
Set aside until ready to use.
Assemble: place one layer of meringue on a plate or cake board. Using
a straight or offset spatula, spread an even but thin layer of
buttercream on it, and top with the second layer. Repeat, then top with
the third layer. Spread the buttercream on top, and along the sides.
When the coating is generous and even, you can pipe decorative rosettes
using the regular buttercream on top. If the surrounding temperature
is a bit warm the buttercream might soften too much for you to achieve
good, sturdy piping. At this point you can let the mixture rest in the fridge, or to speed up the process, place it in the freezer for a couple of minutes.
Coat the sides and sprinkle the top with the chopped cashew nuts. When
coating the sides, get a handful of the chopped nuts and lightly pat
the side making sure that the nuts stick to the buttercream. The excess
will fall of and you can clean it up when you’re done decorating.
Place it in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to serve.
source : the Hungry Giant
