Macarons
Ingredients
Macarons:
Filling:
Directions
- Step 1:
Place the ground almonds and the icing sugar in a food processor and whizz on high for 1 minute. (the icing sugar prevents the almonds becoming almond butter, so don’t leave it out)
- Step 2:
Sieve the mixture and discard any almonds that won’t pass through the sieve. If you have more than one or two teaspoons, you’ll have to put it back in the food processor and repeat.
- Step 3:
Mix 30g of the egg white with the almonds and mix to a paste, add the colour at this point and mix well. I added white to give me a white macaron.
- Step 4:
Put the remaining egg white into a clean glass bowl & Set your hand-held beater up to be ready to whisk the egg whites.
- Step 5:
Place the castor sugar and the water into a medium saucepan. With a metal spoon, stir the sugar over a medium heat until the liquid is clear and you can’t see any more sugar crystals. You may need to remove the saucepan from the heat every once in a while to prevent it boiling before the sugar is dissolved.
- Step 6:
Use a pastry brush in a glass of cold water to brush any stray sugar crystals down from the sides of the saucepan. Place your themometre in the sugar syrup.
- Step 7:
When the temperature reaches 110ºC, begin whisking the egg whites. Keep an eye on the themometer. By the time it reaches 118ºC, the egg whites should be stiff. If the sugar is not hot enough, just stop beating until the sugar is up to temperature.
- Step 8:
When the temperature reaches 110ºC, begin whisking the egg whites. Keep an eye on the themometer. By the time it reaches 118ºC, the egg whites should be stiff. If the sugar is not hot enough, just stop beating until the sugar is up to temperature.
- Step 9:
Continue to beat until the bottom of the bowl is cold, about 4 minutes. This is the meringue for your macarons. It is very stable and shouldn’t fall flat.
- Step 10:
Now use a heaped tablespoon of the meringue to loosen the almond mixture, just stir it in.
- Step 11:
Then using a heaped table-spoon at a time, fold the meringue into the almond mixture until you get a flowing consistency. If you lift a big spoonful up and let it flow into the bowl, it should flow unbroken for ten seconds. You will not use all the meringue, so don’t get carried away.
- Step 12:
Fill a piping bag with a large nozzle and pipe rounds onto a silicon mat, or silicone paper. I pipe while I’m counting to 5, once I get to five, I slop pushing and I lift up. This helps to get all of the macarons an even size. You can pipe smaller ones, just count to 3 or something.
- Step 13:
Drop the baking tray from about 2cm above the counter top to get the large bubbles to go to the surface. Use a toothpick to prick and air bubbles you can see on the surface of the macaron.
- Step 14:
Now let the macarons sit in a dry place. They can rest for up to 4 hours. Once they go dull and you can touch them without getting batter stuck on your finger, you know that they are ready. Don’t rush this part.
- Step 15:
Preheat your oven to 120ºC. Bake for 8 minutes and then turn the temp down to 110ºC for another 10 to 12 minutes. You can open the oven at any point. If you can lift a shell off the silicone mat and it pulls away easily, they are done.
- Step 16:
Take the macarons out of the oven and remove from the hot baking tray immediately. Allow to cool.
Filling:
- Step 17:
Soften the butter by beating it well.
- Step 18:
Add the icing sugar and beat well.
- Step 19:
Add a little milk until you get a soft buttercream that holds its shape.
- Step 20:
Beat in colouring of your choice.
To assemble:
- Step 21:
Match up the macaron shells to match each other.
- Step 22:
Pipe a little filling onto one shell and press the matching shell onto the filling. Allow a ring of filling the same width as the foot to show. Repeat with remaining shells.
- Step 23:
Freeze in an airtight container overnight and defrost about 10 minutes before serving. Store in the freezer.
