REAL PINEAPPLY MACARONS

Real Pineapply Macarons

How do you get real pineapples in macaron shells?

You know how you see macaron recipes all over the place that purport to be "Raspberry" or "Strawberry" or "Pineapple" when in fact there isn't any such fruit in the macaron shells?  Don't you just hate that?  

Often, people mimic the colour of the fruit with vivid food colouring, which is gorgeous but doesn't do much for the flavour.  They sometimes use extracts either in the shells or the filling.  More often than not, the fruit flavour is infused in the filling through either jams, jellies or actual pieces of fruit sandwiched between the shells.

dust finely ground freeze-dried pineapple on the shells immediately after you pipe them

When I want intense real fruit flavour, I go for the real thing.  I get me some freeze-dried fruit and buzz it up in my Bullet.  The finely ground powder then is incorporated into the almond/sugar mixture.  I even sprinkle the fruit powder onto the shells before they dry.   I am always happy with the honest flavour of the powdered fruit.  

Since discovering the freeze-dried pineapples, strawberries and mango from Mrs. May's, I've been experimenting with the ground fruit in my macaron shells.  I don't think I want to ever go back to the fake flavours of extracts and food colouring.  The muted pastel shades that the real fruit yield is fine with me because the flavour more than makes up for the lack of vividness.  Besides, macarons are beautiful anyway.

 intense pineapple flavour, with no artificial flavours

This recipe has been my hero.  It's easy, not wasteful at all and quick to pull together.  There's no aging of whites on the counter, no separating of yolks from whites and I haven't had a failed bunch yet [knock on wood].

I'm Costco-dependent.  Almost all the ingredients are from Costco.  I buy the huge bag of blanched sliced almonds there (and freeze the bag until I need it).  I also found the freeze-dried fruit and the confectioners' sugar there.  The egg-whites come in a pack of 3-cartons and even the unsalted butter for the SMB is from Costco.  I like how I don't have to worry about all those leftover yolks.   I just use the SMB recipe for the filling because it also requires egg whites.    

You can find Meringue Powder from Wilton (I get mind at Michaels).

REAL PINEAPPLY  MACARONS 

an original recipe by Cakebrain

• 145 grams egg whites at room temperature [I used pasteurized egg whites from a carton]
• 2 tsp meringue powder 
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 15 grams finely ground freeze dried pineapples, plus extra for sprinkling on shells if desired
• 115 grams ground almonds [I purchase sliced almonds from Costco and grind them down in the food processor]
• 230 grams confectioners' sugar
• 75 grams granulated vanilla sugar

1. Prepare the baking pans by lining with parchment paper.
2. Prepare your piping bag with a large round tip.
3. Process the almonds, confectioners' sugar and freeze dried pineapples until thoroughly combined and finely ground.   Continue to pulse until all lumps are gone.  If there are small lumps, you may sift to ensure fineness of the mixture.
4. In a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until foamy, about 2 minutes.  Add the cream of tartar.  Continue whisking on medium speed for 2 more minutes.  Gradually add the granulated sugar while whisking on high for another 3-4 minutes, or until the egg whites are very stiff.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites, and with a rubber spatula, deflate the whites while mixing.  Combine the ingredients thoroughly and watch carefully, lifting the mixture with the spatula to see if it leaves ribbons.  Stop mixing before the mixture becomes runny.    Test by seeing if the batter is lava-like.  It should not maintain its lines but sink slowly back into itself in about 10 seconds.
6. Transfer half the batter to the piping bag and pipe the macaroons onto the parchment, allowing for spreading.
7. Rap the tray a few times on your counter to ensure bubbles are eradicated  
8. Continue filling bag and piping macaron shells until all the batter is used.
9. Sprinkle extra ground pineapple on the macaron shells.
10. Preheat the oven to 315 degrees F.  Allow the macaron shells to dry, about 20-30 minutes.  If you touch the surface, it should not be sticky.  Continue to dry if it is sticky.  
11. Place one tray on the centre rack and bake for 10-12 minutes (depending on the size of the macarons).  Turn the tray from back to front halfway through.
12. Allow macaroons to cool completely before filling.  Remove from parchment carefully.
13. Pipe Swiss Meringue Buttercream on a macaron shell, find a similar sized shell and sandwich it.  Store the macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.  Best served at room temperature.  You can freeze the shells or the prepared macarons in an airtight container.

VANILLA BEAN SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
(from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes; makes about 5 cups)

• 5 large egg whites
• 1 cup plus 2 T sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
• 1 vanilla bean, insides scraped (and save the pod for vanilla sugar!) or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Combine egg whites, sugar and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).
2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.
3. With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
4. (optional) To tint buttercream, reserve some for toning down the color, if necessary. Add gel-paste food color, a drop at a time (or use the toothpick or skewer to add food color a dab at a time) to the remaining buttercream. You can use a single shade of food color or experiment by mixing two or more. Blend after each addition with the mixer (use the paddle attachment) or a flexible spatula, until desired shade is achieved. Avoid adding too much food color too son, as the hue with intensify with continued stirring; if necessary, you can tone down the shade by mixing in some reserved untinted buttercream.

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DESPERATELY REAL STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM MACARONS

real strawberries and cream macarons

Okay, I'll come clean.

My eyes are drawn to the entertainment tabloids at the check-out counter and when a queue is particularly gruellingly long I have been known to pick one up and flip through its pages.

ground almonds, powdered strawberries and sugar

macaronage stage...lava-like

I have my guilty indulgences (aside from gluten-full slices of cake on occasion).

But I have never purchased a gossip magazine.

I swear.

real strawberry flavour from freeze-dried strawberries

Much like lookie-loos craning their necks to see a traffic accident, I have been known to pause on reality shows other than those on Food TV.  I don't actually watch much t.v. other than a few sit-coms that to me are like brain candy.  I don't need drama.  I can read a book for that.  Because Stomach likes to watch The Big Bang Theory and it's on frequently after the kids have been put to bed, I get a chance to kick back and watch it too.  I enjoy it because heck, Stomach is an engineer and so are many of my guy friends.   He and I can relate to pretty much everything that's on that show!

vanilla bean swiss meringue buttercream filling is smooth, creamy and pairs well with strawberry

Though I have not watched an entire episode of Desperate Housewives and I've only ever seen at most 10  minutes of the Real Housewives series' shows, I certainly know what it's all about.  Some of my friends are hooked on watching the series.  

Well, tonight the Real Housewives of Vancouver launches on t.v. and I've been invited to a Real Housewives house party!  Whoohoo!  Fun!  Some of my female friends at work decided it would be a great idea to get a few of us "Real" Vancouver housewives together to watch the first show together.

desperately real strawberry macarons!

I imagine that Strawberry Macarons would make a nice contribution to the evening's munchies.  They're elegant, trendy, expensive (if purchased but I'll never do that), and intensely flavoured...just like the Real Housewives of Vancouver.  To boot, they're temperamental.  I didn't want all sorts of artificial ingredients in them (but I can't say that can be so accurate for the real housewives themselves...don't know that sort of stuff).  So I didn't use any artificial food colouring and only organic ingredients.  Well, I think that's pretty Vancouver.   In general, we Vancouverites are into healthy, organic lifestyles.

the secret ingredient

I had purchased a case of freeze-dried fruit snacks from Costco recently.  It was a variety pack of Pineapple, Mango and Strawberry packets.  It's gluten free, no sugar added, all-natural and the ingredient list is simple; for example on the pineapple pack it states simply "pineapple".  There are no preservatives like sulphites either.  The freeze-dried fruit slices are different in texture than regular dried fruit.  It's slightly crunchy.  The flavour though is intense.  Not too sweet.  Because of its dry texture, it's easily ground into a powder.  Therein lies my inspiration to use these snacks in macarons.

freeze-dried strawberries are intensely flavoured.  no need for artificial ickiness in your macarons

I used one and a half packs of the strawberries (10 oz packets) and used my Bullet to buzz them up into a fine powder.  I added that to the ground almonds and confectioners' sugar and they turned out a pale pink.  The smell of strawberries was so intense.  The flavour was excellent.  I paired the shells with a Swiss Meringue Buttercream with real Vanilla bean.  I think the flavour is like Strawberries and Cream.

real strawberries and cream macarons...a nice pairing with champagne? white wine?
a perfect pairing while watching Real Housewives Vancouver

Here it is.  Why not indulge in a guilty pleasure?

REAL STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM  MACARONS
an original recipe by Cakebrain

• 145 grams egg whites at room temperature [I used pasteurized egg whites from a carton]
• 2 tsp meringue powder 
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 15 grams finely ground freeze dried strawberries
• 115 grams ground almonds [I purchase sliced almonds from Costco and grind them down in the food processor]
• 230 grams confectioners' sugar
• 75 grams granulated vanilla sugar

1. Prepare the baking pans by lining with parchment paper.
2. Prepare your piping bag with a large round tip.
3. Process the almonds, confectioners' sugar and freeze dried strawberries until thoroughly combined and finely ground.   Continue to pulse until all lumps are gone.  If there are small lumps, you may sift to ensure fineness of the mixture.
4. In a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until foamy, about 2 minutes.  Add the cream of tartar.  Continue whisking on medium speed for 2 more minutes.  Gradually add the granulated sugar while whisking on high for another 3-4 minutes, or until the egg whites are very stiff.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites, and with a rubber spatula, deflate the whites while mixing.  Combine the ingredients thoroughly and watch carefully, lifting the mixture with the spatula to see if it leaves ribbons.  Stop mixing before the mixture becomes runny.    Test by seeing if the batter is lava-like.  It should not maintain its lines but sink slowly back into itself in about 10 seconds.
6. Transfer half the batter to the piping bag and pipe the macaroons onto the parchment, allowing for spreading.
7. Rap the tray a few times on your counter to ensure bubbles are eradicated  
8. Continue filling bag and piping macaron shells until all the batter is used.
9. Preheat the oven to 315 degrees F.  Allow the macaron shells to dry, about 20-30 minutes.  If you touch the surface, it should not be sticky.  Continue to dry if it is sticky.  
10. Place one tray on the centre rack and bake for 10-12 minutes (depending on the size of the macarons).  Turn the tray from back to front halfway through.
11. Allow macaroons to cool completely before filling.  Remove from parchment carefully.
12. Pipe Swiss Meringue Buttercream on a macaron shell, find a similar sized shell and sandwich it.  Store the macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.  Best served at room temperature.  You can freeze the shells or the prepared macarons in an airtight container.

VANILLA BEAN SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
(from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes; makes about 5 cups)

• 5 large egg whites
• 1 cup plus 2 T sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
• 1 vanilla bean, insides scraped (and save the pod for vanilla sugar!) or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Combine egg whites, sugar and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).
2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.
3. With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
4. (optional) To tint buttercream, reserve some for toning down the color, if necessary. Add gel-paste food color, a drop at a time (or use the toothpick or skewer to add food color a dab at a time) to the remaining buttercream. You can use a single shade of food color or experiment by mixing two or more. Blend after each addition with the mixer (use the paddle attachment) or a flexible spatula, until desired shade is achieved. Avoid adding too much food color too son, as the hue with intensify with continued stirring; if necessary, you can tone down the shade by mixing in some reserved untinted buttercream.

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MACARONS MADE WITH PASTEURIZED EGG WHITES?

BABY BLUE  VANILLA BEAN MACARONS MADE WITH PASTEURIZED EGG WHITES

I threw caution to the wind today. 

Lately, I have been wondering if all the fussing with the whites is worth it: the separating, then the aging (I do my aging in the fridge) and the waiting until the whites are at room temp.

I purchased at Costco a 3-pack carton of “Simply Egg Whites”, intending to try them in a macaron recipe.  The only ingredient on the carton: egg whites.  There are no additives.  However, the whites are pasteurized.  Ordinarily, I make my macarons with aged egg whites from organic eggs.  I have a handy-dandy tried-and-true macaron recipe I go to that satisfies me immensely.  However, I wanted to try my hand at creating a new recipe using pasteurized whites.  This requires a good kitchen scale and so I advise you to weigh carefully if you intend to make macarons with my recipe.

Initially, I had the intention of making Blue, Green and White macarons in honour of the Canucks’ drive for the Stanley Cup (these colours are in their jersey).  I continue to turn that oven on every game and bake something just so that I don’t jinx it.    The other night it was pizza.   I’m getting tired of cookies.  A colleague waxed on about my macarons the other day and put the seed in my mind that I ought to make macarons again.  I haven’t made them since Christmas!

Unfortunately, mid-way through making these, I lost interest in decorating the macaron shells with the green macaron batter.  I wanted to go for a run on the treadmill so I ditched my ambitious decorating plans.  Going on the treadmill allowed me some caloric leeway I figured--to enable me to sample the macarons to my heart’s content. 

I had intended to pipe green batter onto the blue shells.  This didn’t work out and I ended up eating the partially decorated baked shells unfilled because they didn’t look anything  like the team colours anyway.  They were delicious, btw.

Fortunately, the blue macarons were quite pretty and though the green is missing, the major team colours are blue and white anyway. The green is just used as trim.  I think this will have to do. 

As you can see, using pasteurized egg whites worked.  Because I didn’t want to risk failure I did a few things to ensure my macarons had feet.  I added 1 teaspoon of meringue powder (dried egg white powder) and 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar to stabilize the whites while I was whisking them.  I whisked the whites a total of 10 minutes in my KitchenAid mixer.  I did not use room temperature whites.  I did not age the whites.  I did microwave them for 10 seconds in the microwave oven.  I touched the whites coming out of the microwave and they weren’t even room temperature.  I figured I’d use them anyway.  Guess what?  It's all okay!  The aging step was a bother, the separating of whole eggs was a waste of time and energy and now I know I don’t have to figure out what to do with all those egg yolks!  I know I can make pastry cream, custards and all sorts of things with yolks, folks.  However, I just want macarons!  I don’t have the time or inclination to make other stuff with the yolks.  This pasteurized egg whites idea is great for instant gratification!

So I dedicate my experimental recipe to the Canucks.  It’s a winner! I hope they are too!

CANUCKS MACARONS
300 g  confectioner’s sugar
225 g  finely ground almonds
150 g  pasteurized egg whites [I used “Simply Egg Whites”]
1/2 tsp  cream of tartar
1 tsp  meringue powder [I used Wilton brand]
150 g   granulated sugar
5 ml  vanilla paste
Teal or baby blue food colouring [I used Wilton food colouring paste]

1. Preheat oven to 310 F.
2. Put the icing sugar and ground almonds in a food processor.  Pulse until finely ground and combined well.
3. Sift the icing sugar and almond mixture into a bowl.  Discard large chunks of almond.
4. Microwave pasteurized egg whites and meringue powder for 10 seconds in a microwave safe measuring cup.
5. Using a mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk egg whites until foamy.  Add cream of tartar.  Gradually add sugar. Whites will become shiny.
6. Continue to whisk until stiff peaks form. [It took me 10 minutes.]
7. Manually fold almond and icing sugar mixture into egg whites.  Add food colouring.
8. The batter should flow “like magma”.  It should not be spongy and it should not hold a peak.   It should spread very slowly.  Fill a piping bag that has a large round tip with batter.
9. Pipe small rounds onto parchment-lined tray and let air dry for 10 minutes.
10. Bake 10-12 minutes or before the macaron shells start to turn brown.

CLASSIC VANILLA OR ALMOND SCENTED BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon clear almond extract

1. Place the softened butter in bowl of mixer.
2. Gradually add the sugar by sifting a small amount over the butter and stirring to incorporate. Continue until all the sugar is blended in.
3. Beat in the milk until smooth.
4. Beat in the electric mixer until the icing is pale and fluffy, about 5-7 minutes.
   

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FESTIVE CHRISTMAS MACARONS

HO HO HO!  Pistachio macarons with Chestnut Cream, Vanilla Buttercream and Glace Cherry fillings.
VARIATION #1:  MATCHA-PAINTED PISTACHIO MACARONS WITH VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

Hand-painted pistachio macaron shells with buttercream filling.  The “paint” is matcha.

Follow the recipe for Pistachio macaron shells exactly.  I made two separate batches and just changed up the fillings to make my life a bit easier.
*Please hit the "read more" link to proceed to the recipes and techniques for the 3 macaron variations.

Pistachio Macarons

adapted from tartelette
Makes 35
225 gr powdered sugar
60 gr ground almonds
65 gr pistachios
3 egg whites (about 100gr)
25 gr granulated sugar

• In a food processor, run the nuts and powdered sugar until the nuts are finely ground. Run through a sieve if needed.
  
• Whip the egg whites until foamy, slowly add the granulated sugar, until they are glossy. Continue beating until stiff peaks are formed.
  
• Slowly fold the nut/sugar mixture into the whites with a wide spatula. The mixture should remain shiny and flow easily.
  
• Fill a pastry bag with the batter and pipe small rounds, the size of a quarter, onto parchment lined baking sheets.
  
• Let the macarons rest for 20 minutes to develop a skin. Touch the tops to ensure that they are not tacky. If they are, leave them to rest longer.
  
• Preheat the oven to 315 and when they are ready, bake them for 12-15 minutes.
  
• Let cool, remove from the paper and fill with the chocolate buttercream.

IF YOU WISH TO PAINT THE SHELLS WITH MATCHA:

After the macarons have rested (before baking) and the shells are dry to the touch (about 20 minutes), mix up a teaspoon of matcha with a bit of hot water to make a paste.  Gradually add more hot water until it is the consistency of paint.  Do not use too much water or you’ll have soggy shells.  Using a new, clean, washed paintbrush, deftly and gently swipe the brush across the shells as they rest on the parchment.  Bake the macarons.  Cool and remove from parchment.

It is quite important to “pair up” your shells after removing from the parchment.  Line them up so that the pairs are approximately the same size.  I have all the unpainted shells shown bottoms-up so it’s easier to fill.

With a small star tip, pipe the buttercream (recipe below) onto the bottom shells.  Gently place the painted shells on the fillings.  Refrigerate to allow the flavours to meld.

An angel is 3 macarons high.

*Cakebrain’s note: if you’re ambitious, try the gorgeous Neoclassic Buttercream in chocolate.  If you’re not, try the plain Vanilla Buttercream.  I used the simple buttercream because it’s just as yummy and allows the pistachio flavour to sing and combines well for the Chestnut Cream filling. 

Neoclassic Chocolate Buttercream (makes 4 cups/1 3/4 lb/800g)
(from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible ) 6 large (3.5 fl oz/ 4 oz/112 g) egg yolks, room temperature sugar (3/4 cup/5.25 oz/150 g) corn syrup (1/2 liquid cup/5.75 oz/164 g) unsalted butter (2 cups/1 lb/454 g) (must be softened) optional: liqueur or eau-de-vie of your choice (2-4 T/1-2oz/28-56 g) 6 oz extra bittersweet or bittersweet chocolate, melted

• Have ready a greased 1-cup heatproof glass measure near the range
  
• In a bowl beat the yolks with an electric mixer until light in colour. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan (preferably with a nonstick lining) and heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup comes to a rolling boil. (The entire surface will be covered with large bubbles.) Immediately transfer the syrup to the glass measure to stop the cooking.
  
• If using an electric hand-held mixer, beat the syrup into the yolks in a steady stream. Don't allow syrup to fall on the beaters or they will spin it onto the sides of the bowl. If using a stand mixer, pour a small amount of syrup over the yolks with the mixer turned off. Immediately beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Stop the mixer and add a larger amount of syrup. Beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Continue with the remaining syrup. For the last addition, use a rubber scraper to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measure. Continue beating until completely cool.
  
• Gradually beat in the butter and any optional flavouring. Incorporate the melted bittersweet chocolate. Place in an airtight bowl. Bring to room temperature before using. Rebeat to restore texture.
  
• Store: 6 hours room temperature, 1 week refrigerated, 8 months frozen

CLASSIC VANILLA OR ALMOND SCENTED BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

• 6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  
• 2 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons milk
  
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon clear almond extract

1. Place the softened butter in a large bowl.
   
2. Gradually add the sugar by sifting a small amount over the butter and stirring to incorporate.  Continue until all the sugar is blended in.
   
3. Beat hard with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer until the icing is pale and fluffy.
   
4. Beat in the milk until smooth.

VARIATION #2:  PISTACHIO MACARONS WITH CHERRY FILLING

Follow the pistachio recipe, and chop whole Glace Cherries in fourths.  Pipe your favourite Vanilla Buttercream around the perimeter of the macaron shell.  Place a glace cherry quarter in the center.  Gently press a macaron shell on the top.  Refrigerate to allow the macaron to get yummy.

VARIATION #3:  PISTACHIO MACARONS WITH CHESTNUT CREAM FILLING

Chestnut Cream filling sandwiched between two macaron shells.  A heavenly combination!

For the Chestnut Cream filling, you need a can of Chestnut Puree.   Take about a cup of the Classic Vanilla Buttercream (from recipe above) in a mixing bowl.  Add 2 tablespoons (or to taste) of the chestnut puree to the buttercream.  Beat in mixer until smooth and homogenous.  Place in piping bag and pipe the chestnut cream filling between the pistachio shells.

Filled macarons can be refrigerated for a few days before serving.  You can also freeze them for a few weeks in a sealed container.  Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

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RAZZLE-DAZZLEBERRY MACARONS

razzle-dazzleberry macarons: who doesn't love a surprise?

Imagine my surprise when Stomach actually pronounced my latest batch of raspberry macarons amazing. This is saying a lot from a man who doesn't seem to eat anything sweet willingly.


I zinged up my trusty ol' basic macaron batter with a couple of tablespoons of finely ground dehydrated raspberries and dumped (way too much) powdered red food colouring into it as well. The red colour of the macaron shells was so intense. They even left a faint red stain on our tongues!

I piped a ring of Beranbaum's NeoClassic Buttercream (my desert/dessert island buttercream) along the macaron shell edge and then I piped a nice fat blob of seedless raspberry jam in the centre of the ring. After sandwiching two macaron shells to cover the filling, you couldn't tell that there was a secret explosion of raspberry filling inside. Bwah-ha-ha!

Check out my recipe below.

Razzle-Dazzleberry Macarons
adapted from tartelette
Makes 35

225 gr powdered sugar
125 gr ground almonds
3 egg whites (about 100gr)
25 gr granulated sugar
2 tablespoons finely ground dehydrated raspberries
powdered red food colouring

• In a food processor, run the nuts, dehydrated raspberries and powdered sugar until the nuts are finely ground. Run through a sieve if needed.
• Whip the egg whites until foamy, slowly add the granulated sugar, until they are glossy. Continue beating until stiff peaks are formed. Add the food colouring.
• Slowly fold the nut/sugar mixture into the whites with a wide spatula. The mixture should remain shiny and flow easily.
• Fill a pastry bag with the batter and pipe rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
• Let the macarons rest for 20 minutes to develop a skin. Touch the tops to ensure that they are not tacky. If they are, leave them to rest longer. [it was humid that day and I made big macarons so I had to leave them for 1 1/2 hours!]
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit and when they are ready, bake them for 14-16 minutes.
• Let cool, remove from the paper and fill with the vanilla buttercream and seedless raspberry jam. Procedure: fill piping bag with buttercream and pipe a ring around the inside edge of a macaron shell. Fill another piping bag with seedless raspberry jam and pipe a mound of jam in the centre of the ring. Sandwich another macaron shell on top.

Neoclassic Vanilla Buttercream

(from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible )

6 large (3.5 fl oz/ 4 oz/112 g) egg yolks, room temperature
sugar (3/4 cup/5.25 oz/150 g)
corn syrup (1/2 liquid cup/5.75 oz/164 g)
unsalted butter (2 cups/1 lb/454 g) (must be softened)
vanilla (2 T)
optional: liqueur or eau-de-vie of your choice (2-4 T/1-2oz/28-56 g)

• Have ready a greased 1-cup heatproof glass measure near the range
• In a bowl beat the yolks with an electric mixer until light in colour. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan (preferably with a nonstick lining) and heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup comes to a rolling boil. (The entire surface will be covered with large bubbles.) Immediately transfer the syrup to the glass measure to stop the cooking.
• If using an electric hand-held mixer, beat the syrup into the yolks in a steady stream. Don't allow syrup to fall on the beaters or they will spin it onto the sides of the bowl. If using a stand mixer, pour a small amount of syrup over the yolks with the mixer turned off. Immediately beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Stop the mixer and add a larger amount of syrup. Beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Continue with the remaining syrup. For the last addition, use a rubber scraper to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measure. Continue beating until completely cool.
• Gradually beat in the butter and any optional flavouring. Place in an airtight bowl. Bring to room temperature before using. Rebeat to restore texture.
  Store: 6 hours room temperature, 1 week refrigerated, 8 months frozen

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GIRLIE OREO MACARONS

Oreo cookies buzzed up in a Blizzard from Dairy Queen are my idea of summer. There's nothing better than sittin' against a log on the beach watching the sun set into English Bay while slowly scraping the slender plastic red spoon across the craggy soft-serve vanilla ice cream studded with brown-black cookie chunks.

Summer is slowly slipping away and the evenings are chillier in Vancouver. Instead of the Blizzard, fall beckons me to create macarons!

Though you won't find pink anywhere in my wardrobe, for some reason I find it a very appealing colour contrast for anything chocolate. Pink and brown are fabulous together and in terms of baked goods, you've seen how well they go over in my Girlie Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes! Yummo!

I was aiming for the flavours of an oreo cookie but I wanted something more girlie and more delicate. I think Oreo cookies with a pink filling instead of white would be such a big seller! I know my kid would be dragging me down the local cookie aisle for them.

So, instead of the shortening-laden oreo-cookie filling, I grabbed a huge hunk of white chocolate from my wine fridge. By the way, did I tell you that along with my red wine, I've been storing chocolate in my wine fridge? I've been doing this for years. It's so working out for me! The chocolate never gets a bloom, and it never melts in the summer. My two favourite things in one special little temperature-controlled environment. Unorthodox, yes, but I love it.

The white chocolate buttercream...well, it was so delicious! I totally winged it and just chopped up about 6 oz of some Callebaut white chocolate, melted it and added it to my buttercream in the mixer. The texture of the filling turned out to be like that of oreo cookie filling and the flavour was definitively of white chocolate. And any buttercream tastes better when it's pink! To my trusty tried and true favourite basic macaron recipe, I added a couple of tablespoons of dark cocoa powder to the batter. My macaron shells were topped with organic crushed cocoa nibs. They were a lovely textural contrast and injected another dimension of cocoa flavour to the delicate French cookie. I loved how the pink white chocolate buttercream contrasted with the dark cocoa macaron shells. They were so edible.

There you have it: my Girlie Oreo Macarons

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RASPBERRY MACARONS WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE

raspberry macarons with white chocolate

Had a hankering for pink macarons...and I had these dehydrated raspberries in my cupboard. What the heck I bought the dehydrated raspberries for initially, I don't remember. I grated the little raspberries over the freshly piped macarons before I let them rest the prerequisite 20 minutes. The raspberries started to crumble; so I put some in my Bullet and ground them to a powder and dusted them over the tops of the macarons.

dehydrated raspberries add an intense aroma and splash of colour to the shells

freshly baked raspberry macarons

The macarons out of the oven smelled of raspberries and looked cool. Being a lazy butt, and mind you, I am still preoccupied with dispensing eyedrops in my newly "Lasik-ed" eyes every hour--I decided that instead of a white chocolate ganache, I'd just melt the white chocolate and pipe it between the macarons. I figured it couldn't taste that bad, right? It's chocolate! I suppose I could have gotten fancy and put a blob of seedless raspberry jam in the center before piping a circle of white chocolate around it, but I didn't. Maybe next time.

raspberry macarons with white chocolate filling

here the macarons are being packaged for delivery by bebe to her preschool teacher!

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CAKEBRAIN'S BLACK SESAME MACARONS

black sesame macarons with black sesame buttercream

Here's the recipe for the yummy Black Sesame Macarons I made a while back.

Cakebrain's Black Sesame Macarons
Makes 35
225 gr powdered sugar
100 grams ground almonds
25 grams ground black sesame
3 egg whites (about 100gr) at room temperature
25 gr granulated sugar

In a food processor, run the nuts, black sesame and powdered sugar until the mixture is finely ground. Run through a sieve if needed.

Whip the egg whites until foamy, slowly add the granulated sugar and continue whipping until they are glossy (stiff peaks).

Slowly fold the nut/sesame/sugar mixture into the whites with a wide spatula. The mixture should "flow like magma". When you form a peak, it should slowly dissolve back into itself and flatten.

Fill a pastry bag with the batter (I use a Wilton #12 tip) and pipe small rounds onto parchment lined baking sheets. I like to make small macarons about 3/4 inch to one inch in diameter. If you make your macarons too big (over an inch) they take longer to bake and may collapse if taken out too early.

Let the macarons rest for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 315degrees Fahrenheit.
Bake one tray on the middle rack for about 8 minutes. Look at the macarons. By this time, the feet should be forming. Whoopee! Once the feet have formed, lower the oven temperature to 300degrees F. Open and close the oven door slightly to allow a little of the heat and moisture to come out. Bake a further 4-6 minutes at the lower temperature.

Let cool, remove from the parchment paper and fill with buttercream or ganache.

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