Cappuccino & Crystallised Violet Macarons
When I was a teenager I never liked coffee. My mum was a barista at an exclusive chocolate shop and whenever I went to visit her I'd duck in to make an appearance, perhaps buy a chocolate or two, then would dart for the door as I couldn't stand the smell. How times have changed. Now, like clockwork I buy a cappuccino every morning. In fact, I actually think that I must belong to some exclusive cafe society as I've visited some pretty fantastic cafes all over the world, the most memorable being in Paris, Madrid and Venice. Paris I loved the thick, delicious hot chocolate from Angelina's; Madrid I loved hot chocolate so thick that you could literally stand your spoon straight up in it along with scrumptious churros for breakfast; and, Venice espresso coffee with delicious Venetian pastries. Combining my love of cafes and flowers in the garden I decided to create a cappuccino macaron dusted with crystallised violets. You know it must be pretty good when you have a gorgeous little girl hanging around, who by the way is normally rather blaze about macarons, wanting to taste the ganache and sugared violets.
To make this macaron follow the basic recipe. To make the cappuccino ganache I used a 2:1 ratio of white chocolate to cream and added a splash of cappuccino essence. After piping the ganache, I then sprinkled each one with crushed crystallised violets before assembling them. Here's how they turned out...
And, who ate the enormous crystallised violet displayed in the photo above... the gorgeous little girl!
WOW WOW AND WOW! They look just lovely and so delicious. (thank you for my tip by the way... wink wink nudge nudge ;) ) I had my first success on the weekend. Having the proper equipment makes SUCH a difference... surprise surprise! I was so scared to overbeat the batter, that I ended up underbeating it... so now I'll be a bit more confident and risk a few more turns next time (next scheduled macaroning session... tomorrow!)
ReplyDeleteAlthough, this time, my ganache wasnt as great! I tried to do a white chocolate ganache, can't remember where i got the recipe from but it wasnt great, 200g choc, 200g cream... so it took ages to set. okay, i did get impatient and just piped it in after about 20 minutes of fridge time... so went everywhere (lesson learnt).. I froze the remaining icing, and even frozen, it isnt solid! Therefore, I blame the recipe! :P
Better luck tomorrow
Dear KTKing92
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear from you! No problem about the tip:) Thrilled to bits that you had your first success - AWESOME. When are you starting your new blog? You absolutely have to take some photos of your hard work and I can't wait to see them. The right macaron equipment makes a HUGE difference and is half the battle. A couple more attempts and you'll be a pro. How did you go with your oven?
I find a 1:1 ratio of white chocolate to cream doesn't set to the right consistency (as you also found out) so I use a 2:1 ratio i.e. 200g white chocolate to 100g pouring cream (min 35% fat). See how you go and if you need more help let me know. I mostly use white chocolate as I find it a wonderful base to add different flavourings.
I'm really excited for you!!!
yum yum yum!! sorry about REALLY late reply... had a very busy few days! just about to put my macarons up on my blog! Made them yesterday but only been so busy i haven't been able to put piccies up xxx Gunna do it now! woop woop... p.s. oven worked a charm! :D (this is possibly my shortest comment!... not out of choice... brain just very mushy since having my jabs for cambodia!) :( xxx
ReplyDeletewoohoo.... 2nd attempt at italian macarons gave me no feet/skirt as i did not bring the syrup up to correct temp! resulting in no feet but no cracks or domes! enjoying them with chocolate ganache...!
ReplyDeleteEmily, that's fantastic you're getting there:) Two other things, look at how long you left them to dry to develop a crust and also your oven. If you're opening the oven door too far it can result in "no feet". Also, if macarons are left to dry too long the bottoms can get stuck on the parchment resulting in "no feet".
ReplyDeleteThese macarons look delish! i wonder if i can find violets to make this work, but for sure i can do cappuccino macarons. thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteHi Erica, I'm not sure where you're located but I did a bit of research for you and you can buy Candiflor crystallized violets here
ReplyDeletehttp://www.markethallfoods.com/brands.php?brand=Candiflor
This site also appears to have the full range of Candiflor crystallized flowers and looks pretty good. Let me know how you go:)