I recently discovered that there's actually quite a difference between macarons and macaroons. Who woulda thunk?
I'm not very good at explaining, plus I'm kinda tired after a full day of work so I suggest you just wiki them and find out for yourself. :)
But why the topic of macarons?
Mum and I made some about a week and a half ago! And they came out far prettier than I expected them to!
Yes, yes all my own photos, give me some good light, a photo tent and my Nikon D70s and we work it out pretty well.
We were at first worried when mum initially piped out the shells that they weren't going to smooth out, but it's amazing the change the macaron shells go through in the 10 minutes that you let them sit after piping them, before popping them in the oven!
So yes, they're quite easy to make, just a little bit time consuming! Mum and I didn't bother to pipe the ganache inside, we just grapped a butter knife and got busy spreading!
Chocolate Macarons
Macaron shell
300g icing sugar
200g ground almonds
18g cocoa powder
150g egg white (approx 4, 60g eggs. They usually come in a dozen box that weighs 700g)
60g caster sugar
cocoa powder, for sprinkling
Chocolate ganache
225g cream
50g butter
50g honey
250g chocolate couverture, broken into chunks
To prepare shell:
In a blender, process the icing sugar, ground almonds and cocoa powder finely.
Sift mixture.
Using a stand mixer, whip the egg white on a medium to high speed, adding the sugar gradually until the mixture forms stiff peaks.
Using a spatula, fold the sifted mixture into the egg white mixture, to form a slightly soft mass.
Fill the mixture into a piping bag with a 6mm plain nozzle and pipe out circles of 5-6cm diameter on a silicon mat or silicon paper lined baking tray. Sprinkle with cocoa powder. Seta side for 10 minutes, to allow the shells ot dry slightly.
Bake at 155C for 14 minutes – halfway through the baking time, open the over door slightly to allow the steam to escape; close door and finish baking.
To prepare ganache:
In a saucepan, heat the cream, butter and honey, stirring, until well-mixed. Remove from heat. Place the chocolate into a bowl and pour the cream mixture over. Mix until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is nicely blended.
(Mum and I popped the ganache into the fridge for a while to firm it up and make it spreadable)
Fill the ganache into a piping bag and pipe onto a shell, sandwiching it with a another shell. Chill in the fridge.
(And we didn't use the piping bag to sandwich it like I said earlier)
I'm not very good at explaining, plus I'm kinda tired after a full day of work so I suggest you just wiki them and find out for yourself. :)
But why the topic of macarons?
Mum and I made some about a week and a half ago! And they came out far prettier than I expected them to!
Yes, yes all my own photos, give me some good light, a photo tent and my Nikon D70s and we work it out pretty well.
We were at first worried when mum initially piped out the shells that they weren't going to smooth out, but it's amazing the change the macaron shells go through in the 10 minutes that you let them sit after piping them, before popping them in the oven!
So yes, they're quite easy to make, just a little bit time consuming! Mum and I didn't bother to pipe the ganache inside, we just grapped a butter knife and got busy spreading!
Chocolate Macarons
Macaron shell
300g icing sugar
200g ground almonds
18g cocoa powder
150g egg white (approx 4, 60g eggs. They usually come in a dozen box that weighs 700g)
60g caster sugar
cocoa powder, for sprinkling
Chocolate ganache
225g cream
50g butter
50g honey
250g chocolate couverture, broken into chunks
To prepare shell:
In a blender, process the icing sugar, ground almonds and cocoa powder finely.
Sift mixture.
Using a stand mixer, whip the egg white on a medium to high speed, adding the sugar gradually until the mixture forms stiff peaks.
Using a spatula, fold the sifted mixture into the egg white mixture, to form a slightly soft mass.
Fill the mixture into a piping bag with a 6mm plain nozzle and pipe out circles of 5-6cm diameter on a silicon mat or silicon paper lined baking tray. Sprinkle with cocoa powder. Seta side for 10 minutes, to allow the shells ot dry slightly.
Bake at 155C for 14 minutes – halfway through the baking time, open the over door slightly to allow the steam to escape; close door and finish baking.
To prepare ganache:
In a saucepan, heat the cream, butter and honey, stirring, until well-mixed. Remove from heat. Place the chocolate into a bowl and pour the cream mixture over. Mix until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is nicely blended.
(Mum and I popped the ganache into the fridge for a while to firm it up and make it spreadable)
Fill the ganache into a piping bag and pipe onto a shell, sandwiching it with a another shell. Chill in the fridge.
(And we didn't use the piping bag to sandwich it like I said earlier)
Posts
Lordy these look brilliant! I've just had lunch and now I'm craving something sweet - pity our office biscuit tin doesn't include macarons!
ReplyDeleteJetsetting Joyce
I learnt everything I need to know about the macaron/macaroon difference in this humble zine (which I've reviewed). You should check out the zine, it's not very expensive!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eatdrinkstagger.com/macarons-are-not-macaroons-and-theres-a-whole
Your macarons look awesome. I don't think I could ever bake them, they sound so hard to get perfect.
Joyce, Mmm, I'd join any office if there was a constant supply of macarons in the biscuit tin!
ReplyDeleteGem, oh how interesting! I may look into picking up a copy myself indeed! And don't be too daunted by them, they're really not too difficult to do!