The 2nd batch of Macarons turned out AMAZING – at least from a ‘feet’ point of view. Child No.1 did not want to be excluded from the Macaron party and thus wanted to have his own creation. Here we have a Cinnamon Macaron Shell with Chocolate Ganache and a slice of Banana. The macaron shell recipe is essentially the same except for the cinnamon and I also share the recipe for the ganache here 🙂
Recipe adapted from bromabakery.com with Swiss Meringue method
Makes 20 macarons
Setting the stage – ensure that the environment that you are baking in is not humid (in Singapore, I’d have to either close all the windows in the house OR switch on the air conditioning. Humidity and macarons are not friends)
- 100g almond flour (finely ground almond meal)
- 100g icing sugar (use SIS as other brands may mix cornstarch in it)
- 100g egg whites (approx 3 egg whites from a 50g egg)
- 100g caster sugar
- 5g cinnamon powder
- Pinch of salt
- 2 – 3 drops of food colouring of your choice
Method
1. Preheat oven to 175°C and line 2 baking trays with silicone baking mats/ baking paper .
2. In a large bowl, sift together the almond flour, powdered sugar, cinnamon powder and salt twice, set aside.
3. Heat a small pot of water over medium-low heat until it steams.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine egg whites and about 3 tbsp of caster sugar. Place bowl over steaming pot, to create a double boiler.
5. Holding on to the bowl of the stand mixer, whisk egg whites and sugar continuously until sugar is completely melted and egg whites become white and frothy (approx 1 min). Do not be tempted to leave for any longer after sugar is dissolved, as it will cook the egg whites.
6. Remove from heat and place the bowl back onto the stand mixer. Fit stand mixer with whisk attachment and whisk on high speed while slowly adding in the remaining caster sugar.
7. Add 2-3 drops of food colouring (if using).
8. Continue to whisk for another 3-4 minutes, until stiff peaks form (meringue peak when whisk is lifted will hold it’s shape and turning the bowl upside down over your head does not render you a walking meringue). This is your Swiss Meringue!
9. Add sifted dry ingredients to the meringue mixture and place mixing bowl back onto stand mixer with the whisk attachment and give it a mix on medium speed and whisk for 5 seconds – enough to combine both mixtures.
10. Remove the mixing bowl from the stand mixer and use a large spatula to continue to hand-mix the batter.
11. Gently fold the mixture with your spatula – scooping the batter along the sides of the bowl and folding it into the centre in a circular motion. (See bromabakery’s video here from 00:31) Continue mixing until your macaron batter passes the figure 8 test – make a figure 8 with batter dripping from the spatula without it breaking. Once you are able to do this you may stop mixing. Consistency of the batter is described as slow-moving lava – it has some give but does so very slowly.
12. Fit a large piping bag with a 1-inch tip and fill the piping bag with the macaron batter.
13. Pipe 1-inch circles onto the prepared baking trays leaving 1- 1.5 inches between piped macaron shells.
14. Lay a dish cloth or 2 on the counter and rap baking trays repeatedly until air bubbles are removed and/ or piped batter spreads out a little. Rotate the tray on all 4 sides to ensure the macarons are evenly distributed.
15. Allow the macaron shells to air dry for 15 – 30 mins or until the surfaces are dry to the touch.
16. Bake each tray individually for 13 mins on the middle rack and rotating the tray half way through.
17. Allow to cool completely before removing macaron shells from baking trays.
Filling
Place dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Heat whipping cream in a saucepan until just bubbling, pour over dark chocolate, mixing gently with a spatula until cream and chocolate are fully incorporated. Leave to cool until it reaches room temperature, place ganache in a piping bag and chill for about 15-20 mins before piping on one side of the macaron shell.
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CHAAARLOTTI 