Serves: 50 macaron sandwiches (100 shells)
Prep time: 2 hours
Rest time: 30 minutes - 2 hours, 4 hours (filling) and overnight
Cook time: 60 minutes (12-16 minutes per batch)
Supplies:
Sifter/sieve
Food scale
Spatula
Parchment paper
Baking trays
Large mixing bowls
Electric beaters
Piping bags and tips
200 g (7 oz) almond meal / flour
220 g (7.8 oz) icing / powdered sugar
4 egg whites, room temperature
80 g (2.8 oz) sugar (I used 'raw', but original recipe calls for caster)
gel food dye, as desired
55 g (1.94 oz) dark brown sugar
6 g (0.21 oz) corn flour / starch
1/2 a large egg
1/2 a large egg yolk
1/4 tsp salt
95 g (3.35 fluid oz) whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
7.5 g (0.26 oz) Molasses
1 – 1.33 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
340 g (12 oz or 1.5 cups) unsalted butter, room temp
Two Decembers ago in the year that shall not be named, my macaron game was strong. I was in search of the perfect gingerbread macaron recipe so I made two different ones! This one, far and away was the winner. It is the perfect balance of the bite and warmth of spices with the sweet, cool creaminess of the ganache filling. For gingerbread lovers, these macarons will beg to be eaten. Next challenge: building a gingerbread cabin with stacked macarons!
Macarons are not scary to make if the directions are followed well. I promise! My very first batch turned out beautifully and delicious. If you are new to macarons or have had a less-than-ideal experience making them in the past, I encourage you to pre-read and use Lauren's macaron-how-to post. It was a great support through the whole process.
Some quick tips:
- Use a food scale, not a conversion to cups, as this is important for batter consistency
- Use quality gel food dye (I used cheap liquid dye and it did not hold colour--see above photo)
- The consistency of the batter matters, so follow each step carefully
- If using Lauren's shell template, pipe them slightly bigger, otherwise you will have a massive army of mini macarons.
- Definitely leave them out to make the skin before baking
If the shells do not turn out perfectly round, it is OKAY. I promise. It was a bit cathartic to sit and match up the mismatched shells to form perfect pairs.
Also, they are 1000x better the following days after the ganache softens the shells. This is a part of the macaron process, so have no fear. You're doing it right.
200 g (7 oz) almond meal / flour
220 g (7.8 oz) icing / powdered sugar
4 egg whites, room temperature
80 g (2.8 oz) sugar (I used 'raw', but original recipe calls for caster)
gel food dye, as desired
Gingerbread filling:
55 g (1.94 oz) dark brown sugar
6 g (0.21 oz) corn flour / starch
1/2 a large egg
1/2 a large egg yolk
1/4 tsp salt
95 g (3.35 fluid oz) whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
7.5 g (0.26 oz) Molasses
1 – 1.33 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
340 g (12 oz or 1.5 cups) unsalted butter, room temp
Directions:
1. Prep baking trays by laying down macaron templates and placing baking paper over. Prep a piping bag with a round nozzle.
2. Sift almond meal and icing / powdered sugar in a fine mesh sieve or sifter. Set aside.
3. Crack the eggs, careful to separate the whites from the yolk and not get any yolk in the whites. Beat egg whites until frothy. Add caster sugar slowly. When egg whites are soft peaks, add dye and then beat to stiff peaks.
4. Gently fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, careful to scoop and swirl all of the batter around and cut it down the middle each turn until it resembles lava (5-10 minutes). It should drip off a spatula in ribbons and take about 10 seconds to absorb in the batter below. See gifs on Lauren's website for specifics.
5. Gently add the batter to the piping bag and pipe into the circular cut-outs on the baking trays.
6. Carefully remove the circle templates from under the baking paper and rap the baking trays several times on the bench top to release air bubbles. Then let the trays sit out until the macaron shells form a 'skin' that, when touched, is no longer wet or sticky (30 min - 2 hours, depending on air temperature and humidity).
7. Bake macaron shells at 150 C (300 F) for 12-16 minutes, until shells sound hollow when gently tapped.
8. Once removed from the oven, allow the shells to cool for several minutes and gently peel them up off the baking paper and pair up the shells.
9. To make the filling, in a bowl, whisk the dark brown sugar and corn flour/starch. Add in the egg, egg yolk, and salt.
10. In a medium saucepan, combine milk, vanilla, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and heat until it barely simmers, then remove from the heat.
11. Whilst vigorously and constantly whisking with one hand, slowly pour half the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture.
12. Whisk this mixture until it is fully incorporated, then pour it all back into the saucepan.
13. Heat the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly until it bubbles.
14. Once the mixture thickens, cook for a minute more and remove from the heat.
15. Pour the mixture into a shallow container and gently set cling wrap on the surface of the pastry cream-mixture, making sure there are no air gaps. Refrigerate until cold (4 hours).
16. On high, whisk the pastry cream until creamy without lumps. Add butter, a few cubes at a time until well incorporated.
17. Transfer the pastry cream to a piping bag and pipe half the macaron shells, once they have cooled.
18. Sandwich the paired macaron rounds and store them in an airtight container in the fridge overnight. The texture of these macarons are at their prime between 2 days and 7 days after filling and storing.
18. Sandwich the paired macaron rounds and store them in an airtight container in the fridge overnight. The texture of these macarons are at their prime between 2 days and 7 days after filling and storing.
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