I've been seeing these delicately perfectly little French pastries in many places these days. So, I attempted to produce my own. No wonder these little discs of perfection can be quite pricey. As you can see from my results, their appearance does not reflect the description of delicate and perfect. If you search on the internet for "macaron", you will see its true appearance. Macarons are supposed be smooth discs, not round bumpy crater like cookies. I suspect my error is in the coarse results of my ground almonds and the too stiff whipped egg whites. Nonetheless, our taste buds have no eyes, so it's flavour is just the same. Although I have not had the pleasure of indulging in a professionally made macaron, I have spied a package of 6 at Thuet Bakery on King St. W. I couldn't bring myself to shell out >$12 for said item but maybe next time I pass by I just might have to (for research sake). ;)
The recipe is quite basic. Through my research, I have come up with this recipe. It's an adaption of a few different recipes.
Ingredients:
- 3 large egg whites
- 1/2 cup of ground almonds (might have to source of almond powder/flour next time)
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (will use less next time - a little too sweet for my liking)
- 5 tblspn granulated sugar (will probably reduce this next time)
my ganache recipe:
- 4 ounces bittersweet/semi-sweet chocolate
- 1/2 whipping cream
In a mixer, whip egg whites to until peaks are medium (so that when piped, they will be loose enough to disperse on it's own to perfectly round smooth topped discs). Combine confectioner sugar and ground almonds together. Mix sugar/almonds with meringue. Pipe into 1 1/2 inch discs. Bake at 300F degree for 20 - 25 minutes.
Prepare ganache my combining ingredients in a double boiler. When melted, set aside to cool.
- sliced almonds -
- almonds in food processor -
- ground almonds -
(see how the ground almonds are not fine enough)
- just out of the oven -
- chocolate ganache spread -
- assembly line -
No comments:
Post a Comment