First of all if you have been following my blog, sorry for not posting anything for a while, and thank you all so much for your kind comments and supports.
It has been few weeks since I am back from our honeymoon trip to the DownUnder and Malaysia. I have been procastinating many things since I was back. Firstly I am really tired from the jetleg, secondly, my head was so full with preparing another wedding in Malaysia next year.
So anyhow, I am back. Back to the MACTWEETS Challange. Theme this month - Autumn.
Well it feels almost like winter now = we're forcasting snow in North East of France in coming days!
I hope that you enjoy your autumn and this entry :)
FOR THE MACARON SHELL
1 room temperatured egg white(39-40g)
50g icing sugar
30g ground almond
30g castor sugar
1/4 teaspoon of yellow colouring powder + 1/2 teaspoon of white metallic food colouring powder
Method:
1. Put ground almond, and icing sugar in a food processor or a small blender. Blend them finely.
2. Sift the blended mixture and set aside
3. With an electric beater, Beat the egg white, start from low speed and increase slowly to maximum speed. Beat until frothy (you will see lots of fine bubbles)
4. Now it's the time to add in the castor sugar, add half of the sugar, continue to beat in maximum speed for around 2 minutes, add in the other half, continue until you get very stiff peak.
5. Mix the dry ingredients into the egg whites. This process is called Macaronage. Start folding with a rubber spatula. Mix just roughly combine.
6. Scoop out a spoonful of macaron mixture into a small bowl, add in red colouring, fold till mix. Set aside
7. Continue to mix the white mixture until you obtain a smooth lava flow batter.
8. When you get smooth shiny mixture, stop folding, lift the mixture with spatula, if the mixture falls back slowly in the bowl means you're good to go. You could also check if the lines formed from the lifted mixture, they should slowly disappear in within 30 seconds. At this stage you're good to go. Do not over fold, it will be too liquid and becoming very hard to pipe.
if you're unsure, you could refer to my basic macaron recipe as a guide HERE
9. Pipe the macaron on a baking sheet over baking tray. Hit the bottom of the baking tray with your hand to flatted out the macarons slightly.
10. Let your macarons sit for about 30minutes. This will depend on the humidity in your house and the day. Try touching the macaron softly, after 30mins. it should not stick to your hand.
11. Heat your oven to 150 C on the (heating on the top only). When the oven is ready, put your macaron at the very bottom shelf. Bake for 12 minutes, check them in the mid time of 6 minutes, the feets should already start forming. Turn the baking tray to the opposite direction to allow even baking. When the 6 mins is up, change the heating setting of your oven to Bottom only. Reduce heat to 130 C. This will help cooking the macaron and rise the feet more. Bake for another 6 8 minutes.
You can test if the macaron is cook, touch softly on the shell and when the macaron doesn't slide on the feet, it's cooked. if it's not add another 1 mins each time and check.
Bewared that white colour macarons turn 'brown' easily, if doubt the oven is too hot, reduce the heat and prolong the cooking time by minute.
(This is the method i found the best that works for me after few trial and error. I baked with heating the oven top and bottom and i had crack macarons. Having said that, every oven is slightly different than another, so please adjust accordingly)
13. Let the macaron cool down. Mean while preparing your food colouring. Mix both colours together in a small bowl with a fod painting brush. Drip 1-2 drops of water and mix well. (Beware do not mix it too wet, if not it will humidify your macaron shells and they might break)
14. Paint top of the macaron with the brush. If the mixture is too wet, add more colouring, if too dry, add 1 drop of water each time)
Funny bottom, they're shiny as a result of using silicone sheet (this was the first time I used it)
15. Make sure your macarons are completely cooled before removing them. You could wet your working area and slide the baking sheet on it to speed up the cooling process, but do not let it sit there too long, if not the macarons will become soggy. Other wise you can leave them cool at room temperature and remove them.
For the Coco-Passion Fruit Ganache
Ingredients
1. 60g white chocolate
2. 2 tablespoon of dried shreded coconut
3. 2 passionfruits
4. 1 teaspoon of fresh cream
Methods
1. Empty the passion fruits and put the fruit pulps in a blender. Blend it up until you get a smooth fruit jus.
2. Pass the jus through the sift to remove any seeds and impurities.
3. Chop the white chocolate coarsely.
4. Adding the fresh cream in the pot, along with the passion fruit jus. Warm it up over low heat.
5. When the jus is warm enough, add in the white chocolate, mix until it's melted and a smooth texture is obtained. Remove from heat and finally add in the shreded coconut and mix well.
6. Let cool completely before ganishing your macaron shells
7. After finish piping all the macarons, pop them in an air tight container. Leave them in refrigerator overnight. You could keep the macarons up to 48 hours in the fridge. if not consumed, freeze them up. Because after 48 hours they will lose the texture.
8. Take them out of the fridge 20 mins prior eating.Enjoy!
