These have to be the hardest thing I’ve ever attempted to
make, and I still haven’t come close to perfecting it yet. I’m not a baker; I
like to improve in the kitchen and baking seldom allows for that. Items need to
be measured and with macarons, ingredients MUST be exact.
The first thing you need to have is a lot of patience. This
isn’t a cookie you can rush. Respect the damn cookie. You will need to prepare
ingredients ahead of time. Even after you’ve baked and filled your macarons, it
is recommended that you allow them to rest in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours
before enjoying them. This allows for the flavors to come together and the
texture to change; crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.
Macarons fresh out of the oven are not macarons so CALM DOWN and WAIT!
All of the sources I’ve found on baking macarons recommends
that you use a food scale to measure and not measuring cups, for precise
amounts. They have them everywhere now and they are fairly cheap so get one.
My macarons are based entirely on joyofbaking.com ‘s recipe,
they have a youtube video that I recommend you watch prior to baking. There’s
another great video from Entertaining with Beth on youtube that you should check
out too!
I thought adding saffron to the shell batter would meld well
with the almond flavor. It is completely optional. The passion fruit
buttercream is tart and balances out the sweetness of the cookie.
Saffron Macarons with Passion Fruit and Marmalade Buttercream.
For the Shells
100 grams ground blanched almonds or almond meal/flour
180 grams confectioner (powdered or icing) sugar
100 grams "aged" egg whites, at room
temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
35 grams superfine or castor white sugar (can grind sugar in food processor to make fine)
A few strands of
Spanish saffron, crushed finely with the back of a spoon (approx.. 1/8
teaspoon)
For the Filling
½ cup of butter
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons orange marmalade
4 tablespoons passionfuit pulp (in the freezer aisle)
1-5 Days Ahead: Separate your egg whites, placing
them in a small bowl. Cover with a paper towel and allow to age in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This is an
important step in ensuring your egg whites reach the desired stage when beaten.
Day Of: Have ready three baking sheets (make sure they have flat
bottoms (no warping)) lined with parchment paper.
Place the ground almonds and confectioners sugar in a food
processor and process until finely ground (about 1 - 2 minutes). Sift the
mixture to remove any lumps. Set aside.
In the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the whisk
attachment (can use a hand mixer), beat the egg whites and cream of tartar
(optional) on medium speed until foamy. Add in the sugar and ground saffron,
gradually, and continue to beat on
medium-high speed until the meringue just holds stiff peaks (when you slowly
raise the whisk the meringue is straight up, no drooping, called a
'beak').
In three additions, sift the ground almond/sugar mixture
over the meringue. When folding, cut through the meringue and then fold up and
over, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl (I recommend you
watch the joy of baking video to see how it is done). Once the almond mixture
is completely folded (called macaronage) into the meringue (the batter will fall back into the bowl in a
thick ribbon).
Fill a pastry bag, fitted with 1/2 inch (1 cm) tip, with
about half the batter. Pipe about 1 - 1 1/2 inch (3 - 4 cm) rounds onto
the parchment paper. Tap the baking sheet
on the counter several times to release air bubbles.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Let the Macarons sit at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes or until the tops of the Macarons are no
longer tacky. This is CRITICAL for the macarons to bake properly.
Bake Macarons for 16-20 minutes. Do not underbake, or
cookies will sink.
Meanwhile prepare your buttercream. Cream your butter with
mixer at medium speed until soft and yellow. Slowly add the confectioners sugar
and mix until smooth. Add passion fruit pulp and marmalade.
Remove from oven and let the Macarons cool completely on the
baking sheet
Take two cookies. Pipe a small amount of the filling on the
flat side of one cookie and sandwich with the other.
Place assembled cookies in
refrigerator and allow to rest for 24-48 hours
