Hazelnut Macaron w/ Honey Buttercream
You may know this already, some recipes allow certain margins of error, that even when you fail, your dishes would still turn out alright :). That is not the case for French Macaron - you either get it or not (as you can see from my pictures below, 2 weeks apart.) This is one of the dishes that I am obsessed with and have always wanted to learn. I tried my first batch in 2012, and it did not turn out close to the first picture. My second try was a month ago, and though they tasted like macarons, they did not look like one. Third time's the charm, I finally got it right!
My 2nd try @ 1 month ago
My 3rd try @ 2 weeks ago
Last week, I finally found a recipe from that allows me to make these beautiful and delicious macarons. This recipe from sweetco0kiepie provides the fundamental techniques to make macarons and gives you the flexibility to improvise new flavors.
RECIPE: 18 macarons
Dry Ingredients:
powdered sugar: 1 cup
almond flour: 3/4 cup
granulated sugar: 1/4 cup
egg whites @ room temp: 2 counts
food coloring: red, 4-5 drops (optional)
hazelnut extract: 1/4 tsp
Honey Buttercream Filling:
egg yolks: 2 counts
granulated sugar: 1/4 cup
milk: 3 1/2 tsp
softened unsalted butter: 7 tbsp
honey: 3 tbsp
*MACARON shelves:
Dry mix: Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour through a sifter into a big mixing bowl then mix them well.
In a mixing bowl, starting beating the egg white gradually from low speed to high speed for about 1+ minutes. Once the egg white looks frothy, start adding the granulated sugar, half at a time. Mix the first half of the sugar for 1 minutes, add the rest of the sugar, mix for 3 minutes on high speed until you get soft peak.
Add the hazelnut extract and food coloring, continue beating the mixture until you get stiff peak.
Add the dry mix into this wet mix, and follow this folding technique: use a silicon spatula scope under the wet mix and fold it over the dry mix. This will help keep the air we just whipped from the egg white and help the macarons rise later.
You know the consistency of your batter is right when you can hold it up on a spatula and it will drips off and slowly sink back into the bowl.
Then transfer the batter into a pastry bag with a round tip. On the baking tray, place this macaron template under the parchment paper to help standardize your macaroons' size.
Pipe the batter on to the parchment paper, and remember to remove the template after you have complete pipping. Bang your baking tray onto the counter, twice for each side, to get ride of excess air.
Let your macarons sit for 30 minutes. Then bake them in a preheated oven at 300F for 18 minutes. Let them cool down after taking out of the oven.
You know you got the macarons right, when you can see the bubbly feet on the bottom of the shelves.
*MACARON filling:
Mix two egg yolks with granulated sugar in a small sauce pan. Then add the milk, mix well. Place the sauce plan over medium heat, stir constantly, until the mixture gets like a thick, custard consistency. Take it off the stove.
Use a folk to mash the soften unsalted butter so it is nice and soft. Add small portion of butter into the sauce pan at a time, mix well. Continue to do so until you added all the butter.
Then add the honey, and mix well. Transfer the filling into a pastry bag with a round tip. (*note* if the macaroons shelves are not ready, place the filling pastry bag into the fridge to thicken it.)
*MACARON ASSEMBLING:
Pipe the filling onto one shelf, and place a similar-sized shelf on top. You have complete a delicate French dessert - perfect to bring to a potluck or to enjoy with your afternoon tea.
I am very happy to get the fundamental techniques right, and I am so excited to improvise different flavors and coloring in the future. Leave me a comment if you have an idea :)
Hope you have enjoy the recipe, and let me know how it turns out.