Every time I think of macaron I think of
romance, holidays, weddings and happy events in our lives. When I was making
these pink rose water macarons, my heart was filled with happiness and upon
completion I felt such a great sense of fulfillment. I had so much fun doing
this wedding themed photo shoot for these macarons.
This time, I used a Donna Hay recipe to
make these macarons. Her recipe is a simple one using French meringue compared
to a much-complicated method of using Italian meringue. I have made Lemon & Strawberry Macarons using Italian meringue before when I first bought the popular cookbook –The Secret of Macarons. When I compared the two recipes I found DH’s was not as sweet but
with similar flavour. Where as by using Italian meringue, much smoother shell
texture can be achieved. This time, I also personalized my macarons by painting
some pink shimmering powder onto them to make them look prettier and more
appealing.
Rosewater
Macarons With Vanilla Butter Cream
Macarons
(makes 24)
200g icing sugar
120g almond meal (ground almonds)
3 eggwhites
½ teaspoon rosewater
pink food colouring
1 tbs caster (superfine) sugar
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 150 C. Sift the icing sugar
and almond into a bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.
2. Place the eggwhites, rosewater and few
drops of food colouring in an electric mixer and whisk on high 30 seconds. Add
the caster sugar and whisk for a further 10 minutes until stiff peaks form and
glossy.
3. Fold through the almond meal mixture in 2
bathes until smooth.
4. Place mixture in a piping bag fitted with
1.5cm plain nozzle and pipe 4cm rounds onto baking trays lined with non-stick
baking paper.
5. Lightly tap the trays. This will help to
remove any air bubbles from the mixture and ensure a smooth macaron.
6. Allow to stand for 20 minutes (I stand the
macarons for 1 hour) until a “skin” forms on top of the macarons. Use your finger to touch the top of the macarons.
I should be dry and does not stick to your finger.
7. Reduce temperature to 130 C and bake
macarons for 17-18 minutes. Allow to cool completely on the trays. Pipe the
butter cream onto the cooled macarons and sandwich the remaining macarons.
Vanilla
Butter Cream
125g butter, softened
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
80g icing sugar
60g almond meal (ground almonds)
1. Place the butter and vanilla in an
electric mixer and beat for 6-8 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the icing
sugar and beat for 10 minutes or until light and fluffy.
2. Add the almond meal and beat until
combined. Spread the vanilla cream onto half the cooled macarons and sandwich
with remaining macarons.
Recipe adapted from : Donna Hay's Magazine, Issue 59, Oct/Nov 2011. pg. 86
