Chocolate Macaron Experimenting

Well when you are in quarantine and the weather isn't quite nice you bake. Or am I the only one who does that. I mean I do give the stuff I make to my family to enjoy as a pick me up since we can't really hang out together.

There are plenty of macaron recipes out there so I say get out there, find one and try it out. Most of them are similar so if you want to make different types you should have the base ingredients on hand so all you would have to do is change up your flavorings.

I doubled my batch so I could mess around with the fillings.

2c powdered sugar, 1c almond flour or almond meal, 3 tbsp cocoa powder (I think I will try using 5 next time so I get a richer chocolate flavor, it's a work in progress), 1/4 tsp salt, a vanilla bean (you can skip if you want), 1tbsp vanilla extract, 3 large egg whites (room temp), 3tbsp granulated sugar, and a pinch of cream of tartar. Wipe out the bowl of your mixer with a lemon (for the juice) or a little white vinegar then dry the bowl with a paper towel. This will ensure you won't have any residual fat in the bowl from previous usage. Not that we all don't clean out our bowls but, just in case you know.

In a separate bowl sift the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and almond flour and set aside.

Use the whisk attachment of the mixer. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. (if you don't want to free hand the piping there are templates you can download or buy)

Put the egg whites in the bowl with the cream of tartar and salt. Beat on a medium speed until the egg whites are fluffy and hold shape. At medium speed again gradually add the sugar then beat until peaks are stiff and glossy. Add the vanilla bean and the extract and beat until incorporated.

Then remove the bowl from the mixer remembering to scrape any of the meringue off the whisk attachment. Put the first 3rd of the almond flour mix into the bowl and fold in with a rubber spatula to start incorporating the mix into the meringue. Continue with the next third and then the next until it is incorporated into the meringue and you can form a figure 8 easily. Scoop into a piping bag. If you want to use a tip you can use a 1/2in plain tip. I just cut the end of the bag to match the size. If you are not using a template pipe out 1 1/4 inch rounds. You should get about 25 per sheet. Next take one of the pans and holding opposite ends bang the pan ten times, rotate a quarter then bang ten times, continue until you have done it 4 times. Repeat with the other pan. This will get rid of any air bubbles trapped that could ruin the bake. Next let the pans rest for 30 minutes at least so the tops can form and ensure that they bake evenly.

At some point while you are waiting for them to rest, preheat the oven to 350. Bake the macarons one sheet at a time. Put the first pan in and bake for 7 minutes then rotate the pan and bake for 7 more minutes. Then transfer the pan to a rack to cool. Repeat this with the second pan.

You can choose whatever fillings you think would be fun. I made a rich chocolate ganache, a rasberry buttercream, an orange marmalade buttercream, I also used a rasberry jam and a a orange marmalade to intermix for my fillings. I had a lot of time on my hands and I had doubled the recipe so I had a lot to fill. I will post separate recipes for the fillings so you can use them if you choose.

Match the shells in pairs and begin to fill. I filled mine by piping the ganache in a circle near the edge of one side then piping in one of the flavored buttercreams or adding one of the jam mixtures. Then place the matching shell over the filling.

I went a little more extra on the orange ones and I decorated the orange ones by brushing half of the top with melted chocolate and topping them with candied peel (yes the same type from a previous post). I put the sugar coated peel on top of the orange buttercream and the none sugared peel on top of the marmalade filled ones. I did not do anything fancy with the raspberry ones to differentiate between the two I should have but I did not. Next time I will but I didn't think that far ahead.

Don't be afraid to experiment with these there are so many possibilities for flavor combinations you can go wild. If you do, please share I would love to see your versions. I may revisit this again someday. You can be sure you will hear from me when I do.