Helen RandellPistachio macarons
January 17th 2012 10:57
If cupcakes were the party favourite of 2009/10, then macarons were the sweet treat for 2011.
The hard outer crust which gives way to a chewy centre and the layer of sweet, smooth flavoured buttercream sandwiching the two halves together – really how could you go wrong.
To add to my ‘sweets credibility’, I made a batch of these for a girl’s post-Christmas brunch and they were such a success that I had a request to make them for our New Year’s Eve get together as well.
I made two different flavours, both from the Donna Hay Oct/Nov 2011 edition, but the principle is the same. There are a couple of important points I will run you through to begin with.
It is a good idea to draw 4cm diameter circles on your baking paper before you start. That way, there is more chance that your macarons will end up being roughly the same size and therefore easy to sandwich together. I tried to use my old school compass, but ended up just drawing around a measuring cup which was roughly the correct size.
You should age your egg whites. That means, crack and separate your eggs a couple of days before you need them. Store the egg whites in the fridge in a container with some plastic wrap covering them until they are needed, then about 30-60 minutes before you are going to begin baking, pull them out of the fridge to bring to room temperature.
Once your macarons are piped, give the trays a good tap on the bench to get rid of any air bubbles which may otherwise cause cracking, then leave them for about 20 minutes to form a skin.
If possible, leave the macarons in an airtight container for at least a day before eating them (difficult I know). The flavour really does increase if you leave them a day.
Pistachio macarons with orange butter cream - adapted from Donna Hay mag.
200g icing sugar
40g almond meal
90g pistachio meal
3 eggwhites
green food colouring
1 tablespoon caster sugar
Orange butter cream
60g butter, softened
40g icing sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind
30g almond meal
To make the butter cream, place the butter in an electric mixer and beat for 6-8 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the icing sugar and orange rind and beat for a further 10 minutes. Add the almond meal and beat until combined. Place the mixture in a piping bag and refrigerate until needed.
Preheat oven to 150 degree. Sift the icing sugar and nut meals into a bowl and mix to combine.
Place the aged eggewhites and a few drops of colouring into an electric mixer and whisk on high for 30 seconds. Add caster sugar and whisk for a further 10 minutes until stiff peaks form.
Fold through the combined meal mixture in two batches until smooth. Place the mixture into a piping bag and pipe 4cm rounds onto baking trays lined with baking paper. Lightly tap the trays and allow to stand for 20 minutes until a skin forms.
Reduce temperature to 130 degrees and bake for 19-20 minutes or until crisp on the outside.
Cool completely on trays. Pipe the orange butter cream onto half the macarons and sandwich them together with remaining macarons. Makes 24.
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