Today I share a little departure on macarons, piped with a star tip (Wilton 1M). I followed my basic default recipe, but mixed a bit less than so that the batter gets just a tad denser. If you do the regular amount of “macaronage”, aiming at a smooth shell, it will not work here.  It can be a bit tricky to get it right, but it’s a fun technique to play with. Give it a try!

CHAI-MANGO ROSETTE MACARONS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

For the shells:
200g  Icing/powdered sugar
115 g Ground Almonds/Almond Meal
115 g egg whites at room temperature (approx. 4 eggs)
1/8 tsp of cream of tartar
100 g granulated sugar
¼ tsp vanilla paste or extract
1 bag double chai tea (Stash brand)

for the mango buttercream: 
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
pinch of kosher salt
4 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp heavy cream
A pinch of cardamon
1/2 tbsp Amoretti mango flavor

to decorate:
gold dust + lemon extract
Candy melts + food gel dye + sprinkles

Make the shells:
Line 3 heavy baking sheets with parchment/baking paper or Silpat mats. Layer the powdered sugar, ground almonds and contents of the tea bag  in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture looks like fine meal, about 12 pulses. Pass through a sieve and transfer to a small bowl or to a sheet of parchment/baking paper. Set aside.

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Make sure that the bowl and the whisk are impeccably clean. Starting on medium speed, whip the whites with the cream of tartar until they look like light foam. The whites should not appear liquid. The foam will be light and should not have any structure.

Slowly rain in the granulated sugar in five additions, trying to aim the stream between the whisk and the side of the bowl. Turn the speed up to high. Continue to whip the meringue until it is soft and shiny. It should look like marshmallow creme (marshmallow fluff). Add the vanilla. Whip the egg whites until the mixture begins to dull and the lines of the whisk are visible on the surface of the meringue. Check the peak. It should be firm. Transfer the whites to a medium bowl.

Fold in the ground almond/almond meal mixture in two increments. Paint the mixture halfway up the side of the bowl, using the flat side of a spatula. Scrape the mixture down to the center of the bowl. Repeat two or three times, then check to see if the mixture slides slowly down the side of the bowl.   Put the mixture in a piping bag fitted with your choice of piping tip (for rosette macarons, use a Wilton 1M type).  If you don’t have a macaron mat, draw circles on baking/parchment paper about 2inches/5cm in diameter & turn the paper over before placing on the baking sheets.  Pipe shells, I like to count numbers in my head and use the same count for each shell so they end up similar in size.

I pipe inside the circles to about 1 ¾ inches/4.5cm but you can go to 1 ½ inches (3.8cm) & the macarons will spread & fill the circle while drying.

Slam each sheet hard four to six times on the counter/worktop. Do not slam the sheets if you are making rosette macarons, just let them dry. Let the unbaked macarons dry until they look dull but not overly dry. Drying time depends on humidity. In a dry climate, the macarons can dry in 15 to 20 minutes; in a humid climate, it can take 35 to 40 minutes. Rosette macarons benefit from longer drying time.

While the macarons are drying, heat the oven to 300 F (150 C/130C Fan oven/Gas Mark 2). Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack. Check in 11 minutes. If the tops slide or move (independently of the ‘feet’ when you gently twist the top), then bake for 2 to 3 more minutes. Check one or two. If they move when gently touched, put them back in the oven for 1 to 2 more minutes until they don’t move when touched.   Let the macaroons cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.  The macarons should release without sticking.

For the buttercream: 
In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, add the butter and salt and whip until light and creamy about a minute. Add in the mango flavor and cardamon and mix to incorporate. Add the sugar and the heavy cream slowly, once you add everything mix for 2 minutes in high-speed. Adjust consistency with more cream if needed. Taste, and if you feel it could benefit from some sharpness, add a touch of lime juice (I did).  Place in a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped tip.

Assemble the macarons: match two shells similar in size and add buttercream to the bottom of one of them. If using rosette shells, they are going to be the top part. Place another shell on top and gently squeeze to take the filling all the way to the edge.

To decorate the rosette macarons, mix a little gold dust with lemon extract and paint over the details. Let it dry. To decorate the regular macarons, melt Candy Melts in the microwave, separate in three small bowls and dye them any color you like. Place in small piping bags and have fun making crazy patterns all over the macs. Add sprinkles before the candy melt hardens.

Store the macs in the fridge for 24 hours for perfect texture.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Stash Double-Chai Tea works very nicely to flavor the shells. I normally do not like to mess with the shell composition because it’s such a delicate balance, but I simply open the bag of tea and add it to the food processor when I grind the almond flour with the powdered sugar. The mango buttercream (with a touch of cardamon) was a very good complement.

I won’t lie to you, it is not easy to get the texture of the batter just right for piping. The very first time I made it (over a year ago), they worked perfectly, but I made the full batch as rosettes, and when you do that, it’s a bit tricky to sit them on a platter, for obvious reasons… they don’t sit flat.  So I never blogged about it, and to be honest I don’t even remember which flavor I used in the filling. I do remember the boys enjoyed their mandatory sampling of “one-shell-per-pup.”

Ever since that time, I’ve been meaning to repeat them, but other mac temptations and projects got in the way. A couple of weeks ago I finally re-visited this super important issue, but that batch got a little over-mixed and the texture was not sharp enough.

The definition of the piping was a bit lost. Adding lust duster is one way to make the design more evident, so if you run into the same issue, consider a little brushing with gold or other types of luster. But if you get the consistency right, you will be rewarded with sharper texture, for a more dramatic look.

I think these would be very nice at a wedding party, or some milestone Birthday celebration. Perhaps to decorate a cake… Make sure to match a smooth shell for the base with the rosette top.

But, of course, you can take macarons in so many different scenarios. After pairing the smooth shells, I placed them over a rack and went crazy with three colors of Candy Melts and some sprinkles to boot.

No matter the mood,  the right macaron will always be waiting for you!

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