Rose Macarons
Macarons — they’re all the rage around the world. With huge shells and elaborate fillings in South Korean food stalls, quaint and delicate in American-French patisseries, and innovative designs in Japanese bakeries, macarons are a true dessert icon. Yet, despite their small size, I won’t lie that they are a tad finicky to make. Your feet can rise too quickly or not rise at all, the shell might be too lumpy, or perhaps your macaron just floods out without structure. It also definitely takes a few rounds of experimentation to fully familiarize yourself with the best oven temperature for you and the humidity of your house for hardening the shells.
However, I promise they are worth making, because beyond the flavors you can throw into macarons and their understated beauty, there’s a great sense of accomplishment knowing that you’ve just conquered the odds against moisture and heat. When you’re piping the filling, go wild — stack the filling tall, pipe it with a dramatic tip, or dye it an eccentric color — because it disrupts the conventional portrayal of macarons you see everywhere. Over the New Years, I made a simple batch with rose powder. This dusty, almost-violet powder is made from crushed, red rose petals and produces an extremely floral taste. When the powder denatures, the macarons turned out a pleasing baby pink. This is all around a good recipe to start your macaron journey with!
Ingredients:
macaron:
97g almond flour
186g confectioners/powdered sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
3 egg whites (about 30-35g each)
58g white granulated sugar
1/2 tsp red food coloring
1 tsp rose powder / any flavor powder
buttercream:
113g unsalted butter (1 stick) softened at room temperature
180g powdered sugar
6g heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Steps:
Line a baking sheet with a silicon mat, preferably one with circles drawn out for macaron shaping.
In a medium sized bowl, sift in almond flour, sugar, and salt together. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, whip the egg whites on high speed. Gradually pour in the granulated sugar in third until you have a stiff meringue — it’s ready when you can flip the bowl upside down and the meringue doesn’t move an inch. Add in the food coloring and rose powder and continue whipping for another minute.
Sift in about a third of your almond flour, sugar, salt into the meringue. With a spatula, gradually fold in the dry until it is thoroughly incorporated. Move the spatula in broad, sweeping circles so as to avoid deflating the meringue. Continue sifting in thirds of your flour mixture and folding it into the meringue until everything is just mixed. The macaron mixture should move like smooth lava — you should be able to drizzle it from your spatula without it breaking for a few seconds.
Pour half the macaron mixture into a piping bag lined with a 1/2” diameter tip. Squeeze out all the air bubbles and test your piping into the bowl. On the lined baking sheet, hover your tip above the center of one of the circles on the silicon mat and pipe small 1” diameter circles. The mixture will be runny and spread out a little bit. Continue piping until your piping bag is empty and then repeat this step.
Now, lightly wet the tip of your finger with some water and gently press down any nubs that appear on your macarons to smooth out the surface of the shells. Then gently bang the baking sheet on the counter to remove air bubbles and set aside for at least 20-25 minutes for the macarons to harden. They are ready to bake once the shells feel hard to the touch and you can run your finger over the surface without denting the shells.
Preheat the oven to 280º F. When your macaron shells have set, bake for 17-18 minutes. Do not over bake or the feet of your macaron will disappear. If the top starts browning too quickly or your feet rise too quickly, lower your oven temperature to 270º F.
Remove from oven and let cool completely for 20 minutes. Do not attempt to pull the macarons off the silicon mat or you will lose their feet. When completely cooled, gently peel the shells off the silicon mat.
Now make the buttercream. In a bowl, whip butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract together until pale and fluffy.
With a flute tip of your choice or the same 1/2” piping tip, pipe out the buttercream onto one macaron shell. Sandwich with another shell on top, and enjoy!