Mud House Year

Valentine's Day Salted Caramel Macarons!

So yesterday I made a big batch of salted caramel icing.  It was just sitting in my fridge.   What to do, what to do??  It's been awhile since I attempted macarons so I decided to give them another try.  If you are interested in my recipe and some tips, see here.  You will also find a free download for a macaron template.  If you want even more macaron info,  just click on "Macarons" under categories to the right of this page.

I tweaked my recipe just a bit this time.  I used a fine sieve to sift the almond/powder sugar mixture before combining it with the egg whites.  This resulted in smoother tops.   I also baked the macarons a bit longer, about 14 minutes total, turning the pan halfway through, at approximately 320 degrees F.   Keep in mind every oven is different. I use an oven thermometer to gauge my oven temperature.

Once cooled, I matched up the shells and piped a large hershey kiss size dollop of salted caramel icing onto half of them. Then I carefully sandwiched the shells with a little twist.

Goodness, I love macarons.  They are almost too pretty to eat but when you do... what a delight!Remember, they are better if kept in the fridge for 24-48 hours before eating.  That may be the hardest part!

I still have a bunch of salted caramel filling.  I'm thinking maybe chocolate whoopie pies for the weekend...stay tuned!

Halloween Macarons

There is something about this time of the year that sparks my imagination and I throw caution to the wind.  For days, visions of macarons have been dancing in my head.  Not just any macarons, mind you, but macarons wearing little pumpkin costumes.  I decided to attempt another batch of these finicky little monsters, color them orange, and add a little green stem.  Most importantly, I wanted a truly luscious chocolatey filling because nothing says "Halloween" to me quite like chocolate.  If you don't already know about my long, horrifying history with macarons, you can read about it, and find my basic recipe here.  To add the little stems to the macaron shells, set aside a teaspoon or two of the shiny, white meringue before you fold it into the almond/powder sugar mixture. Add some green gel food color and mix until the meringue is uniformly green.  Use a toothpick to place a mini-dollop to the center of the macaron before baking.  Do this to half of your macaron shells.  

I'm happy to report that I continue to have good results with my Mud House propane gas stove.   I'm not sure this batch actually looks like little pumpkins but the chocolate caramel ganache filling is to die for...

Mud House Chocolate Caramel Ganache
5 ounces good quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, heated
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Note:  It is important to warm the cream because it will be added to the very hot cooked sugar.   The cream boils furiously when added to the hot sugar, so be sure to cook the sugar in a saucepan large enough to accommodate the boiling cream.

Chop chocolate, place in heat proof bowl, and set aside.  
Bring cream to a boil.  Turn off heat and cover pan to keep cream warm.    

In a saucepan, stir together the sugar and water until all the sugar is moistened. Heat on medium-high, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Stop stirring and boil sugar undisturbed until it turns a deep amber. An instant-read thermometer will register 370 degrees.  I usually remove it from the heat just before it reaches temperature then slowly and carefully pour the hot cream into the caramel. It will bubble up furiously.  Use a silicone spatula to stir the mixture, scraping the bottom.  Return to cook over low heat, stirring until the mixture is combined and the caramel has dissolved.  Remove it from the heat and add butter, stirring gently.  Let the caramel mixture cool for a few minutes before adding it to the chocolate.  Adding too-hot caramel to the chocolate may cause the ganache to separate.  You want the caramel warm enough to melt the chocolate but not too hot.   Once you add the caramel to the chocolate, allow the mixture to sit undisturbed for a minute while the chocolate melts.

Then stir very gently until the mixture is uniform and smooth.  Add the vanilla, stirring to combine.  Stirring too rapidly can may cause the ganache to separate.

Allow ganache to stand uncovered for 1 hour, then cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until firm enough to pipe onto meringue shells.  Use a piping bag and tip to pipe a large "Hershey kiss" sized dollop onto the flat side of mararon shell and sandwich with another shell.  Give a slight twist to the top shell as you sandwich it to the bottom shell.

Enjoy! 

Prickly Pear White Chocolate Ganache

In a small saucepan, I brought an 1/8 cup of my frozen prickly pear juice and 1/8 cup sugar to a boil.  I turned down the heat and simmered it for 10 minutes, reducing to a thick syrup.

I realize most of you don't have prickly pear juice in your freezer so just buy the syrup, already made, by clicking here.

Prickly Pear White Chocolate Ganache

 This is what you will need:

 Makes about 3/4 cup

5 oz  good-quality white chocolate,  finely chopped 
1/3 cup heavy cream
3/4 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature and cut in half
1 tablespoon reduced prickly pear syrup
1 drop magenta gel food color

1.  Put chopped chocolate in heat-proof bowl
2.  Bring heavy cream to a bowl, then pour it over the chocolate.  Let it sit for two minute to soften the chocolate.  With a spatula, slowly stir the cream and chocolate until it is smooth.  Add the butter and stir gently until combined.

3.  Add 1 tablespoon syrup and one drop magenta food color.  Stir gently until smooth.

4.  Ganache will thicken as it sits.  You may keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use.  Bring it to room temperature and use a pastry bag to pipe ganache onto macarons.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Mud House Prickly Pear Macarons

     Macarons and I don't get along.  We've had a love-hate relationship for years.  No matter how hard I try, something always goes wrong.  They might look perfect on the outside but they're hollow on the inside.
Or,  if I stop folding the meringue a moment too soon, they mock me with their little top-notches.   I can't tell you how many times I have thrown a batch into the trash, swearing I would never make them again.   I try to forget them, ignore them, put them completely out of my mind, but then, they start to call my name.   They entice me with those magical little feet and lure me with hints of whimsical flavors. So, in spite of my better judgement, I make another batch.

For all of you who struggle with this obsession,  don't give up.  In my old house, I baked macarons in electric convection ovens.  I experimented with the convection on and off and was never happy with the results.  The Mud House has a propane gas stove.   Kiss of death?   Complete disaster? Probably.   I put it off as long as I could, but that siren song was calling me.   I had visions of electric-pink-prickly-pear-white-chocolate-ganache sandwiched between two perfect, green, footed macarons.   Once the prickly pear simple syrup was made, I was a goner.  So here we go...

Mud House Prickly Pear Macarons

A few words about technique.  I use the Italian sucre cuit method.  I have tried the French method but the Italian just seems to work better for me.  Humidity can be a problem for macarons. However, this is seldom an issue in the desert, so I do not find it necessary to age the egg whites or rest the shells before baking. In fact, when I first started making macarons, I experimented with resting the shells for 15-30 minutes.  Every single attempt resulted in lopsided macarons.  I do, however,  find it helpful to dry the almond flour before combining it with the powdered sugar. 

Preparation:

Note:  Please excuse the quality of the photos and the Christmas cooking utensils.  I didn't expect to blog about this,  considering my history, so really wasn't focused on the details.  

Cover a good quality, flat (not warped) double cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Place a template under parchment, if using.  I have a provided a template for you to download in "Notes",  below. Place parchment on a  second cookie sheet (any old one will do) to dry almond flour. Prepare pastry bag and tip, I used an Ateco 808.   Pre-heat oven to lowest temperature then turn off.

This recipe makes a small quantity, about 30 shells or 15 completed cookies.   It's a good size for experimenting.

Ingredients: 

100 grams egg whites, divided into 50 gram portions, room temperature
134 grams almond flour
134 grams powdered sugar
134 grams granulated sugar
32 grams water
green gel food color

Weigh 134 grams of almond flour and spread evenly on parchment covered cookie sheet. 

Place almond flour on cookie sheet in warm oven for 10 minutes.  Then remove almond flour from oven and bring to room temperature.

Preheat oven to bake macarons.  I tried to keep my gas stove around 335 F  by using an oven thermometer.   The temperature numbers on the knob that turns on my oven are worn off,  so it took some estimating.   Every oven is different so find the temperature that works for you.

Place 134 grams powdered sugar into bowl of food processor.  Add almond flour to food processor and pulse, combining sugar and almond flour.

 

Place almond/powdered sugar  mixture in large bowl, add 50 grams egg whites and food color. Make the color a little darker than what you want because it will be lighter after you add the meringue.

Mix to your heart's content.  It will start out grainy and dry but will come together.  Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

Now this is where it gets tricky.

I place my mixer next to my stove so it is in easy reach.

Place the remaining 50 grams of egg whites into the mixer.   Be sure your bowl and whisk are grease-free.

Place the 134 grams of granulated sugar and the 32 grams of water in a tall narrow pan .  I use my asparagus cooker.  (I know... I got it as a wedding present...not on the registry... but handy for this project.)  Secure your candy thermometer to the pan.

When the temperature reaches 235 F, start beating the eggs on medium speed.   

When it reaches 245 F, pour the sugar into the egg whites with the beater continuing on medium speed. Pour the sugar slowly down the side of the bowl to avoid splattering.  Once all the sugar has been added, turn the beaters to high and beat to glossy peaks.  

Add the meringue to the almond mixture.  

Then the macaronage, (folding) the egg whites into the almond mixture. This is what it should look like.  This is the step that is so important for perfect, smooth, footed shells. There are many YouTube videos that show you how to do this, so I won't go into detail here (plus I didn't take any pictures due to my high level of concentration!)

Next, put your batter into your prepared pastry bag and pipe onto your cookie sheet.  Again, some great videos out there on this. 

Bang the cookie sheet on the counter a few times to settle any lingering top-notches and to bring air bubbles to the surface.

Then, into the oven...

Ah! Yes! Feet. YAY!

I baked my cookies at approximately 235 F for 12 minutes, turning the cookie sheet after 6 minutes.  

After baking, let them come to room temperature, pipe filling of your choice, store in refrigerator in airtight container.  Macarons are at their best 24-48 hours after filling.

These are the best I have made yet.  Although it took some adjustments, opening door etc. to maintain temperature, my propane stove is my new best friend

Next up:

The ganache!

 

Notes:

Template:   I downloaded a template from the internet, cut it to fit my cookie sheet and glued it to a manilla folder. It's not pretty, but it slides in and out from under my parchment paper.  If you would like to do this, here is a Download IMG of my template.  You can print, size and customize it for your pan.  Be sure to slide it out BEFORE baking macarons.

Place a dab of batter under each corner of your parchment to hold it in place on the cookie sheet before piping cookies.

Cooking sugar:  It's difficult to cook such a small amout of sugar and get an accurate reading on a thermometer.    You may want to cook a double batch of sugar.  When it reaches 245 F,  pour mixture into a a warmed measuring cup.  Then pour half of the sugar mixture down the side of the bowl.  I know this wastes some sugar but it results in a better final product, especially while you are first learning.

Temperature:  This is so tricky because ovens vary so much.  Experiment to see what works for you and check the links below for good information.

I could not have done it without these guys...

http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/02/macaron-101-italian-meringue-part-1.html

http://www.syrupandtang.com/200712/la-macaronicite-1-an-introduction-to-the-macaron/

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/546793/Demystifying%20Macarons%20-%20Desserts%20Magazine.pdf