Monday, April 30, 2012

April Roundup

Lovely, lovely macarons! Well done. These are tricky and your results are just amazing! Thanks for participating.


Raspberries and Cream Macarons

Posted by - bakingaddict from The More Than Occasional Baker




This is a lovely recipe from my macaron book which has remained untouched until recently.  It's a great little book all about macarons. There are pretty pictures and clear instructions with step by step photos. I particularly like the recipes in this book because there is no egg wastage.  The egg whites are used for the shells and the egg yolks for the filling. I would say these were a semi-success, far from perfect but I'm glad I tried them again. I particularly liked the filling - I could just eat it on it's own! I think I can now say with confidence that I've conquered my fear of macarons :)

 



 strawberries & cream macarons ... but I've run out of strawberry jam so it's raspberries and cream for me

 I didn't have any vanilla pods either so I used a tablespoon of vanilla bean paste - smells amazing and you can see the flecks of vanilla seeds if you look closely enough

 you are supposed to mix to a ribbon like texture... so far so good.... 

 Glitter makes everything better

 A skin formed - honestly! 

 I couldn't resist peeking into the oven... looks good :) 

 ta-da! 

 look there's feet!! 


 whisking egg yolks, sugar and cornflour... 

 to make a custard like filling...

 ready for the fillings

 jam on one side, custard-cream filling on the other 



 mini macs just because everything looks better in miniature form!

 I'm so super proud of myself!! :) 



Recipe from Macarons by Annie Rigg, published by Ryland Peters & Small, photography by Kate Whitaker - reproduced with kind permission from the publisher (with minor edits from me in the method section)

For the macaron shells

200g icing sugar
100g ground almonds
120 - 125g egg whites (approx 3 egg whites)
a pinch of salt
40g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod split lengthways (I used vanilla bean paste)
red edible glitter

For the filling


Raspberry jam (original recipe states strawberry jam)
3 egg yolks
75g caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
250ml milk
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways (I used vanilla bean paste)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
100ml double cream


  • Blend the icing sugar and ground almonds for 30 seconds until thoroughly combined and set aside. 
  • Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold a stiff peak. 
  • Continue to whisk at medium speed while adding the caster sugar a teaspoonful at a time.
  • The mixture should be thick, white and glossy.
  • Using a large metal spoon, fold the ground almond and sugar mixture into the egg whits. 
  • Continue folding until a ribbon-like texture as shown above. 
  • Fill a piping bag with the mixture and pipe evenly sized rounds onto a baking sheet (I used a silicone mat which you can buy online here)
  • Tap the bottom of the baking sheets sharply, once, on the work surface to expel any large air bubbles.
  • Scatter edible glitter on top (I used a small paintbrush which I tapped gently from a height).
  • Leave the macarons to rest for about 15 minutes - 1 hour until they have set and formed a dry shell. 
  • Preheat the oven to 170C. 
  • Bake the macarons, 1 sheet at a time for about 10 minutes.
  • The tops should be crispy and the bottoms dry. 
  • Leave to cool on the baking sheet.

  • To make the filling, put the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a small heatproof bowl and whisk until combined. 
  • Heat the milk, along with the vanilla pod (or vanilla bean paste) in a small saucepan until it only just starts to boil.
  • Remove from the heat and pour over the egg mixture, whisking constantly until smooth. 
  • Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook gently over low heat, stirring constantly until the custard comes to a boil and thickens.
  • Strain into a clean bowl, add the butter and stir until the butter has melted. 
  • Cover with clingfilm and leave to cool before refrigerating. 
  • Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks and fold into the chilled custard. 

  • Take one half of the macaron shells and spread about 1/2 teaspoon raspberry jam onto each one. 
  • Fill a piping bag with the vanilla cream filling and pipe it onto the remaining shells. 
  • Sandwich together with the jammy macarons and leave to rest for about 30 minutes before serving. 

Sunday, April 29, 2012