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French macarons
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The French macaron is a French classic made by sandwiching a butter cream filling by two meringue based biscuits. These treats are delicate and are colourful due to their flavour which can vary from raspberry to vanila.
History
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The origin behind the macarons are very controversial, whether they are from France or Italy. However macarons from each of the countries differ as the Italian macarons tend to be crumbly and powdery while the French macarons are less sweet and chewier. The French macarons were introduced in the 1530’s by Catherine di Medici. However they didn't spread until 1792, when 2 nuns in the French revolution were seeking asylum, so to support themselves, they sold treats made of egg whites, sugar and ground almonds, which are now common as common ingredients in macarons.
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Reflection
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These raspberry macarons were nice. These macarons are hard to reflect on because a few things went wrong. The flavour of these macarons were really nice, and the jam in the buttercream really gave a strong flavour. Although when making the macarons, I didn't whack the batter on the tray down hard enough, meaning that they didn't release the air bubbles. This meant that in the oven they didn't rise very well, and I couldn't fully see if they were cooked or not. Once out of the oven, they became really hard and crunchy, rather than chewy with a soft shell. So really, they tasted well, but they weren't like your classic macaron. My favourite flavour of macarons are raspberry, so these had to live up to a high expectation, and they just didn't get there, but I will definitely try these again. The combination was a little too sweet for my family's liking, but it was still delicious. These macarons are easily stored.
This is why I rated the French raspberry macarons a 6/10
Raspberry macaron recipe
20 macarons cook time: 5 hours total: 70 minutes
Ingredients
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1/2 + 2 tbsp cup almond flour
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1/2 cup powdered sugar
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2 egg whites
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pinch of cream of tartar
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1/4 cup + 1 tsp granulated sugar
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Buttercream filling
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¼ cup unsalted butter
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¾ cup + 2 tablespoons icing sugar
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1 teaspoon milk
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½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Method
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Sift the almond flour and the powdered sugar into a large bowl and set aside.
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Pour the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk and mix on a medium speed until the surface of the egg whites is covered in small bubbles. Add in a pinch of cream of tartar and continue to mix until your reach the soft peak stage.
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Add the granulated sugar into the eggs and mix on a medium speed for 30 seconds. Add in the food colouring. Keep mixing until stiff, glossy peaks form.
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Fold the dry ingredients into the meringue using a circular motion until a thick ribbon of batter runs off the spatula when it's lifted.
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Pour the batter into a large piping bag fit with a medium-sized round piping tip and pipe 1 1/4 inch rounds on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart.
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Bang the pans firmly on the counter a few times to release air bubbles, then pop any remaining air bubbles that come to the surface with a toothpick.
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Let the macarons rest for 30 minutes to develop a skin.
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As the macarons rest, preheat your oven to160 C
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Bake one tray of macarons at a time on the middle rack of your oven for 16-17 minutes and rotate your pan halfway through.
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Remove from oven and let the macarons cool on the pan, then gently remove them and place them on a cooling rack.
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Using a mixer cream butter until soft and smooth.
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Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and mix until light and fluffy.
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Fold in the raspberry jam.
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Transfer the buttercream filling into a piping bag with a round tip.
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Pipe the icing onto half of the cookies.
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Sandwich cookies together with the remaining halves.