First and foremost, I would like to apologise for the lack of updates; or rather none at all. Culinary school has just been so hectic, and I must say, I really do respect people who make it big in the hospitality line. The amount of hard-work and time put into what they do to get to where they are is just beyond words.
Regardless, back to the point of writing this post.
Green Tea Macaron Shells
Ingredients
- 165g almond flour
- 165g confectioners'/icing sugar
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 3 tsp green tea powder (match powder is the same thing)
- 115g aged egg whites (about 4 eggs)*
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 150g granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 4-6 drops green food colouring (Wilton colours : Moss Green or Juniper Green)*
*Aged egg whites have a concentrated protein structure which will prevent your macarons from cracking or having weird shapes. Age your whites safely covered and in the fridge for 2 to 5 days.
*I did not have these colours, so I just mixed Leaf Green with some Liquid Whitener and Lemon Yellow food colourings until I got the colour I wanted.
Steps
I used the Italian Meringue to make these macaron shells. In my opinion, this technique is much easier to work with. However, you do need a candy thermometer for this method. If you do not have one, proceed to using the French Meringue (You can refer to the post on 11th June 2012 for this method).
1. Preheat oven to 95°C.
2. Mix the almond flour, icing sugar, salt and green tea powder thoroughly by either pulsing it in a food processor or mixing by hand until all the ingredients are spread out evenly. Place it in a large mixing bowl and make a 'well' in the middle.
3. Whip up the egg whites and cream of tartar in a mixer until soft peaks form. If the peaks form before your sugar reaches 113°C, leave them whipping at the slowest speed.
4. While the whites are whipping, heat the granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan until it reaches 110°C, add in food colouring and continue heating up to 113°C (Soft ball stage).
5. When the sugar has reached 113°C, quickly but steadily pour it into the whipped egg whites and continue whipping at medium speed. Whip until stiff peaks form.
6. Place the meringue in the middle of the dry ingredients bowl and slowly stir the meringue to combine with the dry ingredients. Once it has incorporated, fold until you reach a consistency where the batter flows like lava when lifted at a height.
7. Pipe into circles of about 4cm and bake at 105°C for 15 minutes then 175°C for about 10 minutes.
Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
- 200g bittersweet chocolate
- 100ml cream
Heat chocolate and cream in a bain-marie (double boiler with simmering water at the bottom or 'water bath') until chocolate has completely melted. Cool at room temperature until chocolate thickens, then pipe into macaron shells.
Enjoy !
