I thought it would be fun to try to make adorable macarons in different flavors and colors, but had no idea how much time and effort it would take. Read below for a detailed description of the process, and of how I attempted to make the cookies.
I made a batch of macaron batter using
a recipe from a blog. I mixed 2.5 cups of almond flour
and 2 cups of powdered sugar in one bowl. In another bowl, I used a hand mixer
to mix 6 egg whites, and mixed a 7th egg white separately in another
bowl. I added 1/3 cup of sugar 3 times (1 cup total) to the egg white mix and
decided to just add the 7th. I think next time I only need 6 egg
whites (I also have 7 yolks I don’t know what to do with – I like flan, but you
only need 2 egg yolks and then another 3 regular eggs to make 6 flans, and I
don’t want to make 18 of them, along with my 30 cookies).
I divided the batter
into 4 and left one plain, mixed one with 2 spoonfuls of matcha, put a little
lavender and kumquat marmalade and lemon juice and lemon rind in another, and
mixed a couple spoonfuls of hot cocoa powder in the 4th. I tried
using a tip from a cupcake decorating set on the end of my Ziploc bag, but it
didn’t hold that well, so I just ended up squeezing the bag and gauging the
size by eye. Maybe I should’ve mixed the batter more so that the meringue would
peak and hold stiffer. The macarons turned out pretty well, but they were all
flat except for the plain almond ones. When I make them into sandwiches,
though, I think they’ll look puffier. Also, they are pretty boring colored, so
I should probably add food coloring (though the mix before baking was pretty
vibrantly colored). I put some water under the wax paper to let them steam
since they were really hard to pull off the baking sheets, but the macarons got
a little wet on the bottom, so I flipped them upside down and toasted them in
the oven for a couple minutes. It took about 4 hours total to make the cookies.
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| chocolate | |
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| matcha green tea |
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| plain almond |
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| lemon |
I made some ganache/cream filling, using kinda my own recipe and referencesfrom online: half a bag of chocolate chips and a
couple pats of butter; a couple scoops of matcha with a tablespoon of
cornstarch and a bit of salt; some cut up lemon rind with some lavender, a
tablespoon of cornstarch, and a bit of salt. I boiled about a cup of heavy
whipping cream on the stove for all 3 of my ganaches. I poured the cream over my
3 bowls and let them sit for a couple of minutes, and then blended each one
with a hand mixer. I added some sugar each into the matcha and lemon mixes. It
took a long time to blend and didn’t get that thick, so I added more heavy
cream. In a separate bowl, I hand mixed an egg yolk with some sugar while my
bowls cooled in the fridge, and then I poured one yolk into each of the 2
non-chocolate mixes. The chocolate mixture turned out like chocolate whipped
cream, so I added some ovomaltine to thicken it (so it won’t moisten my cookies
too much). I added some of the chocolate ganache to my green tea mixture to
make it thicker, which made it browner but still green and also thicker. I
microwaved it for 10 seconds in a glass bowl and then put it in the fridge, hopefully
allowing it to set. I did the same to my lemon mixture and decided to spread my
macarons fresh to prevent them from getting soggy. I made 14 chocolate halves,
24 green tea halves, 18 lemon halves, and 14 plain almond halves. I
put my cookies and ganache in the fridge.
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| filling |
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| plain almond with chocolate ganache |
I added sugar and white chocolate to
my macaron ganache, which was pretty runny, and refrigerated it. I spread
chocolate ganache on some almond and chocolate macaron cookies since that
spread turned out pretty well.
Most of the cookies turned out flat instead of puffy, but I think that has to do with how I mixed the batter. I think I also added too much lemon juice, and should try to follow a different recipe for flavoring my fillings (and adding food coloring to the cookies instead of trying to flavor those too).
They took several days to make since I needed almost 24 hours total to prepare, bake, and spread the cookies, but only had a few hours after work each day. I had no idea how much sugar is in these little guys... I definitely think they look cuter than they taste good. Next time I try making them, I'll recruit my expert little cousin, who makes perfect macarons frequently!
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| lemon lavender, matcha green tea, almond with chocolate |
<3 Mandy
