Macarons (Rose + Raspberry)
These are hands down the best macarons I've ever made. I made these as a Valentine's themed baking experiment, and am so happy with how they turned out. This is perhaps the first time my macarons actually had a smooth top and well-risen feet, and the key for me was really just in getting the proportion of wet / dry ingredients correct. These macarons feature rosewater in the macaron shells, buttercream, and raspberry preserves. The rose is present but subtle and brings everything together beautifully -- elegant and perfect for Valentine's Day. I will probably make it a tradition to make these every Valentine's!
Active Time: 2 hr
Total Time: 3 hr
Ingredients
macarons:
> egg whites (100g, or about 3 eggs)
> almond flour (120g)
> powdered sugar (240g)
> salt (4g)
> granulated sugar (60g)
> rosewater (1 tsp)
> red/pink food coloring (few drops)
buttercream:
> butter (1 stick, room temperature)
> powdered sugar (120g)
> vanilla (1 tsp)
> milk / heavy cream (~1 tbsp)
> salt (small pinch)
other:
> raspberry preserves (1/2 cup)
> (optional) dark chocolate (1/4 cup)
> (optional) dried rose petals.
Instructions
Macaron shells:
1. In a large bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, almond flour, and salt.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites into stiff peaks. Use typical meringue techniques: start off on medium speed for ~3m, medium-high for ~3m, and high for ~3m (this should take around ~10m total). Gradually add the granulated sugar once soft peaks begin to form.
3. Add the rosewater and pink food coloring, and beat until just combined.
4. Sift in the almond flour mixture to the beaten egg whites, and gently fold using a spatula. Fold until the batter falls into ribbons and you can make a figure 8 with the batter.
5. Transfer the macaron batter into a piping bag with a round tip.
6. Pipe the macarons onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat (if using parchment paper, use a few dots of batter in the corners to hold the paper down in place). Pipe them into 1.5 inch circles, spaced at least 1 inch apart.
7. Tap the baking sheet on a flat surface 5 times to release any air bubbles.
8. Let the macarons sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes, until dry to the touch.
9. Bake the macarons for about 17-20 minutes at 285F, until feet are well-risen and macarons don't stick to the parchment paper. Transfer macarons to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. In the meantime, make the buttercream. Beat the butter for ~1m until light and fluffy. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and salt, beat to combine. If needed, add a tablespoon or two of milk and beat until the desired consistency is reached.
11. Transfer buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip.
12. Spoon a bit of raspberry preserves to the center of a macaron shell. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge. Find a similarly sized macaron shell to top. Repeat with the remaining macaron shells.
13. (optional) melt 1/4 cup dark chocolate by microwaving on low power incrementally. Drizzle a little bit over the macarons, and top with dried rose petals.
Notes/Tips:
> Make sure the salt that you're using is fine -- this is not the time for coarse kosher salt. One time I made these with coarse salt, and accidentally ended up sifting out all the salt.
> You won't actually need a ton of buttercream -- usually with this recipe I only end up using around half of it. However, it's really hard to properly whip the buttercream with any less butter.
> You could buy your own raspberry preserves, or you could consider making your own. They're surprisingly easy to make, recipe here: http://www.brianxie.me/cookbook/raspberry-preserves/. I typically make my raspberry preserves much less sweet and more tart than store-bought ones, which goes really well with these macarons.
> Use a larger tip for the macarons and a smaller tip for the buttercream. You really only want a thin ring of buttercream around the side of the macaron. Optionally, if you're feeling ambitious you could consider using a small star-shaped tip and make little star-shaped "dots" around the ring of each macaron.
> It'll look like there's a lot of sugar in this recipe, and that's because there is. You might be tempted to reduce the amount of sugar to make them less sweet. I've tried this before ... and ended up completely botching the texture of the macarons. Definitely use enough dry ingredients in the macaron shells, though you could definitely reduce the sugar in the buttercream if you wish.