Salted Caramel Macarons Recipe

from http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/salted-caramel-macarons-me-against.html

makes about 25 3-cm macarons

More details on Basic Mararons using Italian Meringue tecniques can be found here.

You can also see more detailed intructions on making macarons in my Basic Macaron Recipe and I heart Macarons blogs (however, they are recipes using French meringue method). This recipe is using Italian meringue method. The only difference is the cooking sugar syrup part but the rest of the processes are the same.

Macarons shell ingredients
125 g pure icing sugar
125 g almond meal (almond flour or ground almond)
100 g egg whites (separated 24 -48 hours in advance and is at room temperature)
125 g caster sugar (super fine sugar)
30 ml water (2 tablespoons)
7 g coffee extract
A pinch of yellow colouring powder or liquid

Salted caramel ingredients
100 g caster sugar
165 g thickened cream (minimum 35% fat content)
15 g salted butter
70 g soften salted butter

Making macarons shells

Sift almond meal and icing sugar together through fine sieve and set aside.

Divide egg whites into two equal portions (50 g each portion). Pour the first portion of egg white (50 g), coffee extract and colouring powder into the almond meal/icing sugar mixture. Don’t mix or stir them, just leave it as is.

Put the water and caster sugar in a heavy-base saucepan over medium-high heat. When the syrup start to boil. Place the rest of egg white (50 g) into a mixing bowl, using the whip attachment, whip egg white to the soft peak. When the syrup reaches 118°C (on a thermometer), take if off the heat and let it cool down to 115°C.

While the mixer is still running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl. Be careful not to pour syrup onto the whip as it might spatter.

Continue mixing until the meringue cool down to slightly above body temperature (50°C) or when the side of the mixing bowl is warm to touch. The whipped egg white would be stiff and glossy.

Mix a third of whipped egg white into the almond meal mixture and combine them well. At this step, I work the mixture very vigorously to blend the egg white with almond meal mixture. Fold the rest of whipped egg white into the mixture and mix well, yet gently, until the batter is smooth. The batter will be thick. It resembles a very thick cake batter, or as many web sites describe it as a magma-like consistency (I believe it means the thick batter would flow slowly like a magma).

Put the mixture into a piping bag fitted with 1-cm plain tip (size #11). Pipe the staggering rows of 1-inch rounds onto baking papers or baking sheets. You will need two trays for this recipe.

Let the piped shells stand at room temperature for 30 – 60 minutes to let the crust forms. This depends on the room temperature and humidity. When the piped shells are dry to touch without it sticking to your fingers. They are good to go into the oven.

Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan-force or convection oven, increase the temperature by 20°C if you’re using conventional oven) for at least 15 minutes. Just before baking, turn the temperature down to 150°C and bake the macarons for 15 minutes.

Lift the baking papers/sheets off the baking tray to the cooling rack and let it completely cool down before removing macarons (it is easier to remove cool macarons off the sheet. They are also less likely to stick to the paper).

Sandwich cool macarons shell with chilled salted caramel.

Store macarons in airtight container in the fridge. Macaron will taste better after it is chilled overnight.

Making salted caramel filling

This caramel is done using dry-caramel method where sugar are melted on the medium high heat without any water.

Place cream in a saucepan and bring it to the boil. Put it aside and keep it warm.

Add 30 g of caster sugar to a heavy-based small saucepan over medium-high heat. Let the sugar melt and shake the pan every now and then to help sugar to melt. When the sugar is
melted, put another 35 g of sugar into the pan and let it melt. Repeat with the rest of sugar.



Leave the sugar caramelised until it turns dark amber. Remove the pan from the heat and add 15 g of butter.



Add warm thickened cream to the sugar mixture. Be careful as the mixture might spatter. Quickly shake the pan to help blending cream and caramelized sugar.
Put the saucepan back to medium-heat and let it boil until it reaches 108°C.
Remove from heat and pour the mixture into a bowl. Cover the mixture surface with cling wrap to prevent the skin forming. Set aside to cool down and won't melt butter in the next stage.


Pot of gold. I can just have all of it on its own. Heaven!

When the sugar mixture is cool, beat butter on medium-high speed until it is light and fluffy (approx. 8 – 10 minutes). Mix the sugar mixture into the butter in two batches.

Chill the mixture until ready to use to fill macarons.

Chocolate Pistachio Macaroons

INGREDIENTS


125g raw pistachio kernals
2 tablespoons icing sugar mixture
extra 1 cup icing sugar mixture
1 tablespoon cocoa powder, sifted
3 (100g) egg whites
pinch of cream of tartar
2 tablespoons caster sugar
cocoa powder, to dust
icing sugar, to dust

Chocolate cream
200g block dark chocolate, chopped
100ml pouring cream


METHOD


Pre-heat oven at 200°C/180°C (fan-forced).

Process pistachios and two tablespoons of icing sugar until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Transfer mixture to a large bowl with extra icing sugar and cocoa powder, run a whisk through mixture to combine.

Beat egg whites, tartar and vanilla with an electric beater until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into pistachio mixture until just combined.

Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with 1cm round nozzle. Pipe 3cm wide rounds, 2cm apart onto large baking trays lined with baking paper.

Cook trays one at a time for 8-10 minutes or until tops are firm to touch and inside is still moist. Stand at room temperature on trays until cool.

Slide a knife under each macaroon to release from paper, then store in an airtight container until ready to fill.

To make chocolate cream, place cream into a medium saucepan, bring to boil. Pour cream over chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl. Stir mixture gently until smooth. Refrigerate until spreadable consistency. Spoon mixture into same piping bag fitted with nozzle, pipe about one heaped tablespoon of chocolate onto centre of half of the macaroons and sandwich together with other halves.

Dust with cocoa powder to serve.

Chocolate Macaroons

Macaroon Batter
500 gr icing sugar
500 gr powdered almonds
400 gr powdered sugar
6 large egg whites at room temperature

Chocolate Filling
230 gr full cream
250 gr milk chocolate, finely chopped
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.



Grind together the powdered almonds and icing sugar in a large mixing bowl so there are no lumps.

Combine powdered sugar and 100 gr of water into a large saucepan and boil until the sugar dissolves completely. Pour the mixture into a bowl with six egg whites and whisk to create the meringue.

Mix the meringue with the powdered almonds and icing sugar to form a batter. Place mixture into a pastry bag. Pipe the batter on a non stick baking tray in 3cm circles evenly one-inch apart. Let the batter set for 20 minutes, then bake them for 20 minutes.

Let cool completely, and then remove from baking sheet.

Chocolate Filling
Heat the cream in a small saucepan with chopped milk chocolate until melted. Let the mixture cool completely before placing into a pastry bag and spreading onto the macarons.

Recipe courtesy Park Hyatt Pastry Chef, Fabien Berteau

Pistachio Macaroons

Pistachio Macaroons


Meringue
350 g icing sugar
175 g almond meal
2 teaspoons plain flour
45 g pistachio meal
5 egg whites
90 g sugar

Crème patisserie
4 egg yolks
50 g sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon cornflour
250 ml milk
60 g pistachio paste (available from speciality cake shops)
250 ml pure cream, lightly whipped

1. Preheat the oven to 110°C and line a baking tray with baking paper

2. Make the meringue by placing the icing sugar, almond meal, flour and pistachio meal in a food processor and blend until smooth.

3. Place the egg whites in a bowl and using an electric mixer, whisk on high speed for 1 minute until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and mix until firm peaks form.

4. Fold the egg white mixture into the flour mixture.

5. Spoon or pipe 4 cm rounds of meringue onto the prepared baking tray to make 40 mounds. Cook the meringues for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 100°C and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.

6. While the meringues are baking, make the crème patisserie by beating the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until pale in colour. Sift in the flours and mix well.

7. Bring the milk and pistachio paste to the boil in a medium saucepan then add to the egg mixture, whisking to combine. Return the mixture to the saucepan and place over medium heat, whisking continuously for 5 minutes or until thick. Transfer to a bowl, cover and place in the fridge to cool.

8. When cold, whisk until smooth then fold in the whipped cream.

9. Remove the cooled meringues from the baking paper. Place cream on top of one meringue then cover with another. Repeat with remaining meringues to make 20 macaroons.

Recipe courtesy Guillaume
http://www.giving.garvan.org.au/Page.aspx?pid=593

Macarons with white chocolate and raspberry ganache

Serves 40

Cooking Time Prep time 20 mins, cook 15 mins (plus resting)


130 gm pure icing sugar
110 gm almond meal
105 gm eggwhite (about 2), at room temperature, left out overnight
65 gm caster sugar
4-5 drops rose food colouring

White chocolate and raspberry ganache

50 ml pouring cream
100 gm white chocolate
45 gm raspberries, coarsely chopped


1 Process icing sugar and almond meal in a food processor until finely ground, triple-sift into a large bowl and set aside. Whisk 90gm eggwhite in an electric mixer until soft peaks form (1-2 minutes). Add caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously until incorporated and mixture is thick and glossy (2-3 minutes), then add food colouring. Stir in almond mixture in batches until incorporated and mixture slowly slides down sides of bowl when bowl is tilted. Add remaining eggwhite to loosen mixture, spoon into a piping bag with a 1cm plain nozzle, pipe 3cm-diameter rounds of mixture onto heavy baking-paper-lined oven trays, stand until a crust begins to form (4-5 hours).

2 Preheat oven to 140C. Bake macarons until firm but not coloured, swapping trays halfway through cooking (10-12 minutes), set aside, cool completely on trays.

3 Meanwhile, for white chocolate and raspberry ganache, bring cream just to the boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, add chocolate, stand until melted (5 minutes), stir until smooth and glossy. Refrigerate until firm yet still pliable (45 minutes-1 hour) then stir until smooth. Add raspberries, stir to form a ripple effect, then spoon a teaspoon of ganache onto half the macarons. Sandwich with remaining macarons and refrigerate until set. Macarons will keep for 1-2 days refrigerated in an airtight container.

Macaroons Fillings

Green Tea Buttercream

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar( 100 g)
1 tablespoon matcha
2 large egg whites
3/4 cups unsalted butter (at room temperature)(171 g)

Directions:
1. Mix the sugar and matcha in a small bowl.
2. Whisk the sugar and matcha into the egg whites in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until the mixture is hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. (The sugar should be dissolved and the mixture should look like shiny marshmallow cream.)
3. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat until the cream is cool, about 5 minutes.
4. Beat in the butter one stick at a time.
5. Beat the mixture until it thickens and becomes smooth, about 5-20 minutes.


Makes about 36 sandwich cookies.

Vanilla Buttercream Filling
1/3 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
1 tbsp milk
1 1/2 – 2 cups confectioners’ sugar

In a medium bowl, beat the butter until soft. Scrape in half of a vanilla bean (or add vanilla extract) and add milk and confectioners’ sugar. Beat until frosting is light and creamy. If it is too thick, add a small amount of milk to thin it out.
The filling should be easy to pipe and slightly softer than you would use to frost a cake.

White chocolate and raspberry ganache
50 ml pouring cream
100 gm white chocolate
45 gm raspberries, coarsely chopped

Mint macaroons:
What you need:
30 half macaroons, coloured green
crème pâtissière (confectioner's custard) made with 2 egg yolks
a handful of fresh mint leaves
4 drops of green colouring

Make a classic confectioner's custard, but add mint leaves (cut small with scissors) to the milk before heating it, and add the 4 drops of green colouring to cream, just before cooking.
You will then have a mint crème pâtissière (confectioner's custard).

Fill macaroons with this cream when it is completely cold.

Blackcurrant macaroons:
You will need:
30 half macaroons, coloured purple (red + blue)
50 g jam sugar
100 g blackcurrant purée

Mix 50 g jam sugar with 100 g of blackcurrant purée, put in a pan on high heat, and bring to the boil.
Boil while stirring continuously for 3 minutes, then leave to cool and thicken.



Apricot macaroons:
You will need:
30 half macaroons, coloured orange
50 g jam sugar
100 g apricot purée
2 dried apricots (optional)

Mix 50 g jam sugar with with 100 g of apricot purée, put in a pan over high heat, and bring to the boil.
Boil while stirring continuously for 3 minutes, then leave to cool and thicken.

If you'd like the filling to have a bit more texture, add dried apricots, chopped very small.
Fill macaroons, before the mixture became too stiff.

Chocolate macaroons:
You will need:
30 half macaroons, coloured red (see below)
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
20 cl cream
150 g chocolate cut in small pieces
15 g butter

Make the macaroons as usual, but include 1 teaspoon cocoa powder in the almond-sugar mix, and add a drop of red colouring to egg whites before beating them (brown colour of cocoa will then be deeper).
Bring 20 cl cream to the boil.
Add 150 g chocolate, cut in small pieces.
Off the heat, stir to melt chocolate thoroughly.
Add 15 g butter, and continue stirring to melt it.
Leave to cool.

LEMON MOUSSE FILLING:
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup powder sugar
Juice of 1 fresh lemon
Grated zest of 1 lemon (optional)
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

DIRECTIONS:
Sprinkle the gelatin over lemon juice. Let it bloom for about 2-3 minutes. Then, add the heavy cream and beat at high speed until soft peak forms. Add the sugar and lemon zest and beat more until stiff peak forms. Transfer the mousse to a piping bag fit fit a round tip on top. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before use. The mousse will get thicker but still be easy to pipe in the cookies.

Assemble:
Once the cookies are totally cooled, match them up by
size. Pipe in the chilled lemon mousse. Sandwich together with the remaining cookie, pushing the filling to the edges. Put in the refrigerator over night before you eat so that the mousse is absorbed into the cookie shell.