From Paris with Love...and Hate

I have sort of developed a love hate relationship with a particular cookie.  I love the concept of it, as it can be changed to any number of flavor or flavor combinations, and it's honestly not hard to make.  However, it's finicky and weather plays a great role on how it turns out, creating the hate portion of our relationship.  So what particular cookie is this?  The french macaron, not to be confused with the macaroon, the almond and meringue based sandwich cookie.  There's a couple of different recipes out there for how to make the maracon cookie itself, some are as simple as whipping up the egg whites, and folding it into ground up almonds and powdered sugar.  While others have extra steps such as making an italian meringue (making a hot syrup and pouring it into mostly whipped egg whites) - this is the approach I've started using.

An italian meringue produces a more stable meringue due to the fact that extremely hot sugar syrup is poured into the egg whites.  This cooks the proteins resulting in whites that are more resistant to deflating, which works wonderfully for the case of macarons.

So, back to the macarons.  One of the things I love about these, and it plays so wonderfully with my personality, is that there is a myriad of flavor combinations you can do with them.  In the past I've done mexican hot chocolate, peppermint, orange cream, roasted pineapple, coconut lime and many others.  I've seen people do flavors like hibiscus and PB & J to name a few.  So pretty much anything works.

Of course, just don't make them on a humid day.  Meringues don't really work on humid days, and I've yet to have great success making macarons on humid days.   There's a few ways to combat this, which I'll try down the road, but for now...



For today's macaron, I was inspired by a certain Greek lady I know.  A while back she was talking about loukomades, greek donuts that are dipped in honey and cinnamon after being fried.  That seed emerged today and inspired the idea of a cinnamon flavored cookie with a honey buttercream.

Like I said earlier, french macaron's don't really require a lot of ingredients.  Almonds (almond meal), powdered sugar, and egg whites as the base.  However, for this recipe granulated sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla are needed as well.

 To start off, separated the egg whites into a mixing bowl and put the egg yolks in a separate bowl for later.  In a medium pot, put granulated sugar and some water and put the heat on high.  While the syrup cooks and comes to a boil, start beating the egg whites.  If you time this right the egg whites will be at just at soft peaks and the syrup will be around 248 degrees.  When the syrup is at 248, pour it into the egg whites and turn the speed up to medium high and whip the meringue for about 15 minutes or until the bottom of the bowl is cool.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350.  To prepare the almonds, you can use almond meal, but it's expensive and just easier to grind almonds down yourself.

Add the almonds and powdered sugar in a bowl and mix to combine.  Add the remaining egg whites and vanilla to form a thick batter.

 When the meringue is ready (shiny and holds a stiff peak), mix 1/3 of it into the almond batter.  Then fold in the remaining 2/3 of the meringue to the batter.  (This is where I added the cinnamon, as it's easier to taste flavor at this point.)

Put the batter into a piping bag and pipe onto a silpat or parchment lined bake sheet.  There's different ways to maintain consistency for this part, like  using a template for example.  I just count to three using an even pressure and get the same size each time.  Make sure to space the cookies 2-3 inches.  Tap the pans against the counter a few times to remove air bubbles.

Place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 325 and bake for 9-12 minutes.  This ensures that initial heat souffles the cookies, and then the lower heat continues to cook the cookies without burning them.

Let the cookies cool on the tray while preparing the filling.  For this instance, I used a french buttercream which is egg yolk based as compared to italian and swiss buttercreams with are meringue based.

In bowl mix the egg yolks and sugar and set aside. In a medium pot, heat the milk and sugar until just boiling, remove from the heat and slowly add to the egg yolks while whisking.  Return the mixture to the pot and heat until just boiling, reduce the heat slightly and cook for one minute, making sure to keep stirring.

Strain the mixture into a mixing bowl and whip for 5 minutes on medium speed until cool.  Add the butter in small pieces and flavoring, vanilla and honey in this case.  Put the buttercream in a piping bag and match up the cookies.

Pipe the buttercream onto one of the cookies and sandwich with another cookie.

Once all done you an enjoy or place them in the fridge/freezer for a few hours.  This actually improves the macarons.



Original recipe from Bouchon Bakery, I substituted 1 teaspoon of vanilla past for the vanilla bean.



French Buttercream
38 g (3 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon) granulated sugar
38 g (3 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon) granulated sugar
63 g (1/4 cup + 1/2 teaspoon) egg yolks
75 g (1/4 cup + 2 1/4 teaspoons) whole milk
250 g (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, at room temperature
1/2 vanilla bean


Macarons
212 g (1 3/4 cups + 2 1/2 tabespoons) almond flour/meal
212 g (1 3/4 cups + 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons) powdered sugar
82 g (1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoons) egg whites
90 g (1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) egg whites
1 vanilla bean
236 g (1 cup + 3 tablespoons) granulated sugar
158 g (2/3 cup) water

First, make the buttercream. If you wish, the buttercream can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. Take the buttercream out of the fridge thirty minutes before you need to use it and place it in the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow it to soften and then mix on low speed until it is the proper consistency.

Whisk 38 grams sugar and the yolks together in a medium bowl and set aside.

Combine the milk and remaining 38 grams of sugar in a medium saucepan, set over medium heat, and stir to dissolve the sugar. When the milk is just below a simmer, remove the pan from the heat and, whisking constantly, pour it into the egg mixture. Return the mixture to the pan and place over medium heat. Whisking constantly, bring to a gentle simmer and simmer for 1 minute, lowering the heat if necessary to prevent the mixture from curdling. It should be very thick.

Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into the bowl of a stand mixer. fit the mixer with a whisk attachment, turn the mixture to medium, and whisk for about 8 minutes, until the mixture is completely cool.

Add the butter, a few pieces at a time, to the egg yolk mixture. If at any point the mixture looks broken, increase the speed to re-emulsify it, then reduce the speed and continue adding the butter. Check the consistency: if the buttercream is too loose to hod its shape, it should be refrigerated for a few hours to harden, then beaten again to return it to the proper consistency.

Scrape the seeds from half a vanilla bean into the buttercream and fold in.

The macarons need to be as close in size as possible and a template is the easiest way to ensure that. Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a work sure with the long side facing you. Trace four evenly spaced 2 1/4 inch circles along the top edge (these make large macarons, modify the size if you wish, but keep in mind, the baking time will be shorter). Make sure to leave 1 inch of space between them. Trace three circles below each of those four, to make 3 x 4 macarons. Turn the parchment over and lay it on a sheet pan. Lift up each corner of the parchment and spray with non-stick spray to keep it from blowing up while the cookies are baking. Repeat with a second sheet.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar into a large bowl and whisk together. Make a well in the center, leaving a layer of flour at the bottom. Pour in the 82 grams egg whites and combine with a spatula. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the mixture, stirring until evenly distributed. Set aside.

Place the remaining 90 grams egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Combine the 236 grams sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until the syrup reaches 203 F/110 C.

Letting the syrup continue to cook, add a pinch of sugar to the egg whites, turn the mixer to medium speed, and whip to soft peaks. If the whites reach soft peaks before the syrup reaches 248 F/120 C, reduce the speed to the lowest setting, just to keep them moving.

When the syrup reaches 248 F/120 C, remove the pan from the heat. Turn the mixer to medium-low speed and slowly add the syrup, pouring it between the side of the bowl and the whisk. The meringue will deflate. Increase the speed to medium and whip for 5 minutes, or until the whites hold stiff, glossy peaks. Although the bowl will still be warm, the meringue should have cooled. If not, continue to whip until it is cool.

Fold one-third of the meringue into the almond mixture, then continue adding the whites a little at time (you may not use them all) until when you fold a portion of the batter over on itself, the "ribbon" slowly moves. The mixture shouldn't be so stiff that it holds its shape without moving at all, but it shouldn't be so loose that it dissolves into itself and does not maintain the ribbon; it is better for the mixture to be sightly stiff than too loose.

Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch tip. Hold the bag upright 1/2 inch above the center of one of the traced circles and pipe out enough to fill in the circle. Lift away the pastry bag and fill the remaining circles on the first pan. Lift up the sheet pan and tap the bottom of the pan to spread the batter evenly and smooth any peaks left by the bag.

Place the sheet pan in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 325 degrees and bake for 9 to 12 minutes, until the tops are shiny and crisp. Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool completely. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees again.

Pipe the remaining meringue mixture into the circles of the second sheet pan and bake as directed above. Let cool completely.

Transfer the buttercream to the pastry bag with the 3/8 inch tip. Remove the macarons from the parchment paper. Turn half of them over. Starting in the center, pipe 15 g/1 tablespoon of buttercream in a spiral pattern on one upside down macaron, not quite reaching the edges. Top with a second macaron and gently press to spread the buttercream to the edges. Repeat with remaining macarons and filling.

The macarons are best if wrapped individually in a few layers of plastic wrap and frozen for at least 24 hours or up to 2 weeks. Defrost in the refrigerator for 3 hours, then bring to room temperature before seving. They can be served the day they are made or stored in a covered container in the refrigerator up to 2 days.