Raspberry & Rose Macarons

Photo: ladymacaron20ten

Ingredients

RASPBERRY & ROSE MACARONS

FOR THE GANACHE

200 grams Lindt White Chocolate (placed in a stainless steel bowl)

120 grams pouring cream (minimum 35% fat)

25 grams unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/2 cup of frozen raspberries

Few drops of rose essence

A couple of drops of red or raspberry food colouring

FOR THE MACARON TANT POUR TANT (TPT)

300 grams sifted TPT (150 g almond meal with 150 g icing sugar)

55 grams egg whites (fresh)

FOR THE MACARON ITALIAN MERINGUE (IM)

150 grams caster sugar

37 grams water

55 grams egg whites (old egg whites aged 12- 24 hours in a bowl on the kitchen bench)

Red or raspberry powdered food colouring or Wilton gel paste

Preparation

THE DAY BEFORE MAKE THE GANACHE:  Gently heat the cream and frozen raspberries in a small saucepan until it reaches boiling point and remove from the stove. Add the rose essence. Pour 1/3 of the cream and raspberry mixture over the white chocolate. Using a whisk blend the chocolate and cream by hand, using circular motions starting from the centre of the bowl. After, most of the chocolate has been combined add the remaining cream and then the butter. Continue to use the hand whisk to emulsify the ingredients then finish off by using a Bamix or hand held mixer. When using the mixer, tilt the bowl and use short pulses as we don't want to add too much air. The purpose of blending the ganache with t

MAKE THE MACARON SHELLS - MAKE THE TPT Mix the Tant Pour Tant (equal quantities of icing sugar and almond meal) with the fresh egg white until it forms a thick paste, cover with cling wrap and set aside.

MAKE THE IM Pour your aged egg whites into a Kitchen Aid mixer and insert the whisk attachment. Bring the caster sugar, water and food colouring to the boil in a small saucepan. When the sugar syrup reaches 115°C start whisking your aged egg whites into soft peaks. As soon as the syrup reaches 118°C slowly pour the syrup into the beaten egg whites in a thin stream. Continue whisking the IM in the Kitchen Aid until it reaches a temperature between 50-55°C.

COMBINE THE TPT & IM With a spatula, fold one-third of the IM into the TPT and egg white paste and knock out some of the air in the batter. At this stage of the process you can be quite rough when handling. Gently fold in the rest of the IM into the TPT and combine until you have the right texture (should be glossy and look like cake mixture). Be careful not to over-mix the batter here or it will get too runny and your shells may crack in the oven.

PIPE YOUR MACARON SHELLS Fill a piping bag with the macaron batter and place some parchment paper over a baking sheet. Put four small dabs of macaron mix underneath the parchment paper in each corner to secure the paper. Pipe 3.5 - 4cm diameter circles onto the parchment paper, tap the tray on the work surface to remove air bubbles and leave to dry for about 15-20 minutes to form a crust and are dry to touch.

COOK YOUR MACARON SHELLS Cook the macaron for 17 mins at 150°C (fan forced oven). To release steam, leave the oven door open slightly. If this doesn't work for you, keep experimenting until you find the right temperature as every oven is different. Once cooked, remove from the baking sheet and leave to cool on the parchment paper over a wire rack.

ASSEMBLE YOUR MACARON Remove the shells from the parchment paper and pair like sizes together. Pipe a decent blob of ganache onto the shell, then place the lid on top and twist slightly so that the ganache flows out towards the edge of the macaron. When piping the ganache onto the shell always leave a small rim.

STORE YOUR MACARON Store your macaron in the fridge for 24 hours prior to eating so that the humidity helps the ganache to soak into the shell and allow the flavours to develop. Try not to eat your macaron the day they are made as they are too dry. Allow the macaron to return to room temperature prior to serving.