Another attempt to make French Macaroon

As a surprise to my family I’m making chocolate macaroon with chocolate hazelnut filling and pink macaroon with buttercream passion fruit filling. I intend to perfect making this delightful cookies that I end up buying every  time in San Francisco Ferry building.  It is so addicting and I’m on a mission to make this again. Well unfortunately the first batch which is chocolate macaroon was almost a success but I forgot that one of the key thing is to leave the oven door ajar when baking it and to cook one cookie sheet at a time.  It still looks good and I did accomplish to get the feet on each cookie.  I better make a good filling to cover up the mistake.

Back to the drawing board and I will not age the egg white like the first batch and just leave it room temperature before I beat the egg whites.  I can’t make a mistake since this is not a cheap cookie to make.  I decided to surf the web once again and look over Martha Stewarts’ recipe.  Martha is very precise about everything and thought it was worth a try.

Ingredients

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 2 large egg whites, room temperature
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup superfine sugar

Pulse confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a food processor until combined.  Sift mixture 2 times.  Preheat oven to 375 degree.

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites with salt on medium speed  until foamy.Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy.  Add cream of tartar, and increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar.  Continue to whip until stiff and glossy peaks form, this will take about 8 minutes.   With a rubber spatula, sift almond/confectioners’ flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny.
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.  Fit a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch #4 round tip and fill with batter.  Pipe 1-inch disk onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies.  The batter will spread a little.  Let it stand at room temperature until dry, and a soft skin forms on the tops of the macaroon and the shiny surface turns dull, about 15 minutes.
3. Bake, with the door of the oven slightly ajar, until the surface of the macaroons is completely dry, about 15 minutes.  Remove baking sheet to a wire rack and let the macaroons cool completely on the baking sheet.  Gently peel off the parchment.  Their tops are easily crushed, so take care when removing the macaroons from the parchment.  Use immediately or store in an airtight container, refrigerate for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
4. To fill the macaroons: fill a pastry bag with the filling. Turn macarons so their flat bottoms face up. On half of them, pipe about 1 teaspoon filling. Sandwich these with the remaining macarons, flat-side down, pressing slightly to spread the filling to the edges. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Variations of macaroons:

• Chocolate Macaroons  - in step 1, add 2 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder with the confectioners’ sugar.    In step 4, blend 1/2 cup macaron filling with 1 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder dissolved in 1/2 teaspoon warm water for the filling. To make cassis-flavored macarons: In step 1, add 2 drops purple food coloring to the egg whites after they are whipped. In step 4, use 1/3 cup good-quality cassis jam for the filling. To make pistachio-flavored macarons: In step 1, add 2 drops green food coloring to the egg whites after they are whipped. In step 4, combine 1/2 cup macaron filling with 1 tablespoon pistachio paste for the filling.

Transfer batter to pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, dragging pastry tip to the side of rounds rather than forming peaks.  Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air.  Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Let macarons cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to  wire rack.  Sandwich 2 same-size macarons with 1 teaspoon filing.  Serve immediately, or stack between layers of parchment, wrap in plastic, and freeze up to 3 months.

I can’t believe that this came out perfect and with timing the beating of the egg whites the meringue came out perfect just like all the pictures I have seen in the blogs I’ve viewed.  Lastly, Martha’s suggestion of sifting the nut mixture to the beaten egg whites and folding it was perfect.  I must remember all these steps and now I just have to make passion fruit buttercream filling.

These cookies take a little practice to make but it’s worth it. This is the first time I made two varieties chocolate and passion fruit macaroons.  The key is to make sure the egg whites are beaten just right and I would highly suggest set your timer to 8 minutes after you add flavor or color to the egg whites.  Give the recipe a try and even if they don’t look great they will still taste great.

Swiss-Meringue Buttercream

• 4 egg whites
• 1- 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 sticks (1-1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine the egg whites and sugar. Cook, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch (about 160ºF).

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the egg-white mixture on high speed until it holds stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until the mixture is fluffy and cooled, about 6 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. (If the frosting appears to separate after all the butter has been added, beat on medium-high speed until smooth again, 3 to 5 minutes more.) Beat in vanilla. Beat on lowest speed to eliminate any air bubbles, about 2 minutes. Stir with a rubber spatula until frosting is smooth.

Ciao for now!