Macaroon Madness!

Macaroons have been the most 'in' dessert/snack! It's now everywhere in Singapore! Most high tea buffets I've been to serve macaroons. Pastry chefs have been using these colorful shells to decorate their cakes. I've tasted quite a number of macaroons and the best is still France's laduree macaroons!

It's shell has a thin crispy crust whiles the inside in chewy! The shell itself has the flavour of the filling. The shop was so pretty! Full of delicious pastries! It was like walking into part of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

I've made quite a number of macaroons but none as good as laduree's. Though I would say they are better than your average hotels which serve macaroons. My best friend said she usually doesn't eat macaroons because they are just sweet and after taking a bite you just wana put it back! But she said mine changed her perspective of macaroons! Haha. That's probably because she never tasted Laduree's macaroons!

Ok, now, the part that you guys probably just skip right to! The recipe! My recipe as you can guess, is extremely simple!

Macaroon shell Recipe
180g Egg White
73g Sugar
180g Ground Almond
375g Icing Sugar

Method of Preparation
1. Beat the egg whites till foamy
2. Slowing add in the sugar and beat till stiff stage. (the meringue should be able to hold it's shape)
3. Add in desired color to the meringue.
4. Sift icing and ground almonds together. If your almonds are not fine, you could use a Robo Coupe to grind them.
5. Fold in sifted icing and almonds into meringue. Fold in 1/3 by 1/3.
6. Fold till batter is smooth and shiny without lumps. DO NOT fold till it becomes runny! If not it will be difficult to pipe.
7. On a baking sheet, pipe out the macaroons using a round tip. If you are new to these, you could make a stencil and put it under a baking paper to use as your guideline.
8. Rest for 30 minutes till the top is harden/dry.
9. Bake at 150C for 20-30 minutes. Test by lifting the macaroons out of the sheet to see if it can come off cleanly. If the macaroons are browned, it means it's been over-baked.

Salted caramel filling recipe
60g Sugar
60g Water
50g Whipping cream
15g Butter
Pinch of Salt

Method of Preparation
1. Caramelise sugar with water.
2. After sugar reach caramel color, remove from stove and pour in cream. Be careful as it will spatter.
3. Add in butter and stir. Put it back to stove if caramel is not smooth.
4. Add in pinch of salt.

Chocolate Ganache filling
60g Chocolate
50g Whipping Cream

Method of Preparation
1. Put chocolate and cream in a bowl and microwave for 3-5 minutes till chocolate has melted.

Assembly
1. Match shell sizes into pairs.
2. Once filling and shells has cooled, pipe a dope into 1 side of each pair of shells.
3. Lightly put the top shell onto the one with the filling and twist gently.
4. Refrigerate overnight so shell has time to absorb the flavor of the filling.

A 2012 macaroon countdown clock I made for the new year!