Tag: macaron

Birthday Macarons – You can never have too many sprinkles…

Soooooo I made some Birthday Macarons for my good friend Sonia. Because our friendship is characterised by laughter, fun and whimsy, I thought that these Birthday Macarons with Vanilla Sprinkles Buttercream would be the best way to reflect this. Macarons were the perfect present for someone who was gluten intolerant and the added confetti sprinkles on top made them quite the celebration treat, don’t you think?

Gravity defying!

As a child I loved fairy bread and often upped the ration of sprinkles to bread X infinity. As you do… because sprinkles are not only cutely colourful but they make you feel happy! This buttercream was reminiscent of those delicious memories and, while the sprinkles don’t actually add much to the taste, they definitely add to the aesthetic and there is a richness of those recalled memories. After I had decided to put confetti sprinkles on top of my vanilla macarons, I thought I may as well go all the way and mix some into my vanilla buttercream. How whimsical!

Just two tablespoons are all you need, although i’m not going to hold it against you if you want to add more!

at first the buttercream is quite crunchy because of the sprinkles, but after a day they absorb some of the moisture of the buttercream and the texture becomes much more soft. Thats if you can wait a whole day to scoff these babies.

Go on, I dare you.

these ones got packaged up into a pretty box for the birthday girl

see?

and these ones got stacked on a pretty glass stand.

Love those macarons!

So, my lovelies, what birthday treats do you like to eat? Don’t you just think that everything tastes better with sprinkles?

p.s. that was a rhetorical question, there won’t be anyone answering ‘no’ to that one. I freakin hope.

Macaron Recipe – from Zumbo 

Ingredients

300g almond meal

300g icing sugar

110g egg whites

300g caster sugar

75g water

2g powdered egg whites

110g egg whites

sprinkles to go on top of half of the macarons

Method

1. Combine almond meal and icing sugar in a large bowl. Sieve the mixture thoroughly at least twice.

2. Put the egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment

3. Put the caster sugar and water into a small saucepan and place over a low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved

4. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat until the mixture is boiling and reaches 118 degrees celsius

5. When the sugar syrup is close to the required temperature, place the powdered egg whites into the mixer bowl with the real egg whites and mix until frothy

6. When the sugar syrup is at the required temperature, pour the sugar syrup in a slow and steady stream down the inside of the mixer bowl while the machine is still mixing. Turn the speed up to high and mix for about 8 minutes (or until the mix has gone from very hot to just warm)

7. Stir the extra egg whites into the sieved almond and icing sugar mix

8. Add the meringue mixture to the almond mixture and fold through. Once it is all combined, continue to fold until the mixture has loosened and is more ‘lava like’. You don’t need to be gentle here like you would with a normal meringue, the aim is to soften the mixture rather than to keep all the air in it

9. Pipe 4cm circles of mixture onto a baking tray making sure that there is enough space between each macaron as they will spread slightly. Sprinkle a few… sprinkles on top of half of the macaron shells

10. Leave the trays for 30 mins to form a skin on the top. This will be how your macarons gain their ‘feet’ as the skin makes sure that they rise evenly and pop those little feet out the bottom (after 10 mins of resting, turn your oven on to 135 degrees celsius)

11. Place trays in the oven for 16 minutes or until they have a firm outer shell. Remove from the oven and set aside for 2 minutes. Carefully remove one macaron shell from the tray to check if the base is cool and dry. If it is still sticky on the bottom, put the tray back in the oven for another couple of minutes. When they are done, cool them on the trays.

Vanilla Sprinkles Buttercream – Adapted from Raspberri Cupcakes

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter

200g icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

2 tbsp sprinkles

 

Method

1. whisk butter with an electric mixer until the butter is pale and creamy

2. Add sifted icing sugar and vanilla paste and mix for 5-8 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy

3. Add the sprinkles and mix with a spatula until combined

4. Pipe onto the bottom of one macaron half, the sandwich with another one.

 

Chocolate Macarons with Frangelico Buttercream and Hazelnut Praline – Nuts about Sweets! July Sweet Adventures Blog Hop

I go through phases. It’s no secret. One week i’m wearing pink (well, actually, i’m always wearing pink so that’s a pretty poor example) one week i’m wearing headbands, the next its all about the pony tail, one week i’m making chocolate fondants, the next week i’m making delicious soups. This month, it’s all about the macaron. P.s. if you see any typos on these posts where I talk about ‘macaroni’ its because of this stupid autocorrect!

So the stars aligned this month for the Sweet Australian Blog Hop when i’d been on a spree of macaron making and realised that this month’s theme was ‘nuts about sweets’. Hooray! Macarons = almond meal = nuts. But how boring would it be if I just made normal macarons and left it at that? Surely they had to be more nutty? So I had a little think and decided to use up some hazelnuts that I had stored away in my pantry to make some hazelnut praline to put into my macarons.

show me a person who hates praline and i’ll show you a fool

But you can’t have praline on its own so I whipped up some chocolate macarons

and some chocolate buttercream

and then I thought ‘its a bit random to just hand hazelnut praline in these chocolate macarons. How can I make it even more hazelnutty?’ and SHAZAM! the answer came to me. FFFRRRAAAANNNNGEEEELIIICCOOOOOOO!

Or just Frangelico – hazelnut liqueur to the uninitiated.

I whizzed up the hazelnut praline in my mini food processor

and sprinkled some on top of the buttercream

and voila! Chocolate Macrons with Frangelico Buttercream and Hazelnut Praline

 

Chocolate Macaron Recipe – Adapted from this recipe by Adriano Zumbo

Ingredients

270g almond meal

270g icing sugar

60g cocoa powder

110g egg whites

300g caster sugar

75g water

2g powdered egg whites

110g egg whites

 

Method

1. Combine almond meal, icing sugar and cocoa powder in a large bowl. Sieve the mixture thoroughly at least twice.

2. Put the egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment

3. Put the caster sugar and water into a small saucepan and place over a low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved

4. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat until the mixture is boiling and reaches 118 degrees celsius

5. When the sugar syrup is close to the required temperature, place the powdered egg whites into the mixer bowl with the real egg whites and mix until frothy

6. When the sugar syrup is at the required temperature, pour the sugar syrup in a slow and steady stream down the inside of the mixer bowl while the machine is still mixing. Turn the speed up to high and mix for about 8 minutes (or until the mix has gone from very hot to just warm)

7. Stir the extra egg whites into the sieved almond and icing sugar mix

8. Add the meringue mixture to the almond mixture and fold through. Once it is all combined, continue to fold until the mixture has loosened and is more ‘lava like’. You don’t need to be as gentle here like you would with a normal meringue, the aim is to soften the mixture rather than to keep all the air in it just be careful not to over mix!

9. Pipe 4cm circles of mixture onto a baking tray making sure that there is enough space between each macaron as they will spread slightly

10. Leave the trays for 30 mins to form a skin on the top. This will be how your macarons gain their ‘feet’ as the skin makes sure that they rise evenly and pop those little feet out the bottom (after 10 mins of resting, turn your oven on to 135 degrees celsius)

11. Place trays in the oven for 16 minutes or until they have a firm outer shell. Remove from the oven and set aside for 2 minutes. Carefully remove one macaron shell from the tray to check if the base is cool and dry. If it is still sticky on the bottom, put the tray back in the oven for another couple of minutes. When they are done, cool them on the trays.

Chocolate Frangelico Buttercream Recipe

Ingredients
125g unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/2 cup icing sugar
135g dark chocolate
1 tbsp frangelico

Method
1. Melt chocolate in a bowl either in the microwave or over a double boiler and set aside to cool slightly
2. Place butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip for a few minutes until pale and creamy
2. Add chocolate to the butter and mix well
3. Mix in the icing sugar and frangelico then turn your mixer on to high and beat for a few minutes until light and fluffy

Hazelnut Praline Recipe

Ingredients
50g hazelnuts

40ml water

70g caster sugar

 

Method

1. spread hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake for 5-8 minutes at 180 degrees celsius or until toasted

2. take hazelnuts out of the oven and place onto a clean, dry tea towel. Fold the tea towel over the nuts and rub vigorously until the skins have come off

3. place hazelnuts back on a tray covered with baking paper

4. heat the water and sugar in a small saucepan on medium heat until the sugar has dissolved

5. turn the heat up to high and let the mixture boil without stirring for 3-5 minutes or until golden. Pour over the hazelnuts and leave to cool

6. Once the toffee has cooled, break into shards and place into a small food processor. Whiz until it resembles crumbs.

 

Assembly

1. place macarons into pairs that are the same size

2. pipe the buttercream onto the bottom of one of the macarons

3. sprinkle some praline over the buttercream

4. place the second macaron bottom down on top of the buttercream and press firmly together

 

This blog hop was kindly hosted by Nic from Dining With a Stud

More Macarons: Snickerdoodle Macarons

Do you like cinnamon donuts? Hang on, I don’t even know why i’m asking that, EVERYONE likes cinnamon donuts. While hot cinnamon donuts fresh from the fryer are a delicious treat, sometimes I just can’t be bothered making a big batch that just won’t taste the same the following day. These macarons however, improve with age! I’m not saying that macarons are less fiddly than fried donuts but yield will stay fresh for longer.

So why am I talking about donuts when these macarons are ‘snickerdoodle’ macarons? If you’ve never had a snickerdoodle before then you have my condolences. These biscuits are delicious, buttery, cinnamon-y and just plain good. They taste like cinnamon donuts converted into cookie form. So when I popped some cinnamon sugar on the top of my macarons and sandwiched some cinnamon buttercream between them, I found that they were similarly delicious. Mystery solved!

I used the Zumbo recipe posted previously to make the macaroni shells, but sprinkled some cinnamon sugar on top of half of them before baking. This gave a little more crunch and made them a little more reminiscent of the cookie after which they were named.

Aren’t they cute? All popped and crispy?

After baking the shells and letting them sit for a while, I hopped to it and whipped up some cinnamon buttercream. I seriously have no idea what i’m going to do when I move out later in the year and have to leave behind my mum’s kitchenaid mixer. And my mum…

nom nom cinnamon buttercream!

snickerdoodle macaron assemblage!

too cute!

and of course I had to taste test.

Deeeeelicious!

Sooooo, my lovelies, what is your favourite macaron flavour?

Snickerdoodle Macaron Recipe – Adapted from this recipe by Adriano Zumbo

Ingredients

300g almond meal

300g icing sugar

110g egg whites

300g caster sugar

75g water

2g powdered egg whites

110g egg whites

extra – 3 tbsp caster sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Combine almond meal and icing sugar in a large bowl. Sieve the mixture thoroughly at least twice.

2. Put the egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment

3. Put the caster sugar and water into a small saucepan and place over a low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved

4. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat until the mixture is boiling and reaches 118 degrees celsius

5. When the sugar syrup is close to the required temperature, place the powdered egg whites into the mixer bowl with the real egg whites and mix until frothy

6. When the sugar syrup is at the required temperature, pour the sugar syrup in a slow and steady stream down the inside of the mixer bowl while the machine is still mixing. Turn the speed up to high and mix for about 8 minutes (or until the mix has gone from very hot to just warm)

7. Stir the extra egg whites into the sieved almond and icing sugar mix

8. Add the meringue mixture to the almond mixture and fold through. Once it is all combined, continue to fold until the mixture has loosened and is more ‘lava like’. You don’t need to be gentle here like you would with a normal meringue, the aim is to soften the mixture rather than to keep all the air in it

9. Pipe 4cm circles of mixture onto a baking tray making sure that there is enough space between each macaron as they will spread slightly. Mix the extra caster sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle a little on top of half of the macarons.

10. Leave the trays for 30 mins to form a skin on the top. This will be how your macarons gain their ‘feet’ as the skin makes sure that they rise evenly and pop those little feet out the bottom (after 10 mins of resting, turn your oven on to 135 degrees celsius)

11. Place trays in the oven for 16 minutes or until they have a firm outer shell. Remove from the oven and set aside for 2 minutes. Carefully remove one macaron shell from the tray to check if the base is cool and dry. If it is still sticky on the bottom, put the tray back in the oven for another couple of minutes. When they are done, cool them on the trays.

Cinnamon Buttercream Recipe
Ingredients
100g unsalted butter (softened)
200g icing sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Method
1. Place butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip for a few minutes until pale and creamy
2. Add the icing sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and whip for 5-8 minutes until the mixture is light and soft
3. Transfer mixture into a piping bag and pipe a circle onto the bottom of one macaron shell. Place another shell on top (bottom side in contact with the buttercream) press down gently and twist to secure

Personal Challenges: The Macaron

Everyone has at least one irrational fear. In my case, the list is quite long. Fear of sharks when I swim out so far at the beach that I can’t touch the bottom, fear of the dark (particularly when i’m turning out all the lights before I go to bed at night) and, on a lesser scale, there are quite a few recipes that i’m terrified of trying. One of those recipes is macarons.

The much heralded successor to the cupcake with its delicate outer layer and moist, flavoursome innards has been on my ‘to bake’ list for quite a while. Ive had several unsuccessful attempts and watched others fail dismally which has not helped my confidence. So, this year I thought I would put it on my resolutions list and take small steps throughout the year to achieve it. Last holidays, I went to a small class held by a friend of a friend, I tried the Donna Hay box mix (which were surprisingly good) and I quizzed friends who had been successful in making these fickle treats. Unfortunately, everyone seems to have a different method and a slightly different mix. Everyone seems to swear by contradictory key parts of their recipe which just ends in a sad puddle of confusion and failure for the home cook like me.

So I figured that I would just bite the bullet and begin with the recipe of Adriano Zumbo. Having already tried a different recipe from the book (It Mayo Shock You Cake) and seeing that the macaron recipe had no freaky ingredients and was similarly straightforward, I was quite hopeful. The only thing that this recipe requires that you might not have stocked in your pantry is the powdered egg whites. I bought a big jar of these from The Essential Ingredient in Rozelle a while ago which I think will keep me stocked for many many many batches of macarons.

Other than that all you really need is egg whites, almond meal, icing sugar and a bit of water to make your macarons. In terms of specialty equipment, you really need a stand mixer or a second pair of hands as this recipes uses the italian meringue method which involves pouring the boiling sugar syrup into your egg whites mix while you are mixing. If you have a stand mixer you can do this by yourself but if you are using a hand mixer you will need someone else to help you. A sugar thermometer is also necessary to make sure your syrup is at the right temperature before you add it to the mix.

After you’ve done all your mixing you just need to pipe out your mixture onto baking paper and leave it alone for 30 mins. The little tips left from piping will disappear during this time as the mixture settles and forms a skin on top. You can also give your tray a few good whacks on the counter top to make sure that there are no pesky air bubbles lurking in there.

And once they are cooked they will have smooth tops and cute little feet popping up beneath them. Yay!

I chose to fill my macarons with delicious vanilla bean buttercream using Heilala Vanilla. This vanilla bean paste is amazing as it delivers an intense burst of vanilla flavour. It is quite expensive but it uses much less sugar than the varieties sold in the supermarket and is a much more pure vanilla flavour. You can buy it here for $23.50 for a jar of 100ml that will last you a very long time! It’s the kind of thing that I would LOVE to be given for a birthday or christmas or a ‘just because’ kind of gift.

Then all you need to do is pipe your filling onto one macaron

and sandwich together like so!

nom!!!

and so, I have overcome my fear of making macarons! Hooray!

So tell me, my lovelies, what fears do you have? Is it something totally irrational?

Macaron Recipe – from Zumbo 

Ingredients

300g almond meal

300g icing sugar

110g egg whites

300g caster sugar

75g water

2g powdered egg whites

110g egg whites

Method

1. Combine almond meal and icing sugar in a large bowl. Sieve the mixture thoroughly at least twice.

2. Put the egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment

3. Put the caster sugar and water into a small saucepan and place over a low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved

4. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat until the mixture is boiling and reaches 118 degrees celsius

5. When the sugar syrup is close to the required temperature, place the powdered egg whites into the mixer bowl with the real egg whites and mix until frothy

6. When the sugar syrup is at the required temperature, pour the sugar syrup in a slow and steady stream down the inside of the mixer bowl while the machine is still mixing. Turn the speed up to high and mix for about 8 minutes (or until the mix has gone from very hot to just warm)

7. Stir the extra egg whites into the sieved almond and icing sugar mix

8. Add the meringue mixture to the almond mixture and fold through. Once it is all combined, continue to fold until the mixture has loosened and is more ‘lava like’. You don’t need to be gentle here like you would with a normal meringue, the aim is to soften the mixture rather than to keep all the air in it

9. Pipe 4cm circles of mixture onto a baking tray making sure that there is enough space between each macaron as they will spread slightly

10. Leave the trays for 30 mins to form a skin on the top. This will be how your macarons gain their ‘feet’ as the skin makes sure that they rise evenly and pop those little feet out the bottom (after 10 mins of resting, turn your oven on to 135 degrees celsius)

11. Place trays in the oven for 16 minutes or until they have a firm outer shell. Remove from the oven and set aside for 2 minutes. Carefully remove one macaron shell from the tray to check if the base is cool and dry. If it is still sticky on the bottom, put the tray back in the oven for another couple of minutes. When they are done, cool them on the trays.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream Filling – From Raspberri Cupcakes

Please click through to this lovely girl’s beautiful blog to find her delicious recipe.