It was a while ago I shared the first photos of our macarons and it took me some time to write the recipe. But good things take time and this is what I like to think about this recipe. An authentic macaron recipe in the sense that it uses a simple recipe for french meringue and no tricky ingredients. If you feel like treating your guests or...yourself then this is the recipe for it.
Macarons are often used to describe French pastry. They were always served in french cafes and found in patisseries around Paris, but it's only the last 20 years or so that these french deserts have become the epitome of elegance when it comes to pastry art. The almond flavour makes the meringue based cookies taste less eggy and be enjoyed at big quantities. In Paris, you can find many different flavours depending on the season and...innovative ideas of the pastry chef. Whatever your taste may be with deserts, this is a must try if you want to explore the French cuisine the right way.
If you look at the macarons we made, they look like they were taken out of Sofia Copolla's Marie Antoinette. Pastel colored cookies with a delicious, yet colorless, white chocolate and strawberry filling. The secret for success in the buttercream was the use of white chocolate powder in the flavour of strawberry from Whittard of Chelsea. We found out about this brand of teas and chocolate on our trip to Edinburgh and we were in love from day one. They have so much variety in hot chocolate that makes it tempting to try them all. For the recipe I would say if you cannot find a white chocolate powder with strawberry to simply use plain white chocolate.
Vanilla Macarons with White Chocolate and Strawberry Filling
Ingredients (for 15 macarons)
100g almond powder
100g icing sugar
80gr egg whites
80gr crystal sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
pink color
For the buttercream
150gr butter in room temperature
250gr icing sugar (shifted)
50gr white chocolate powder with strawberry from Whittard of Chelsea (link) or white chocolate powder of other brand
splash of milk
How do I make it?
1. Pulse together in a standing food processor the almond powder and icing sugar until combined. Don't overmix them, because you don't want to start forming a dough. Sift the mixture well in order to skip big lumps in your final batter later. Place the mixture in a large bowl.
2. Start with the french meringue. In the bowl of a standing mixer (or regular bowl if you have a hand mixer) place the egg whites and start mixing in medium speed. Mix until the egg whites become bubbly and have doubled in size. Then start adding some of the crystal sugar in small doses and increasing the speed of the mixer each time. Continue mixing for about 5 minutes until you end up with a very white and shining meringue that holds itself on the spatula when you pick it up.
3. Right here you can add the vanilla and rum extract and mix one final time. Also, add some pink coloring according to the instructions. A tip for you is to use either gel or powder coloring and not liquid.
4. Now it's time to incorporate the meringue into the almond & sugar mixture from step 1. Little by little with a wooden spatula add some meringue to the almond mixture and very slowly start mixing with the spatula. This is an important step, because if you mix too quickly or too roughly the meringue will lose the air that was created during mixing at step 2 and your macarons will become flat. When you have added all the meringue in the almond mixture you will have a fluffy and airy dough.
5. Take a large pan and place a baking sheet. Transfer half of the quantity of the macaron dough into a piping bag. Once you have the quantity you want in the bag, twist around the end of the bag to secure it. This way your dough won't fall of the bag when you put pressure . Cut the tip of the bag and get ready to start forming some macarons. Keep the bag vertically to the pan and squeeze the dough until you have a round shape that is about 4 cm diameter and twist at the top to create a nice surface and stop your bag from continuing excreting dough.
6. Take the pan in your hands and tap it into a firm surface of your kitchen. This will help the tops of the macarons to flatten and give you a nice flat surface when baked. Leave the pan into a cool area for at least 1 hour before baking.
7. While you're waiting, you can make the buttercream. Place the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer and start mixing in medium speed. Mix well (about 2 minutes) until you get a fluffy appearance and rather white. Start incorporating the icing sugar little by little and increasing the speed gradually. Also, start adding the white chocolate in the mixture. Stop at times to scrape the sides of the bowl that haven't been mixed. Continue mixing until everything is together and you have a fluffy and rather stiff buttercream. Add a splash of milk if it has become too stiff and not fluffy enough. Then place the buttercream in a piping bag and using similar technique as described in step 5. Place the bag with the buttercream in the fridge.
8. Heat your oven to 150 C. Take the pan of macarons and place it in the oven. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, depending on your oven. What I do with macarons is after 12 minutes have passed, I check them by trying to lift one slightly with a not sharp knife. If the macaron cannot be lifted and the dough sticks in to the baking sheet, then your macarons need about 2 to 3 more minutes.
9. When your macarons are ready, take them outside of the oven and let them cool completely (for about an hour). About 10 minutes before starting to fill the macarons, take the piping bag with the buttercream outside of the ridge. When you're ready to start take one macaron (bottom) in your hands, fill it with some buttercream (not too much) and then place another macaron on top (top). Practice a little bit with the quantity of buttercream you put into your macarons. You will see in the photos that some of my macarons have more filling than the others.
