As the title says, I'm gonna write about macarons again! I forgot when I started to make macarons...but I remember I wasn't interested until I started baking macarons for someone close (since he loves macarons and told me to try to make it). Yup, I took his advice, tried to master them and eventually fell in love with them :o Still working my way out - the perfect macaron with crispy outer shells with a soft, moist and chewy inner shell AND most importantly, the right amount of SWEETNESS (I personally dislike over-sweet macarons...too much for me).
OKAY! So...a while ago, I kept on getting hollow macaron shells until the time when that special someone came back to Hong Kong. OF COURSE I had to bake something for him, so I chose to bake his favourite earl-grey macarons the day before he arrived...and TADDDAAAAAAAAAA
Here it is!
In the oven....
Out of the oven...
Hahahaha I think I achieved a consistency closer to the right one...because...the shells...weren't hollow ANYMORE!! I was really satisfied with the results :D Finally overcome the flaw - hollow macaron shells. But, as usual, there are many more flaws for me to overcome D:
Oh! Forgot to mention that I used a different recipe. Thus, the macarons came out to be more chewy compared to pierre herme's recipe.
If you are frustrated about your hollow macaron shells...you should give it one more try! Good luck ;)
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Ingredients
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Egg white 65g
Caster sugar 25g
Egg white powder 1g
Ground Almond 50g
Icing sugar 90g
Cocoa powder 7g
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Recipe
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1. Sieve together the icing sugar, ground almond and cocoa powder.
2. Add egg white powder and aged egg whites into a steel bowl. Using an electric beater, beat on high speed until peaks are formed.
3. When the peaks are formed, add in 1/3 of the caster sugar each time.
4. Continue to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed.
5. Add in 1/2 of the sieved icing sugar,ground almond and cocoa powder into the bowl of egg whites. Gently fold in the dry mixture with the wet mixture until it is partially combined.
6. Add in the other 1/2 of the dry mixture and continue to fold GENTLY until it is thoroughly combined (Prevent breaking the air bubbles). The batter should be fluffy at this point
7. Macaronnage - Fold the batter while deflating the air bubbles by putting pressure onto the batter with a spatula (do not over mix- you do not want to deflate too much air bubbles- if over mixed - the shells will come out flat and crunchy).
8. Continue deflating the air bubbles until the batter becomes glossy.
9. Pipe out round batters of 3.5cm (2cm apart) on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Note: You can use a template to make sure that the macarons are equally sized. A template can be printed off from here: http://www.puregourmandise.com/astuces/Gabarit%20macarons%2035%20mm.pdf
10. Rap the baking tray on the kitchen table to get rid of air bubbles.
11. Dry the macarons with a hair dryer until a skin is formed.
TEST: Touch the macaron batter and see if it sticks to your hand. If it doesn't stick, it is ready!
Note: DO NOT skip this step. This is crucial to prevent the outcome of cracked shells.
12. Place it into a 160 degrees celsius preheated oven. Then, lower the oven temperature to 130 degrees Celsius and bake for 15 minutes.
13. Remove shells from tray when they are COOLED.
Note: Be patient! Otherwise you will break the shells.
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Earl-grey chocolate ganache - Ingredients
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Thickened cream 92g
Glucose 15g
Chocolate 66% 83g
Earl grey tea leaves 5g
Unsalted cold butter 17g
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Earl-grey chocolate ganache - Recipe
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1. Chop up the chocolate into small pieces and place it in a metal bow. Place the metal bowl over a pot of simmering water (the base of the bowl should not touch the bowl - so it is better if the bowl is bigger than the pot). Stir until the chocolate has melted.
2. In the meantime, heat up the cream in a pan over medium-heat. Remove from heat once it starts to simmer.
3. Pour cream over the tea leaves and glucose.
4. Add in the cold butter and mix the chocolate mixture until it becomes a smooth and glossy ganache.
5. Place ganache in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
6. Get piping when it is ready!
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