I recently bought Hisako Ogita’s
I heart Macarons book and have been dying to make macarons since. Hisako’s book is so so pretty. I especially like Part 4 “Gift wrapping ideas for macarons”. J thinks the book is really more of a picture book. In fact, he isn’t very fond of the idea of buying cookbooks altogether as you can literally find any kind of recipe you want on the internet. I know he is mostly right but it’s just not the same! I love my cookbooks and I still want more of them!
So anyway I decided to make macarons for my cousins, whom I haven’t seen in a while. I actually felt a bit guilty as I still had their souvenirs that I had bought them while in Japan back in April. It was only fair that I also bring them what they’ve been asking for. Macarons. Which flavour I ask? “Any flavour! ♥” was the reply. I decided on chocolate because well, you really can't go wrong with chocolate.
I decided not to follow Hisako’s recipe for macaron shells as I’ve had much success using Helen’s recipe (www.mytartelette.com). I was a bit hesitant about trying a different recipe for macarons after my attempt at making them using the Italian meringue method was a complete and utter fail. So I stuck with what I know.
I have never tried making buttercream before so I tested out Hisako's. I had various problems... Firstly, my microwave is much stronger than her 500W microwave (not sure of my wattage) so I totally burnt the first sugar syrup I made. I also ended up melting the butter in the microwave too, so I stuck it back in the fridge to firm up. When I tried to beat the mixture, it just wouldn't come together, I think that maybe my butter was too cold as I probably left it in the fridge for too long. I ended up just filling half the macarons with crunchy peanut butter and gifted those. The kids still really enjoyed them, as they didn't last even a day.
The next day I tried to fix the buttercream. I ended up straining the coffee mixture out so I probably ended up using only 1 tbs of coffee mixture and finally got my mixture smooth! After a little dance around the kitchen, I was able to fill the rest of the macarons.
Chocolate macarons with coffee buttercream
Chocolate macarons, adapted from Helen, Tartelette
200g icing sugar
110g almond meal
3 tbs cocoa
100g aged egg whites, room temperature
40g caster sugar
1. Place icing sugar, almond meal and cocoa in a food processor and blend until combined and there are no visible lumps. Sift.
2. In an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until foamy, then slowly add the sugar, making sure it is well dissolved. Keep whisking until stiff peaks form.
3. Fold the sifted dry ingredients into the egg whites, in 2 or 3 batches, until the mixture is combined and glossy. Try not to overmix the batter as you don’t want it to be runny.
4. Pipe the mixture into 3 cm rounds, using a 7mm round tip, onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Let the trays sit at room temperature for half an hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan forced.
6. Bake the macarons for 12 minutes, rotating the trays once, to ensure even cooking.
7. Let the macarons cool slightly on the tray before removing carefully from the baking paper. If the belly of the macarons stick to the paper, you might want to put them back into the oven for another minute or two, or leave them to cool completely before attempting to remove them again.
Coffee buttercream, adapted from Hisako Ogita
100g unsalted butter
40ml water
40g caster sugar
1 egg
2 drops vanilla extract
2 tbs instant coffee powder
2 tbs hot water
1. Dissolve coffee in the hot water and set aside to cool.
2. Slice butter into pieces 5mm thick and place in a heat resistant bowl. Heat in microwave for 10 seconds (500W). Take bowl out and check hardness of butter. If butter is soft enough for your finger to press into them, the butter is done. If they are still hard, heat them for another 5 seconds. (Never melt butter in the microwave)
3. Stir the butter with a spatula until it becomes smooth and creamy like mayonnaise.
4. Put water and sugar in a heat-resistant container (a mug works fine) and stir well.
5. Heat in microwave and mix water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Heat for another 4 minutes. Take the container out and stir with a spoon. (Warning: it’s very hot!)
6. Scoop some syrup with a spoon and drop it into a small amount of water. Then try to scoop the syrup out of the water and make a ball with it using your fingers. If you can do this, the syrup has the right density.
7. While heating the syrup, break the egg into a bowl and beat it lightly. Pour the syrup like a thread into the bowl and using an electric mixer, beat it at high speed. Reduce the speed to medium and then to slow, and continue beating until the bottom of the bowl is no longer hot, and the mixture becomes white and heavy.
8. Divide the butter adding it to the syrup in two or three batches. Beat with a hand mixer at medium speed each time you add butter. When the butter is well mixed, the process is done.
9. Stir in coffee and vanilla extract into the mixture and now you’re done.
The buttercream can seem like it has split, with the butter and syrup separating but keep beating and it will become creamy.
Excess buttercream will keep in the fridge for 2 – 3 weeks or frozen for up to a month.
