Green tea macaron (French Meringue)

Macaron is my new love. Before I started my first batch of macaron, I have been reading/researching and make myself familiar with this newly love.

When most people here heard the word macaroon, they think of a chewy mound of shredded coconut. Don’t get confused. That’s not what I’m talking about.

I’m talking about French Macaron – a sweet confection. The confectionary is characterized by its smooth, domed top, ruffled circumference (the feet!!!), flat base, mildly moist and melted into mouths.

I have two trays of macaron and was baked separately. After the first tray went in the oven, I was like a little girl anxiously waiting in front of the oven. I was overjoyed to see the feet started to form. Ryan curiously sees me squatting in front of the oven laughing to myself. He joined me.

First tray turns out uncooked inside, return to the oven for a few more minutes. The shells were wrinkled and shrunk a little due to the over baking. Though it’s not too too bad, but I was a little depressed.

Learn from my mistake, I turn the heat up a little bit more. I wasn’t holding much hope. The second tray was turned out surprisingly ‘handsome’. It fulfilled all the characteristic of a macaron. It’s smooth, domed top, first and foremost, it has feet!! Oh~ it has feet! I was quickly lifted from deep valley to the top of world.

From here, I know why even a professionals struggle with macaron. Now I know the chances to bake macaron is actually 50/50. What work in my kitchen may not necessary work in yours. So, you need to experiment your ingredients, in your kitchen, in your oven.

Someone told me, French will not do macaron on rainy days. The humidity plays a huge factor to the outcome of the macaron.

Without further ado, here’s the macaron recipe adapted from Tartelette (I did some adjustment).

French meringue method:

For the shells:
110g blanched almonds, whole or ground
90g  egg whites, aged (about 3)
30g granulated sugar
200g powdered sugar
2tbsp green tea powder

1.        In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam at medium-low speed, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. It should takes about 8 mins to get the glossy meringue.
Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry. (Note: make sure your egg whites are free of any yolks. And your mixer's  bowl and whisk attachment are free of any traces of oil. Any of these will not give you the peak that you need. Add a few drop of lemon juice or 1/4tsp of cream of tartar to help strengthen your meringue if you're beating
2.     Combine the almonds, green tea and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Do the same if you’re using already grounded almonds.

3.        Add them to the meringue, give it a quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple more folds.

4.        Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 – 2 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper or silicone mats lined baking sheets.

5.        Preheat the oven to 300F.

6.        Pick up the pan with both hands, hold it level, tap it onto the counter several times to bring up any air bubbles. Pop the bubbles with a toothpick. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 15 minutes, one sheet at a time. Let cool.

   

For the filling: you can use any ganaches, buttercream, mascarpone cream or cream cheese. Here I use buttercream.

Give it a shot, don't be discouraged! And not to worry, if they didn't turn out very well, they still taste good.