Monday, April 30, 2012

Raspberries and Cream Macarons

Posted by - bakingaddict from The More Than Occasional Baker




This is a lovely recipe from my macaron book which has remained untouched until recently.  It's a great little book all about macarons. There are pretty pictures and clear instructions with step by step photos. I particularly like the recipes in this book because there is no egg wastage.  The egg whites are used for the shells and the egg yolks for the filling. I would say these were a semi-success, far from perfect but I'm glad I tried them again. I particularly liked the filling - I could just eat it on it's own! I think I can now say with confidence that I've conquered my fear of macarons :)

 



 strawberries & cream macarons ... but I've run out of strawberry jam so it's raspberries and cream for me

 I didn't have any vanilla pods either so I used a tablespoon of vanilla bean paste - smells amazing and you can see the flecks of vanilla seeds if you look closely enough

 you are supposed to mix to a ribbon like texture... so far so good.... 

 Glitter makes everything better

 A skin formed - honestly! 

 I couldn't resist peeking into the oven... looks good :) 

 ta-da! 

 look there's feet!! 


 whisking egg yolks, sugar and cornflour... 

 to make a custard like filling...

 ready for the fillings

 jam on one side, custard-cream filling on the other 



 mini macs just because everything looks better in miniature form!

 I'm so super proud of myself!! :) 



Recipe from Macarons by Annie Rigg, published by Ryland Peters & Small, photography by Kate Whitaker - reproduced with kind permission from the publisher (with minor edits from me in the method section)

For the macaron shells

200g icing sugar
100g ground almonds
120 - 125g egg whites (approx 3 egg whites)
a pinch of salt
40g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod split lengthways (I used vanilla bean paste)
red edible glitter

For the filling


Raspberry jam (original recipe states strawberry jam)
3 egg yolks
75g caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
250ml milk
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways (I used vanilla bean paste)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
100ml double cream


  • Blend the icing sugar and ground almonds for 30 seconds until thoroughly combined and set aside. 
  • Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold a stiff peak. 
  • Continue to whisk at medium speed while adding the caster sugar a teaspoonful at a time.
  • The mixture should be thick, white and glossy.
  • Using a large metal spoon, fold the ground almond and sugar mixture into the egg whits. 
  • Continue folding until a ribbon-like texture as shown above. 
  • Fill a piping bag with the mixture and pipe evenly sized rounds onto a baking sheet (I used a silicone mat which you can buy online here)
  • Tap the bottom of the baking sheets sharply, once, on the work surface to expel any large air bubbles.
  • Scatter edible glitter on top (I used a small paintbrush which I tapped gently from a height).
  • Leave the macarons to rest for about 15 minutes - 1 hour until they have set and formed a dry shell. 
  • Preheat the oven to 170C. 
  • Bake the macarons, 1 sheet at a time for about 10 minutes.
  • The tops should be crispy and the bottoms dry. 
  • Leave to cool on the baking sheet.

  • To make the filling, put the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a small heatproof bowl and whisk until combined. 
  • Heat the milk, along with the vanilla pod (or vanilla bean paste) in a small saucepan until it only just starts to boil.
  • Remove from the heat and pour over the egg mixture, whisking constantly until smooth. 
  • Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook gently over low heat, stirring constantly until the custard comes to a boil and thickens.
  • Strain into a clean bowl, add the butter and stir until the butter has melted. 
  • Cover with clingfilm and leave to cool before refrigerating. 
  • Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks and fold into the chilled custard. 

  • Take one half of the macaron shells and spread about 1/2 teaspoon raspberry jam onto each one. 
  • Fill a piping bag with the vanilla cream filling and pipe it onto the remaining shells. 
  • Sandwich together with the jammy macarons and leave to rest for about 30 minutes before serving. 

3 comments:

Steve @ the black peppercorn said...

for the past year or more, I have been wanting to try to make macarons but have never done it. These look awesome!

Winnie said...

Lovely and very delicious looking macarons!

Just Jaime said...

Great job! Macarons intimidate me but I want to try them because they look amazing! Thanks for sharing!