French macarons have been the bane of my existence. I've tried countless recipes and iterations, all have which yielded macarons in every single shape and form. I think I've encountered all possible failures: cracked tops, no feet, too sweet, too dry, less-than-desired smooth tops, overmixing, undermixing, wet egg whites, uneven baking temperatures, unground almond pieces in the batter. You name it, I've experienced it.
I was hoping and praying that with Ray's new convection oven and food processor, I'd have a successful,reproducible perfect batch. One pastry chef I encountered indicated that the Italian meringue preparation yields a less sweet cookie (my ideal macaron) so I set out to try this recipe from Spago pastry chef, Sherry Yard. I attempted an Italian meringue recipe once last year without a candy thermometer - bad, bad idea. I ended up cooking my egg whites. This time, armed with a candy thermometer, I think I've come closer than ever to my perfect macaron recipe.
Gingerbread Macarons with Apple Compote
adapted from Sherry Yard
Apple compote
Ingredients
6 tablespoons butter, cut in 1-inch pieces
1/2 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise and scraped of seeds
3 large or 4 medium Fuji apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
In a large skillet over a medium flame add the butter, vanilla bean and seeds, cook until the butter turns golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add the apples, letting them caramelize on one side, then turn, about 5 minutes total.
Sprinkle the sugar and brown sugar over the apples and cook, turning occasionally to caramelize and soften the fruit, about 10 minutes. Add the heavy cream and continue to cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Remove the vanilla bean and put the apple mixture in a food processor, add lemon juice and pulse until smooth.
Cool in the fridge.
Macarons
Ingredients
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons almond flour
2 cups plus 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 egg whites
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
Directions
Line two 17-by-12-inch baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a food processor, blend the almond flour, powdered sugar, ginger and cinnamon for 1 minute. Sift the blended almond mixture directly into a medium mixing bowl.
Fill a small saucepan halfway with water. Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Place the bowl over the pot of hot water and whisk quickly until the egg whites reach 100 degrees on a candy thermometer.
Remove the bowl from the pot of water and whisk in the cream of tartar. Place it on a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Whip on medium speed for 2 minutes, then gradually beat in the sugar. Continue whipping for 6 minutes until the egg whites come to medium stiff peaks and are shiny.
Turn the mixer to the lowest setting and carefully spoon in the molasses.
Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add egg whites to the almond mixture by gently bringing the flat side of a rubber spatula through the center of the egg whites and up the opposite side of the bowl, folding the dry ingredients over the egg whites.
Repeat the same motion 50 times, turning the bowl a quarter turn each time.
Fit a pastry bag with a medium round tip (No. 4) and fill with the mixture. On the parchment-lined baking sheets, pipe 1-inch rounds (the batter will be slightly wet) by holding the bag at a slight angle and releasing small amounts of batter. Allow one-half inch between cookies; they will spread slightly. Keep the piped cookies at room temperature, uncovered, for 1 hour to form the skin.
Heat the oven to 325 degrees, placing the racks in the center and lower shelves of the oven.
Bake the macarons for 12 minutes, reverse the trays on the racks and rotate. Bake 12 to 14 minutes more, or until firm and not wet. Cool on a rack.
Fill the macarons by placing the apple compote in a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip.
Note to self - always turn down the oven 25 degrees lower than what is indicated when using a convection oven, otherwise your food will burn. My first batch ended up pretty crispy - I had to lower the temperature down to 300 degrees for the second batch and they came out fine. Overall, the recipe was easy to follow and the macarons did come out not as sweet as their French counterparts. Not 100% happy with this recipe - will need to continue testing it with other flavors to be sure. They're also not very pretty to look at - will need to find a "topping" next time.