Attempting Macarons was a little bit of a personal challenge this year. While the rumours of their fussiness are not overblown - in my heart of hearts I thought I would have 'the knack' and nail it first time. I did my research, read the blogs (Bravetart you are my teacher) compared the recipes, bought a scale... I was R-E-A-D-Y. Apparently not. Despite the homework, Macaron attempt #1 was, while not a complete failure, certainly not the vision of success I had prepared myself for. Not to be outdown by pastry, attempt #2 was much more successful thanks in no small part to uncovering the secret step that had been missed the first time... the drying.
The delicious combination shown is Coconut Macaron with Mango Curd centers... a little bite of tropical heaven. Here are the recipes:
Mango Curd
2 medium (or 1 large) Mango
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 cup berry sugar
4 egg yolks
2 tbsp butter
Put the mango, lime juice and sugar in the food processor and blend until smooth. Add the egg yolks, and blend again. Put the mango mixture through a sieve to remove strings. Once smooth, put mango puree in a bowl, sitting over simmering water and stir frequently until thickened (about 10 minutes). The temp should reach 170C if you want to get technical. Remove from heat, stir in butter and allow to cool completely. Delicious in a tart, on a pavlova, over ice cream, or frankly... straight off the spoon!
Coconut Macaron (credit to Raspberri Cupcakes)
100g aged egg whites 110g almond meal, at room temperature and well sifted200g icing sugar50g caster sugar1 tsp powdered egg whites
1 tsp coconut essence2 tbsp unsweetened coconut - toasted. this is optional as a topping to the macaron
Prepare your pans in advance with parchment paper. I like to trace my circles on the underside of the parchment paper to make piping just that little bit easier. Place icing sugar in food processor and pulse for a minute to remove any lumps. Stir in almond meal and pulse for about 30 seconds to combine. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and egg white powder in a medium mixing bowl until the egg white powder dissolves and it reaches soft peaks. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add sugar and beat until it reaches stiff peaks.
Add meringue to your dry mixture and mix, quickly at first to break down the bubbles in the egg white (you really want to beat all the large bubbles out of the mixture, be rough!), then mix carefully as the dry mixture becomes incorporated and it starts to become shiny again. Take care not to overmix, the mixture should flow like lava and a streak of mixture spread over the surface of the rest of the mixture should disappear after about 30 seconds. Place in a piping bag and pipe your circles. Tap your pans on the counter a few times to get rid of any bubbles. Now... the secret step to success: DRYING. Let the meringues dry on your counter for 20 - 30 minutes until a skin forms on the top. This will prevent them from cracking when you bake them. Depending on the humidity - it may take a little less or a little more time for the skin to form. Place in a preheated oven at 285F (seriously... 285F, no more no less) and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let them cool a bit before taking them off the parchment paper. Once they are completely cool, you can fill them with the curd.
The Macarons keep best in the fridge, and truly taste the best the next day after the flavours have all come together and the filling has truly fused to the Macaron.
Now try to enjoy just one...
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