Sweeterrific

September 5, 2012

I’m back! It’s been awhile since my last post because things have been busy. Since my last post, I’ve made a few things but have not had the chance to write about it. In the upcoming months, I plan to expand this blog more with photos and frequent blogs… so stay tuned!
For this post I want to share some chocolate macarons, which I made at our new place since we moved. Every oven is different and finding the accurate baking temperature can take some experimenting. Fortunately, our oven is fairly new, so the macarons baked correctly. I’m also really excited because I read about Trader Joe’s carrying almond meal. I have never seen it at TJ’s previously, so I put it on my list of things to get. Lo and behold, last week I found them there! Apparently, it’s a new item and the price isn’t too bad- a one pound bag goes for $3.99.  The minor flaw is that the flour isn’t as fine so you’ll see small pieces of almond skin. This isn’t too much of a problem if you have a food processor at home. Just grind and sift.  Previously, I ordered almond flour in bulk on Amazon because it was cheaper than buying individual bags, which ranged from $6-$12 at stores like Whole Foods and Safeway. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to use all of it before the expiration date. So from now on, I’ll get my almond flour from TJ’s.

Macarons:

115 g almond flour (Trader Joe’s)

200g powdered sugar

90g egg whites

30g powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Sift almond flour and powdered sugar together. Discard any lumps.

2. In a mixer, whisk egg whites. Once the whites become foamy, stream in 30g of powdered sugar a little at a time. Whisk on high-speed to a stiff peak and until whites are dried out. It should form a stiff ball of meringue.

3. Add dries to the meringue. With a spatula, quickly mix to incorporate the dries and the meringue.

4. Start to fold the mixture to deflate the batter. Be careful not to over fold; otherwise the batter becomes too runny.

5. Transfer batter to a piping bag with a fitted tip.

6. Pipe 1-inch rounds onto silpat-lined sheet pan.

7. Let rest for at least one hour before baking. Bake at 300F for 10-12 minutes. Macarons are done when they come off the silpat without sticking.

Chocolate Buttercream Filling:

75g egg whites

150g sugar

75g water

225g softened butter

100g-200g melted chocolate

Directions:

1. Combine sugar and water in a small pan. Heat the sugar over high heat.

2. Once sugar begins to boil, begin whisking egg whites on medium speed.

3. Continue to heat sugar until it reaches the soft-ball stage (238F). Carefully and slowly stream the sugar into the whisking egg white mixture. (Make sure to reduce the speed of the mixer as you’re pouring in the hot sugar). Increase mixer speed to high and continue to whisk until the mixture cools to body temperature.

4. Reduce speed to medium and add butter in chunks.

5. Once butter is all added, add melted chocolate. (The amount of chocolate you add depends on how chocolately you want the buttercream to be)

6. Once macarons are cooled, pipe filling and sandwich the macarons.

Piped macarons, resting before going into the oven. Look for a firm skin to form.

Freshly baked macarons right out of the oven.

Tags: Almond Flour, almond meal, Buttercream, Chocolate Filling, dessert, egg whites, Macarons, Meringue