Sasha's Kitchen: Rosewater Macarons with Raspberry White Chocolate Ganache

I'm a big fan of anything Parisian these days.  I've wanted to explore Parisian pastries for a long time, because they are so lovely, pretty and delicate and also delicious.  I had tried making macarons about a year and a half ago, but was not very pleased with the results.  Macarons are the darlings of the French pastry world - the new cupcake so to speak.  They can come in every flavor and color, and are light and delicate and oh so pretty.  All I strived for was a lovely little macaron like the ones we tasted at Pierre Herme's shop in Paris.  I finally decided I was up to the task again, that I could figure out the intricate and particular art of macaron making.  I bought a new book on macarons for my arsenal - Les Petits Macarons by Kathryn Gordon and Anne McBride.  The video on their website is also a terrific supportive primer to macaron making.  I strongly suggest purchasing this book!  I'll walk through the steps that I followed like I always do on this blog, but the book itself is a huge help (especially the troubleshooting section in the back) for a successful hands on macaron experience.  I have made two batches of macarons using this book.  The first was a rosewater macaron with a white chocolate raspberry ganache filling.  The second, which I will post about next week, was even better (because my technique improved with some practice), a chocolate macaron with an expresso-cinnamon-chocolate ganache.  Please note that for the rosewater macarons, I used a small amount of rosewater flavoring, rather than rose petals, as suggested by the book.  With macarons, it is essential to measure ingredients precisely - for this reason, I used, as recommended by Gordon's book, a digital kitchen scale to weigh out everything in grams.   The book has several methods for preparing macarons, French, Italian and Swiss.  I used the French macaron method.  This time, I basically have photos of the finished product, but for my next macaron post, I took numerous process photos to share as well.  Stay tuned!

Rosewater Macarons with White Chocolate Raspberry Ganache
165 grams almond flour
165 grams confectioner's sugar
pinch of fine sea salt
5 grams powdered egg whites
150 grams granulated sugar
115 grams aged egg whites (from approximately four eggs)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
pink gel food color (a few drops)
1 tsp rosewater

Rose-Raspberry White Chocolate Ganache
11 ounces (320 grams) white chocolate, chopped
2 T corn syrup
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup raspberry puree (from fresh raspberries)
1 T unsalted butter, soft
1 tsp rose compound
1 T framboise

To make the macarons, double stack two sets of baking sheets.  This allows the heat to distribute more evenly which is key.  Line with either silicon silpat mats (I bought mine at NY Cake and they are terrific) or with parchment paper.

Place the almond flour, confectioner's sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse four times for three seconds.  Sift until well mixed.  Make the French meringue next but whisking the powdered egg whites with the granulated sugar in the bowl of a mixer with a whisk attachment.  Whisk in the egg whites and cream of tartar until the mixture is homogenous.  Set on medium to medium high speed and whisk about 10-11 minutes until the meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks.  Add the rosewater extract and gel food color to the meringue.

Next up the famous macaronner step, a folding step with Gordon's book describes in more detail.  With a spatula fold in the sifted ingredients to the meringe using a J fold and continue folding for a total of about 8 strokes after it looks incorporated using the J fold macaronnner technique.  I can't really describe it here - its an art and you need the book!

Pipe one inch circles using a pastry bag and a half inch tip.  I made these a little big, something that I corrected with my next batch of macarons, so stay tuned.  Bake at 200 to dry for exactly 15 minutes, then raise the heat to 350 and continue for nine minutes.  Allow to cool before moving from the silicon.  My feet were a bit lopsided on these macarons because I didn't rotate the trays halfway through at the 350 temperature which is essential for even distribution of heat.  I improved this the second time around.

To make the ganache filling, bring the corn syrup, sour cream, and raspberry puree to boil in a small saucepan over medium high heat.  Pour over the chocolate in the food processor and wait a minute to let the chocolate melt completely.  Pulse until smooth, then add the butter and the rose compound, then the framboise and pulse until shiny.

Pour the ganache in a shallow pan and allow to cool to room temperature for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is pipeable and not too runny.  Pipe and pair the macarons.

Sasha's Kitchen: Rosewater Macarons with Raspberry White Chocolate Ganache

Sasha's Kitchen on the Road: Paris Foodie Adventures

My husband Brad and I recently returned from a 12 day trip to Europe. On this particular trip, we visited three cities - Paris, Brussels and Prague.  Each of these cities has its own unique culinary traditions, and we made an effort to taste some of the best and most authentic foods in each place that we visited.  I will be doing separate posts on our gastronomical adventures in Prague and Brussels but I figured I'd start with Paris and some of our favorite foods that we ate while visiting that beautiful city for six days.

Crepes are one of Paris' specialties.  We had several crepes while in Paris. On our first night, we visited Le Petit Josselin in Montparnasse to sample some wonderful Parisian crepes. Josselin is one of Paris' best creperies and did not dissapoint, just like my husband had enjoyed the sister creperie down the block some 10 years prior on his last visit to Paris. We both had excellent savory and dessert crepes at Josselin. Below are photos of Brad's savory salmon crepe and my caramel crepe.

Street crepes are also wonderful. I had an amazing crepe with just sugar made hot while I waited (not pictured) at the Crepe Stand at Comptoir de Relais, a delicious Paris restaurant in the trendy rive gauche neighborhood of St. Germain that we enjoyed later in our trip.

Macarons when made correctly are just about the loveliest, pretties Paris dessert in the world. I've made macarons in the past but never ever like these. We went for the very best Paris macarons we could find at the wold famous macaron-maker, Pierre Herme.  We couldn't decide among all of the beautiful, colorful and delicious flavor combinations so my husband and I narrowed it down to seven (pictured at the top) and relished every bite.  These were a highlight and a trip to Paris is not complete without a visit to Pierre Herme.

Lamb and veal dinners are delicious in Paris.  I had a great veal with gnocchi and my husband had the delicious lamb dish pictured below at Restaurant Christine in St. Germain. For dessert at Christine, we had a Paris classic - one of the best souffles that I have ever had - a vanilla souffle with a strawberry sauce.

Now back to our full meal at Comptoir de Relais.  First we had some great French wines and appetizers at the wine bar portion of the restaurant while we waited for our table. Then, at dinner, we had a delicious beef dish (a bit stew like) with noodles pictured below. Yum! On the bottom is a picture of one of the appetizers, basically a mini beef sandwich with a creme fraiche based sauce. The apple tart we had for dessert was scrumptious as well.

We had another great meal in Paris at Allard Bistro - first a delicious salad with frisee and lardons, followed by a French classic made famous by Julia Child - boeuf bourguignon. This was another amazing meal, which ended with our desserts - a raspberry tarte and another French classic - profiteroles.

Sasha's Kitchen on the Road: Paris Foodie Adventures

Sasha's Kitchen: Pink Vanilla Macarons With Kiwi Buttercream Filling

When several friends and family members suggested that I experiment making colorful Macarons for this blog, I confused their suggestion with Macaroons, the heavy coconut cookies that I ate at Passover this year.  How silly of me.  Now, that I have just started making French Macarons (almond meringue cookies), I am amazed at how they can be made in nearly every color and flavor imaginable.  I plan on making batches and batches of Macarons, but today, I would like to introduce my readers to the Macaron, and how I made my very first (of many) batch of Macarons.  I am so excited to have entered the world of Macaron making.  Other than cupcakes, Macarons are probably considered the cutest little pastries in the world of baking.  They are sweet, crispy almond flavored cookies in a variety of colors with a domelike shape and a distinctive foot.  Two Macaron cookies form an almond meringue pastry with a buttercream, ganache, lemon curd or other colorful filling in the middle.

My introduction to the art of Macaron making involved carefully following the book I Love Macarons by Hisako Ogita.  Another great resource on Macaron making, as I get more advanced in my experiments, is the blog Not So Humble Pie.  Without further ado, here is how I made my first batch of pretty pink macarons with fresh kiwi buttercream:

Pink Vanilla Macarons (derived from I Love Macaroons book recipes)

85 grams ground almonds (use Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour)
150 grams confectioners sugar / powdered sugar
3 large egg whites (at room temperature)
65 grams (5 T) granulated sugar
seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1 drop gel pink food coloring

Sasha's Kiwi Buttercream Filling
1/2 stick of butter
2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 egg
3 kiwi
1/2 package of cream cheese
1 drop gel green food coloring

You will notice that all the measurements above are in grams.  Macaron making is very precise business and you need to invest in a digital kitchen scale to make sure you get your measurements precisely.  Don't blame me for this one, if you don't, you are likely to wind up with a mixture that is a little off and a sticky mess (just like I did the first time I tried to make Macarons).

Here are the steps I followed:

1. Cover a paper with parchment paper and use an icing tip bottom end to trace 1 inch papers on the parchment paper, spacing them an inch or two apart.

2.  Measure the almond meal and the confectioner's sugar with the digital scale and blend in a food processor.

3.  Beat the egg whites (I used a stand mixer, not a hand mixer, but you could use either) until foamy and continue beating at high speed while gradually adding the granulated sugar.  Keep beating at high speed until you have a meringue.  Add the vanilla to the meringue and stir lightly.  Add a drop of gel based food coloring (I used pink).  Keep beating until you have a glossy meringue that is stiff and firm in texture.  Once you are there, stop beating!

4.  Mix in the almond flour/sugar mixture to the meringue with a spatula.

5.  The next step is called "Macaronage" and is very important to getting the Macarons to have the right texture.  In other words, don't skip this step!   To perform this step, spread the Macaron mixture along the sides of the bowl, turning it on its sides, by scooping the batter from the bottom.  Then scoop it back into the center of the bowl.  Repeat this Macaronage step 15 to 20 times, and don't be tempted to cut this step short.  This is required to properly mix the flour and the meringue to get the proper glossy texture to the Macarons.

6.  The next step is called "Macaronner" and requires dripping the batter with your spatula until it drips slowly when scooped out.

7.  Next, use a 0.4 inch pastry tip and pastry bag to drop the Macaron batter into the circles on the prepared parchment paper sheets.  Another tip from my book was to double stack your baking sheets, which helps make the heat even when you bake the Macarons.  Make small circles not much bugger than the parchment paper circles since the batter tends to spread out when it is squeezed.  I really wanted to get them even the first time, but it is a bit tricky, and I would be remiss if I didn't thank my husband for helping me out with this step!

8.  Rap the baking sheets firmly against the counter to help the Macarons form a rounded shape.  This will also help the foot form when they are baked.  Allow them to dry for about 15 minutes, while the oven preheats to 375.  This drying time may vary (15 minutes worked for me), but when the batter circles do not stick to your fingers when you touch them, then they are done drying.  However, don't let them dry out too long or the Macarons won't be able to form a foot. If you don't dry them, they will crack during baking.

9.  Bake 15 to 18 minutes until slightly crispy and a cracked foot forms.  Rotate the trays halfway through to make sure they all bake evenly.  Allow to cool and then remove carefully from the parchment paper.


10.  Beat the filling in the mixer until it has the consistency of cupcake icing.  I flavored this one with Kiwi.  I plan to do some further experimentation with different consistencies (and flavors) of buttercreams but this one was pretty and tasty for a first try.  The buttercreams in the book are a bit of a  different in consistency from mine (which looked and tasted great, too) and I may try some of those in future Macaron experiments.

Next up in Macaroon Making from me over the next few weeks: 1) Raspberry Macarons with chocolate ganache filling; 2) Matcha green tea Macarons with mango buttercream and 3) Key Lime Macarons with Key Lime Curd.  I can't wait to make more Macarons, I'm almost giddy about it.  I love making them for much the same reason I love making cupcakes - because they are little and cute, colorful and fun!

Macarons

Sasha's Kitchen: Pink Vanilla Macarons With Kiwi Buttercream Filling