Friday, 23 September 2011

• Pink Macaroons With Chocolate Ganache Filling

  
  

  I've been wanting to make macaroons for a very long time now, but every time I think about it I get a little bit scared. I always found the making of macaroons to be quite intimidating. There are so many things that could go wrong with it. Today, I finally got the chance to make it. There are so many different macaroon recipes out there, and the one that I used is from 6bittersweets. It actually turned out okay. I got proper development of the "feet" which is the macaroon' signature. The only problem I had was knowing how much to pipe because I ended up piping more than I should for each of the maroon shell, and that is because I was doing it free hand. I guess with more practice, I will be able to do it better.

  
  
  
  INGREDIENTS
  100 g egg whites, aged for a day (equivalent to about 3 egg whites)
  130g almond flour - also known as ground almond (blitz in food processor together with icing sugar to get a finer texture.)
  160 g powdered sugar
  55 g castor sugar
  Pink gel food coloring (or other color)
  
  DIRECTIONS
  
  

  1. Sift the processed powdered sugar and almond flour together in a bowl. Set aside. (Note: I did not have a food processor so I just sift the powdered sugar and almond flour a couple of times, however, the shell still didn't come out as smooth as the ones that have been blitz in a food processor.)

  
  
  2. Whisk the egg whites in an electric mixer until soft peaks on medium high speed.
  
  
  

  3. Lower the speed on electric mixer and add in castor sugar slowly while still whisking until fully incorporated. Continue whisking on medium high speed until your egg white meringue mixture reaches the stiff peak stage. You should add in your food colouring when whisking.

  
  
  4. Fold in 1/2 of the dry ingredients (icing sugar + almond flour) into the meringue with a spatula gently. Add in the other 1/2 and fold again.
  
  5. Make sure all dry ingredients are incorporated into the meringue and start folding mixture more vigorously to form a shiny batter with the consistency of flowing magma or drips down like ribbons. When you lift the batter up and let it drip down, it should slowly disappear into itself without leaving a peak. Be careful not to over mix as batter will spread too much when piped.
  
  
  

  6. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick parchment paper (or silpat/silicon baking mat). You can stick it down with bits of batter in the four corners. Fill a piping bag fitted with a 1-cm (about 2/5-inch) round tip with the batter (Note: I used Wilton's #12 tip). Pipe even rounds of batter, about 3.5 cm (about 1 1/3 inches) across, onto the tray. If you've mixed the batter properly, it should not spread flatly out too much (overmixed) or leave a peak (undermixed).
  
  

  
  7. Let the batter dry for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C/335 degrees F (for convection ovens) OR 180 degrees C/350 degrees F (for regular ovens). When batter is dry to touch (it forms a slight crust), turn the oven down to 140 degrees C (or 150 degrees C for conventional oven) and bake shells for 14-15 minutes, turning the trays halfway through baking. (Note: My macarons were a bit bigger so I baked the shells for a little longer.)
  
  
  8. After baking, lift parchment onto wire rack to let shells cool and gently lift up from paper when cool.
  
   
  
  CHOCOLATE GANACHE FILLING
  
  INGREDIENTS:
  125 g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
  125 ml heavy cream
  
  DIRECTIONS:
  

  1. Heat cream in saucepan until it comes to a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir in a circular motion from the centre of the bowl and slowly incorporate more and more of the cream until the chocolate and cream comes together into a smooth emulsion. Let it cool at room temperature until it thickens, about 4 hours, or in a fridge for 2 hours.
  
  

  
  
  2. Match pairs of shells of even size. Fit piping bag with plain round 1 to 1.5 cm tip [about 1/2 to 2/3 inch]. Fill piping bag with chocolate ganache. Pipe a small mound of chocolate ganache filling onto one half of each pair of shells. Top with the other shell.
  
  
  
  3.Place them in a sealed container in the refrigerator and let them rest for at least 24 hours to allow the flavours to meld together. Remove macarons from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving, and enjoy withing 7 days after making them.
  
  
  Do you like macaroons? What is your favorite flavor?
  

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