HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO MAKEITMADDY!!! I can’t believe it’s been a year since my first post!! I wasn’t sure what I should blog about to commemorate my first blogging year, but decided on these yummy French Macarons. Hope you’ve all enjoyed this blogging journey with me so far!!
I’ve always wanted to make French Macarons, but have heard how temperamental the process can be. Lucky for all of you, I’m one of those annoying positive people that thinks that if you put your mind to it, you can do anything. (In case you’re wondering, I Googled how to pronounce macaron and after watching a bunch of french cooking videos, I’m pretty sure the correct pronunciation is mah-ka-rohn, the first syllable is quick and the last syllable is a little nasally/throaty sounding. Don’t quote me on that, I don’t speak French (^_^)) If you’ve been following this blog, you probably know about my love for chocolate; however, once in a while I want something a little different. Queue Vanilla Macarons filled with Green Tea White Chocolate Ganache.
I did a LOT of research before starting this and Not So Humble Pie and Joy of Baking helped me the most. Not So Humble Pie also has pretty much every single question you have about making macarons answered. I used Not So Humble Pie’s Not So Humble Macrons v3.0128 recipe using cream of tartar instead of dehydrated egg white and Honey and Soy’s Green Tea and White Chocolate Ganache recipe. I also used Honey and Soy’s Macaron template.
A few things to note: I didn’t actually age the egg whites, but I did set them on the counter to come up to room temperature. I used the cream of tartar to help stabilize them. I usually try to make it easy on myself by finding recipes that don’t require “weighing” the ingredients, but threw that out of the window to make these. There are recipes that measure with cups, but I decided that the best way to be successful my first time making macarons was to be more precise. I couldn’t find Matcha powder so I just took some green tea and ground it. You can freehand the piping of the macarons, but it’ll be harder to find matching sized cookies.
What You’ll Need:
- 5g Cream of Tartar
- 28g Granulated Sugar
- 225g Powdered Sugar
- 125g Almond Meal
- 100g Egg Whites
- 40g Heavy Cream
- 400g White Chocolate
- 150g Unsalted Butter
- 20g Green Tea Powder, extra for dusting
Step 1: Making the Ganache
Boil the cream to a simmer stirring occasionally so it does not burn. Pour half of the boiled cream into the white chocolate and let it sit for a few minutes. This will help the chocolate come to temperature and melt. Stir the chocolate and cream and add in the rest of the cream. Add the butter and mix until combined. Add in the the green tea a little at a time until you get to your desired “potency.” Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to set. I refrigerated the mixture for around eight hours. After the eight hours, I beat the ganache mixture until it became thick. Truthfully, I was freaking out at this point since the ganache wasn’t as thick initially, but it got there (^_^).
Step 2: Making the Cookies
Prep two half sheet pans by lining them with parchment paper. Get your mise en place done by weighing everything. Trust me, it’ll go a lot smoother if you do it this way and take less time in the long run.
Pulse the almond meal and powdered sugar together in a food processor then sift the mixture. The almond meal straight out of the bag may have some bigger pieces of almond, so pulsing and sifting it will assist with the clumps. Mix the cream of tartar with the granulated sugar.
Beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy. Begin slowly sprinkling in the granulated sugar mixture. Increase the speed to medium and beat until almost stiff peaks.
Fold in ⅓ of the almond mixture gently. Keep folding in each third until combined. Place batter in a piping bag and pipe the macarons. Once you are done piping, you are going to tap the sheet onto the counter a few times on each side. This is remove any air bubbles and flatten out the tip from piping.
Set the sheets on the counter for thirty minutes to an hour. You’ll know when you can bake them by touching the tops of the macarons. When the tops are no longer sticky, you’re good to go. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Bake for around fifteen minutes. I baked both sheets at the same time, but swapped the rack they were on halfway through. It’s better to over bake then under bake since the filling will soften them a little. I baked them and removed from the oven when they started looking like they were turning brown. Look at those beautiful feet!!!
Step 3: Assemble the Macarons
Find two cookies that are the same size and lay them upside down. Pipe some ganache onto one of the cookies and put the other cookie on top. Sprinkle with the left over green tea powder! Depending on your macarons, you’ll want to let them “mature” in the refrigerator for a few hours to a few days. Enjoy!!
- 5g Cream of Tartar
- 28g Granulated Sugar
- 225g Powdered Sugar
- 125g Almond Meal
- 100g Egg Whites
- 40g Heavy Cream
- 400g White Chocolate
- 150g Unsalted Butter
- 20g Green Tea Powder, extra for dustin
- Boil the cream to a simmer stirring occasionally so it does not burn.
- Pour half of the boiled cream into the white chocolate and let it sit for a few minutes.
- Stir the chocolate and cream and add in the rest of the cream.
- Add the butter and mix until combined.
- Add in the the green tea a little at a time until you get to your desired “potency.”
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to set.
- Whisk the ganache mixture until it thickens.
- Prep two half sheet pans by lining them with parchment paper.
- Pulse the almond meal and powdered sugar together in a food processor then sift the mixture.
- Mix the cream of tartar with the granulated sugar.
- Beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy.
- Slowly sprinkle in the granulated sugar mixture.
- Increase the speed to medium and beat until almost stiff peaks.
- Fold in ⅓ of the almond mixture gently. Keep folding in each third until combined.
- Place batter in a piping bag and pipe the macarons.
- Tap the sheet onto the counter a few times on each side.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Set the sheets on the counter for thirty minutes to an hour. When the tops are no longer sticky, you’re good to go.
- Bake for around fifteen minutes.
- Find two cookies that are the same size and lay them upside down.
- Pipe some ganache onto one of the cookies and put the other cookie on top.
- Sprinkle with the left over green tea powder.
- Depending on your macarons, you’ll want to let them “mature” in the refrigerator for a few hours to a few days.
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