Adriano Zumbo The Macaron Master on SBS One

I casually picked up the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) today, popped it in my bag and didn't give it a second thought as I was extremely busy for the rest of the day at my REAL job.


Anyway, the day finishes and I'm waiting for my knight in shining armour to take me home so I decided to pull out my newspaper and go straight to the food section "Good Living".  Not sure why I did this really as I normally like to read the headlines and catch up on what's going on but what initially caught my eye was the fabulous heart shaped chocolate cakes on the front cover sprinkled with icing sugar and drizzled with gooey chocolate lovingly placed alongside some beautiful long stemmed red roses, "Ahhh, yes, valentines day I thought".  I LOOOOVE you dear knight in shining armour but wait a minute OMG... SOD valentines day, I just noticed a picture of my MACARON IDOL in the bottom left hand corner of the cover with a caption "Macaron magic: Zumbo's tips".  Well,  like a little girl in a macaron shop and fingers as fast as lightening I quickly scour the pages flicking them like flies... I head straight to MACARON MAGIC...  can Adriano Zumbo really brighten my valentines with some magic potion sandwiched in between my macarons? I start reading the article now titled, "Macaron Master" only to find out that not only has he revealed one of his recipes but "knock me over with a feather" he's going to spill his secrets for television viewers on SBS One.  Well, as you can imagine I had a smile from ear to ear and I was positively dancing ON THE INSIDE... a lady well, must stay composed, prim and proper on the outside of course unless you're going GAGA for the day which I occasionally do.

As a macaron aficiondo, I'm now counting the hours, minutes and seconds until SBS airs the series.  If you're in Australia make sure you tune into SBS One on Thursday February 10 at 7.30pm.  If you're outside Australia you should be able to watch the program here  http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/zumbo/watchonline/page/i/1/h/Watch-Online/

For those not familiar with Adriano, he is Australia's version of Pierre Herme - the Macaron Master.  Last year for Macaron Day, Adriano's patisserie in Rozelle made more than 60 flavours and the list of flavours seems to be growing and growing. Some flavours like strawberry bubblegum, raspberry licorice, Redskins, Caramello Koalas and musk sticks are actually based on sweets from his childhood.


Anyway, getting back to the SMH article Adriano says there are three key elements to making a good macaron: consistency of the batter, allowing a skin to form before cooking (oops, I fail here because I just pop mine straight into the oven); and correct oven temperature.  He goes on to say if you get these right you're on a good wicket.


ADRIANO ZUMBO'S PASSIONFRUIT AND BASIL MACARONS
125g caster sugar
40g water
Few drops of yellow colouring (Adriano uses Americolor)
95g egg whites
135g pure icing sugar, sifted
135g almond meal, sifted


Ganache Filling
200g white chocolate buttons or pieces
20g basil leaves
160g passionfruit juice (no seeds)
65g softened butter


For Ganache
Put white chocolate buttons and basil leaves in a vacuum-sealed or zip-lock bag for one or two days before making the macarons. Put chocolate and basil combination in a large bowl. In a saucepan, bring passionfruit juice to the boil. Take passionfruit off the stove and pour over the white chocolate, stirring until chocolate has melted. Pass mixture through a sieve to catch excess basil leaves, then cool to 50°C. Blend in butter with a wooden spoon. Cover with cling film and cool further in the fridge.


For Macarons
Preheat oven to 150°C. In a medium-based saucepan, heat sugar and water to 118°C.  When mixture reaches 115°C, add food colouring. Put 50grams egg whites in an electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Slowly stream hot sugar mixture down the side of bowl, whisk until it reaches about 50°C to create a meringue mixture. Put icing sugar and almond meal in a large bowl, then add remaining egg whites. Add meringue mixture, hand-mix until combined then put into a piping bag. Pipe 20-cent-sized rounds of meringue mixture onto a baking tray lined with baking paper or silicone mat. Let sit for 30 to 60 minutes until a skin forms and they are dry to the touch. Bake for 16 minutes at 150°C. Remove from oven and let shells cool, then flip them onto a clean baking tray and put in pairs. Put ganache mixture into a piping bag and fill one shell of each pair, then put the other side on top. Macarons may be refrigerated or frozen.


In Australia, Americolor food colouring is available from the Raspberry Butterfly  - visit my post titled "Macaron Ingredients Online" to find the link.


Last but not least, one of Zumbo's quirky flavours includes pig's blood and chocolate - just perfect with a good ol' English Breakfast... or not.