When the legendary Salon du Thé Ladurée recently opened a concession in Brown Thomas in Dublin, Mrs. D, my partner in baked goods, and I were over the moon. I can’t tell you how happy we were. We would pop into the shop as we were passing to pick up some macaron’s in flavours as wonderful and varied as Vanilla, Lemon (my favourite), Pistachio, Raspberry and Summer Fruits.
Dating back to the 18th century, the macaron is a traditional French pastry made of eggs, almond powder, icing sugar and granulated sugar. The sweet pastry came out of the French court’s Baker’s oven as round, meringue like domes with a flat base. They are sandwiched together with a cream or ganache filling. You can read more about them here.
The packaging of the macarons, tea and jam that are sold in Ladurée will satisfy all the pretty, girlie cravings that you could wish for. I even managed to get my mother hooked on them. No mean feat I can tell you!
Then as quickly as they arrived, they seemed to disappear. I popped into BT’s one afternoon for a macaron fix, and I couldn’t believe my eyes as black construction hoardings replaced the pistachio green shelving, pretty pink and purple boxed and the lovely cart that housed the Laadurée stall. However, following some investigative work that Ms. Marple herself would be proud of, we discovered that the concession was on tour and will be back soon in a different location in the store. Phew, Crisis Averted!
Alas, there was still a Macaron Shaped hole in my life and in my craving for all things pretty and sweet. “I shall make my own” I declared. Then, and only then, did I recall how recipes that I have read have warned that they are fairly difficult and time consuming little things!
The following pointers helped me and are worth bearing in mind!
1: The egg whites are better when left to thicken overnight at room temperature.
2: You need to sieve the ground almonds with the icing sugar.
3: You will need to leave the piped macarons for 1.5-2 hours before cooking so that they form a skin.
As with most recipes, the prep can be as important as the making and baking. In this case, you will need to separate your eggs and leave in a bowl to thicken at room temperature overnight. Also, take a large piece of parchment paper and draw circles in pencil measuring about 3.5cm in width. Turn over the paper and lay on a baking tray so that you can still see the circles. Use these as a guide for piping. You are now ready to go and you will need;
One Quarter Cup of egg whites, One and one quarter cup icing sugar, one cup of ground almonds, one quarter cup of caster sugar, pinch of salt and a couple drops of colouring.
Sieve the icing sugar and ground almonds through a sieve into the same bowl and leave to one side.
Whip the egg whites with the salt until foamy. Increase the speed and add the caster sugar little by little. Add the colouring and keep whipping to stiff peaks. Gently add the icing sugar mixture and fold in gently.
Put the mixture in a piping bag with a round tip. I used a cm round one. Pipe the batter onto the parchment using the pre drawn circles as a guide. Tap the bottom of the tray to release any air bubbles. Let the trays dry for about 2 hours at room temperature.
Macarons Setting at Room Temperature
Once set, preheat the oven to 160C and bake the macarons for 10-12 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet after 5 mins to bake evenly.
Take the Macarons out of the oven and gently slide the parchment onto a wire rack. Once cool, slide off the parchment.
To fill the macarons I used a buttercream icing. You will need:
125g soft unsalted butter, 3-4 cups icing sugar, 2 tsp vanilla extract and one quarter cup of milk.
In a food processor, beat the butter, vanilla and 2 cups of icing sugar. Start at a low speed with a clean tea towel over the top of the bowl. Otherwise, icing sugar will go everywhere! Gradually add the rest of the sugar as the mix comes together. Add the milk if needed little at a time, and as much or as little of whatever food colouring you might like.
Gently match 2 macarons together size wise and pipe the icing onto one side before making a sandwich with the other.
mmmmmm
Serve to anyone who likes a really pretty girlie treat.
Enjoy,
Orlsxx
Great job with the macarons! And I have to agree with the tips given and if I may having ingredients at room temperature makes the world of difference!
thanks for that Lorraine. I have to say that it was your paintbrush Macarons that egged me on to try them. However, I am terrible with a paint brush unless it is paint by numbers and decided that I would leave well enough alone when I managed to get them together!
These look amazing!!!!! OMG! Will you put a couple in the freezer for me until I see you? PLEAAAASEEEE?
No Problem Mrs D. Was in BT this morning and the Ladurée stall will be back in September in the same spot just inside the door. The man laughed at me when I audibly went “Phew, thank goodness for that”
Well done, they look awesome. Tricia’s Mediteranean Kitchen featured a bakery that specialised in them recently – it was mouth watering. Have you tried Rachel Allen’s vanilla buttercream icing? The texture is amazing, perhaps a little soft for macarons. It’s in the back of her Bake book. I know some have struggled with it but I followed it with religious zeal and it worked first time. Too bad I had to sully it with a grass green colour for The Princesses birthday cake!
I have used Rachel’s icing alright for a cake for my cousin. You are right. If you stick to the recipe religiously, there is no reason for it to go belly up!
the icing that I used on the macarons was really soft. If fact the softer the better, as the macarons are really really delicate.