A FRUITFUL TRIO

Posted in macarons by sallybr

Three fruits, three macarons… Watermelons, Blueberries and Apples, each using a slightly different technique for piping the shells. For the watermelon version, I share two styles for the shells, with the same buttercream filling.

APPLE CIDER MACARONS
(inspired by Broma Bakery)

for shells:
3 egg whites (check the weight, mine were 103g)
same amount of granulated sugar (103g)
same amount of fine almond flour (103g)
same amount of powdered sugar (103g)
1/4 tsp vanilla paste
pinch of cream of tartar
food gel color, yellow and green (8:1)

for filling:
113g unsalted butter (softened)
360g powdered sugar (about 3 cups)
4 tablespoons apple cider
pinch of salt

for decoration:
brown Candy Melts
air-brush color, red and orange

Mix 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar with the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer. Place over simmering water and whisk for about 2 minutes until sugar is dissolved (temperature should be around 150F).

Place bowl in the KitchenAid and whisk in medium-speed, slowly adding the rest of the granulated sugar. Whisk for about 4 minutes, until thick peaks form. Add vanilla and food coloring (I added yellow and green).

Mix the almond flour with the powdered sugar, pass in the food processor together for about 10 pulses, then sift the mixture. Add it to the meringue and proceed with the macaronage until you can form a figure 8 with the batter flowing down from a spatula. Place in a large piping bag fitted with a round tip.

Pipe shells in shape of an apple, let it dry until a skin forms. Bake at 300F for about 12 minutes, until the top does not move when you gently try to twist it around. Color half of the shell with airbrush, I used a mixture of red and orange colors, eye-balling to get the tone I wanted.

Make the stems by piping Candy Melts on parchment paper. Make more stems than you’ll need, as they might break.

Make the filling by creaming the butter for a couple of minutes, then adding the powdered sugar, cider and salt. Adjust consistency with milk if needed, or more powdered sugar.

Fill shells, match them, and add the stems. Let the macarons mature overnight in the fridge before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The macaron recipe is the one I’ve been playing with recently, from Broma Bakery. I just adapted it to make it in proportion to the weight of a given number of egg whites, because it simplifies everything quite a bit. I love how these turned out, air-brushing really adds a lot to the shells, but if you don’t have it, they will be fine without it. You can also make the macarons round and add just the stem, or maybe the stem and a little leaf, also piped with Candy Melts, dyed green.

Next time you want to make macarons, think about the size of the batch you need.
A small batch? Grab two egg whites, weigh them and add the other ingredients, all with the exact same amount by weight.
A regular batch (enough for about 24-30 macs?) Grab three egg whites.
A big batch? Four egg whites. That would probably be my limit, macaronage on a bigger batch might be tricky.

BLUEBERRY CLUSTER MACARONS
(inspired by Veronika Gowan)

Macarons made with this recipe, using gel food dye purple, from Artisan Accents)

Macaronage kept a bit thicker than normal, so that shells can be piped without losing their individual circles. Most of the batter was placed in a bag with a regular icing tip for macarons (80-100mm), and a very small amount was placed in a bag without any tip, with a small opening cut with scissors. That was used to pipe the little round stem spots.

When you pipe the cluster, make sure each “blueberry” is kept small, so that the final macaron is not huge.

for the filling:
1/4 cup blueberry jam (store-bought or homemade)
113g butter, softened
240g powdered sugar
lest of 1 lemon
lemon juice to taste
pinch of salt

Pipe the cluster of three small berries. Tap the tray to release air bubbles, but be gentle, you don’t want the circles to join too much. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes, then pipe the round stem centers. Let the shells dry until a skin forms, then bake as normally (300F for about 12 minutes).

Make the lemon buttercream by whisking the softened butter for a couple of minutes in a KitchenAid type mixer. Add the lemon zest and whisk another 30 seconds, then the powdered sugar in a few batches in very low speed. Slowly increase the speed once the sugar is starting to get incorporated, add the lemon juice, salt, and whisk at high speed for a couple of minutes. Adjust consistency with more lemon juice or powdered sugar, as needed.

Fill the shells with a dollop of jam in the center and lemon buttercream around, as shown in the picture below. Let the macarons mature in the fridge overnight before enjoying.

Comments: Veronika Gowan makes incredible macarons, perfect examples of fruits and even vegetables (she recently made unique and exquisite chanterelle macarons). I need to practice my piping skills for very delicate features, but in the case of blueberry clusters, next time I will add the stem decoration by painting. I think they will be more delicate and maybe more realistic that way. You can click on her instagram feed to see many of her amazing productions.

WATERMELON MACARONS, TWO WAYS
(piping inspired by Pies and Tacos)

for shells:
same recipe as Apple Cider macarons above, separated in three batches: green, light green (or left un-dyed), and watermelon (pink and red 2:1)

for filling:
200g powdered sugar
60g unsalted butter softened
1/2 tsp Amoretti watermelon emulsion (adjust to taste)
milk or heavy cream to adjust consistency of buttercream
pinch of salt

to decorate:
edible food marker, black

You will pipe the shells in three concentric colors, starting with the dark green, then light (or un-dyed), then watermelon After that you tap the tray to release bubbles as normally, just don’t be too harsh.

Once baked, you can fill them and do the final decoration with a black marker. You might have leftover batter of one or two colors (I had both green colors leftover). In this case, use them as the back of your macaron, or come up with a totally different design. Go with the flow, dance to the Macaron Music…

To make the watermelon buttercream, follow the general method of the lemon buttercream above, but use watermelon flavor added to the butter after it is creamed. Then proceed with the powdered sugar addition and milk or cream, if needed.

Alternative design for watermelon macarons

You can simplify things and pipe shells of two different colors, matching one green and one watermelon-color. I air-brushed some pink luster on the shell, but that is just a bit of icing on the cake… 😉

After filling the macarons with watermelon buttercream, make little seed markings with black food marker, and as always, let the macarons sit in the fridge overnight for proper maturation of the shells.

I hope you enjoyed these variations on my favorite cookie. I have been practicing with different shapes, and results are not always that great, but I still have fun trying…

ONE YEAR AGO: Halloween Entremet Cake

TWO YEAR AGO: Pork with Prunes, Olives and Capers

THREE YEARS AGO: Kansas Corn Chowder

FOUR YEARS AGO: Impossibly Cute Bacon and Egg Cups

FIVE YEARS AGO: Pulling Under Pressure

SIX YEARS AGO: Cooking Sous-vide: Two takes on Chicken Thighs

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Miso Soup: A Japanese Classic

EIGHT YEARS AGO: On my desk

NINE YEARS AGO: A must-make veggie puree

TEN YEARS AGO: Vegetarian Lasagna

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Brazilian Pão de Queijo

4Aug2018

BLUEBERRY AND MANGO CURD MACARONS

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

No, not together in the same filling. I am sharing two different takes on my favorite cookie. Curd can be a tricky filling for macarons because anything with moisture is a killer, so normally a buttercream or ganache-based preparation is the best option. But, if you intend to consume them within a day, maximum two, give curd a try. It has the best sharp, acidic flavor to stand against the sweetness of the shells. Since every batch I bake is shared with our departmental colleagues and more often than not they are inhaled within 3 hours of arrival… I never have to worry too much about the issue. The blueberry version is a pure curd, the mango was “tamed” with a bit of white chocolate ganache. They were both delicious, but I must say I haven’t quite hit the mango flavor with the intensity I want. I need more cowbell on that (Saturday Night Live lovers, anyone?).

Blueberry Macs first, scroll down for the Mango version.

BLUEBERRY CURD MACARONS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

for the shells:
see this post
use just a little vanilla to flavor the shells and add purple food color

for the filling:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon water
zest of half a lime
2 large eggs, beaten slightly

Make the shells and bake them as described in the link.

Make the filling: Place the blueberries and lime zest in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon water and cook gently, mixing occasionally until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve, and place inside a glass bowl that will fit over a saucepan with a small amount of simmering water. Add the butter and sugar and cook until the sugar is fully dissolved and the butter is melted.

Add the eggs and continue to stir over gently simmering water until the curd thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon, and reach about 170 F. The process can take a while, but I like to start it on the stove and if the temperature gets stuck in a certain level, I place the bowl in the microwave and give it a couple of 20 second bursts to make sure it is heated to 170 F. It is imperative to use a thermometer, so that you don’t risk going over the temperature goal. You can always just baby-sit the curd on the stove full-time. Once it’s done, strain the curd, and let it cool completely before using it to fill the macaron shells.

Macarons are best enjoyed after 24 hours in the fridge.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I cannot believe how beautiful the blueberry curd turned out. What amazing color! If you like tart-and-sweet stuff, you’ll fall in love with it. When I make the shells I always marry them to get as closely in size as possible (my piping is never too consistent, I’m afraid), then I open them side by side and add the filling to one of the partners. The decoration was very simple, a drizzle of candy melts white. Yes, I took a shortcut instead of tempering white chocolate, because when I made these, I was having quite a few issues with tempering chocolate. Since the drizzle is a minor component of the cookie, I decided that in the name of my mental sanity, I would use it. A sprinkle of decorating purple and pink sugar crystals closed the deal. It is hard for me to pick a favorite macaron, but this version was very very tasty.

MANGO CURD MACARONS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

for the shells:
see this post
use just a little vanilla to flavor the shells
Separate a small amount of batter ( about 1/3 cup) and add green food color to it.
Add yellow color to the rest of the batter.

for the filling:
mango curd (you won’t need the full amount)
1 cup pureed mango flesh
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 teaspoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
3 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
white chocolate ganache:
115 g white chocolate, coarsely chopped
35 g heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp unsalted butter

To decorate the shells with the heart-shaped swirls, place the small amount of green macaron batter inside a piping bag. No need to use a tip, you can cut a small opening so that it will release small drops. Pipe the shells with the batter tinted yellow. Right after piping, drop three dots of green batter on the edge of the shells, and run a line through them with a toothpick or a metal gadget for cookie design. Let the shells dry to form a skin and bake as you would normally do (see the link included).

Make the filling: Whisk the mango pulp, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch and salt in a bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks. Place in a double boiler with water simmering underneath. Cook stirring gently until thickened, it should take only about 5 minutes due to the cornstarch. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter a few pieces at a time until incorporated.

Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl, pushing it through with a rubber spatula. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until completely set, at least 4 hours.

Make a white chocolate ganache by placing the chocolate in a bowl and pouring over it the heavy cream heated to almost boiling (bubbles forming at the edges of the pan). Let it sit for a few minutes, swirl gently to dissolve the chocolate, add the butter and mix. Let it cool to room temperature, then add to it 1/3 of a cup of the mango curd. Mix well and refrigerate for several hours before filling the shells. If desired, you can whip the mixture before doing so.

Macarons are best enjoyed after 24 hours in the fridge.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: You will notice that I had two different types of decoration in these macarons. The problem is that you need to work very fast to pipe the green batter into the shells and do the swirl. Ideally, this should be a two-persons job. Since I was doing it by myself, I quickly realized I would not be able to decorate them all before mixing one color in the other would become problematic. So, I adapted a Plan B, and used pearl dust in dark green, a little Everclear to dissolve it, and a brush with wide open bristles. The color must be dissolved in alcohol (some say lemon juice works too), but no worries if you serve the macarons to kids, the alcohol quickly evaporates without affecting the delicate shells.

Each shell, once baked and cold, gets a quick stroke of the brush dipped in the alcohol-dust mixture. No need to measure anything, the alcohol is there just to provide moisture. The more pearl dust, the darker the resulting color. Very easy and straightforward.

As to the flavor, both Phil and I felt that the mango flavor did not come through as much as we would like. I have some ideas for next time, while mangos are still around in the grocery store. If you have suggestions, please leave a comment and I’ll be very grateful. I wonder if a pure mango curd would have worked better.

Speaking of it, I got the recipe for the mango curd from FoodTV Network. I was a little puzzled by the denomination of curd when it’s thickened with cornstarch, but I decided to keep it this way, at the risk of offending some heavy-duty bakers. Gary, Jennifer, forgive me, for I have probably sinned. I will try to behave better from now on…