Mauviel M'Passion 30cm Copper Bowl - Made in France

After a bad romance with my KitchenAid Artisan copper bowl, I am pleased to announce that I received my Mauviel M'Passion 30cm Unlined Copper Bowl today and am thrilled to bits!

As you would expect with French heritage, tradition and workmanship M'Passion solid copper bowls are a work of art with exquisite design and quality.  Somehow, I think this good romance is going to last for a very long time...


I also think that the passion in my Mauviel copper bowl will transfer to my macaron and delight the hearts of all who taste them. I'm still yet to find a quality unlined copper bowl to fit my KitchenAid Artisan mixer but until then and just in time for valentines day, my M'Passion bowl will create awesome fireworks between my egg whites and copper particles - just have to get used to using the hand mixer again!


Thank you Mauviel for coming to the rescue.

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.

Vivienne Westwood's "Naughty Alice"

I remember when I was really young exploring my grandmother's garden picking violets, roses and geraniums and how divine it was taking in the intoxicating scents.  She showed me how to crystallise violets and rose petals in a mixture of egg white and sugar; and later, making a rose geranium cake with fresh geranium leaves crushing them into the flour to release the oil.


Today, when I use essences to flavour ganache it reminds me how much she has influenced me and also how making ganache for a macaron is not too dissimilar to making a gorgeous perfume.

"...Perfume is described in a musical metaphor as having three sets of notes, making the harmonious scent accord. The notes unfold over time, with the immediate impression of the top note leading to the deeper middle notes, and the base notes gradually appearing as the final stage. These notes are created carefully with knowledge of the evaporation process of the perfume.

• Top notes: The scents that are perceived immediately on application of a perfume. Top notes consist of small, light molecules that evaporate quickly. They form a person's initial impression of a perfume and thus are very important in the selling of a perfume. Also called the head notes.

• Middle notes: The scent of a perfume that emerges just prior to when the top notes dissipate. The middle note compounds form the "heart" or main body of a perfume and act to mask the often unpleasant initial impression of base notes, which become more pleasant with time. They are also called the heart notes.

• Base notes: The scent of a perfume that appears close to the departure of the middle notes. The base and middle notes together are the main theme of a perfume. Base notes bring depth and solidity to a perfume. Compounds of this class of scents are typically rich and "deep" and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after application.

The scents in the top and middle notes are influenced by the base notes, as well the scents of the base notes will be altered by the type of fragrance materials used as middle notes. Manufacturers of perfumes usually publish perfume notes and typically they present it as fragrance pyramid, with the components listed in imaginative and abstract terms..." source Wikipedia. 

thestylepa

Our favourite perfume at the moment is Vivienne Westwood's "Naughty Alice".  This is a very feminine but sexy perfume with notes of black rose, violet and ylang ylang.  I've created macaron with single notes of rose and violet noir but when I get my hands onto some ylang ylang essence I'm going to have to create a blue "Naughty Alice" macaron because I just adore Vivienne Westwood.  I also love it because when I was little I was really, really naughty!

The gorgeous bracelet that comes with the perfume.

My version of a Vivienne Westwood Naughty Alice Macaron is coming soon... so keep posted!

Bad Romance

It is most unfortunate that I had a "bad romance" with my Kitchen Aid Artisan copper bowl. What I thought was solid copper ended up turning out to be copper plated and when you make the amount of macarons that I do it just didn't last the distance - rather sad really after only 7 months.  The copper wore off and the stainless steel started to shine through and I saw its true colours.  Today, I feel really sad.

Two Gorgeous Girls & Their Art Work - Priceless

A flower for you 

Macarons on her dress

Trouble Shooting Tip Numéro Deux & What Books Don't Tell You

There are a lot of macaron books on the market and although they are great for general tips and ideas most tend to gloss over trouble shooting.  When I first started making macaron, I remember buying every macaron book I  could get my hot little hands on and scoured the Internet but at the end of the day, I worked things out mostly by trial and error.  I've included my tips below which will become more comprehensive over time. The subject can be rather dry so I've tried to add a little spice... just hope you've got a sense of humour!

Corset couture

Push the temperature of the sugar syrup to the limit.  The sugar syrup creates a strong and stable macaron almost like a ladies corset, it nips, tucks, supports and holds everything in place.  When cooking the syrup, the minimum temp you should aim for is 118°C and the max is 121°C.  Trial each temperature and record your results to determine which one you feel most comfortable with. 

It's ok to venture outside your comfort zone

When using Italian meringue there is actually no need to let the macaron "crust" at all.  In fact, if you let the macaron sit for too long the shells become dull and lifeless and may not develop those pretty little feet we all desire.  This is because the base of the macaron sticks to the tray and has trouble with it's push up bra!  It's ok to let them develop a crust for the recommended time but I wouldn't do it for much longer.  If you're prepared to take risks, pop your macaron into the oven straight after piping...  it's ok to venture outside your comfort zone - believe me it works! 

An interesting situation in the humidity of Hong Kong!

Too many buns in the oven.  When making macaron you may get everything right only to find out that after the cooking time is up you've got a situation you'd rather not have to deal with.  Only bake one tray at a time to reduce the amount of humidity as "humidity" is the enemy of gorgeous looking macaron.

Black book, orange book. little white book... pick a colour!

Sweet nothings whispered in your ear "... every oven is different..." — so bad luck honey work it out for yourself!  Now, how many of us have started out really enthusiastic only to be let down by our oven?  Don't make the mistake of making a lovely batch of macarons only to ruin the whole lot because you're not acquainted with hot stuff.  The best tip I can give you is to make one batch of macaron just to put him/her to the test.  BUT be prepared to throw the whole lot in the bin i.e. your macaron not your oven.  Pipe 4 macaron onto the parchment paper/baking tray at a time (or whatever takes your fancy, also depends how much time you want to spend in the kitchen) and cook them testing out different temperatures and shelf levels — write down the results in your little black book then continue with the rest of the batter.  The batter can remain in the piping bag until you need it otherwise, as mentioned previously, your macaron will end up sitting around like wall flowers looking dull and unattractive.  I twist the piping bag at the top really tight, turn it upside down and lean it up against a large glass jug.  I then put some protection on ahem... cling wrap over the nozzle to prevent the batter from drying out.

A lovely wall flower!

To use single, double or triple layered baking trays that is the question?  In my old oven I used double trays because the bottom heat element cooked the base of the macarons too quickly and burned them.  Now that I have a commercial style oven with heavy duty trays, I only need to use one.  Again, when testing the temperature and shelf level in your oven consider the intensity of the heat source and whether you need to use single, double or triple layered baking trays.

Not one, not two but three cracks!

Showing off your crack!  Some people just love doing this but personally I'm not in the habit because... well I'm a lady (the exception is when you're posing for art of course).  Have I confused you? Well, some books advise leaving the oven door open a "crack" to allow the steam to escape and reduce humidity.  My oven has an option to activate "moisture reduction" so hence, there is no need for me to open the oven door at all.  Having said this, I've actually achieved better results not using this function.  Again, when testing out your oven try leaving the oven door open a "crack" by inserting a chopstick...  ouch!  If you get great results continue to to do this each time you cook your macaron otherwise don't bother.

The daily grind!!!!! Some people recommend grinding their almond meal in a coffee grinder... I say don't bother!  It's more efficient to use a mini chopper or a food processor.  Coffee grinders are great for coffee but not for grinding almond meal, especially when dealing with large quantities.  I started out buying almond meal from the local supermarket and grinding it in my Moulinex mini chopper before making my Tant Pour Tant (TPT).  This has worked fine but now my stocks are exhausted I'm going to start grinding whole blanched almonds - I'll update this post about it at a later stage because I'll probably have to dry the almond meal out in the oven first before making my TPT.

Tried and tested.

Lastly, have a GOOD romance with a copper bowl.  I reckon one of the keys to success with making macaron is possession of one of these little beauties as you get wonderful fireworks between the egg whites and the copper particles and they just seem to bind perfectly  — which means awesome macaron.  Sadly, my Kitchen Aid Artisan copper bowl showed me its true colours after only 7 months and I found out that it was actually copper plated with stainless steel and not solid copper at all.  So to cut a long story short, it has turned into a BAD romance as I can no longer use it and now I need to find a replacement. This also has implications for use of my Kitchen Aid - Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah-ah!.


Remember even the best pastry chefs in the world have bad days and yes, if it's any consolation I still have bad days too... today, was one of them:(

Château de Chenonceau - Pink Fairy Floss Macaron Bombe

As a tribute to Catherine de Medici who introduced macarons to France in 1533, I have created a dessert based on bombe Alaska but with a French twist.  Inserted in the centre is a delicate pink macaron surrounded by lemon madeira cake, lemon buttercream, splashes of Cointreau, gourmet chocolate & coffee ice-cream.  Luscious Italian Meringue, the same used for making macaron, is delicately piped over the frozen base which is later laced with Brandy and ignited.

Château de Chenonceau is an extremely rich and luxurious dessert - befitting for Catherine - an Italian woman who became Queen of France.


For my lovely readers that don't have the luxury of time (because we're too busy making macaron), I've included store bought ingredients so that you can create an amazing dessert for a dinner party in less than a few hours. 


Remember, when making macarons always store a few in the freezer so that you have some on hand to make this dessert - your guests will love you!


CHÂTEAU DE CHENONCEAU
INGREDIENTS FOR THE BASE
500 g gourmet chocolate ice-cream (preferably with bittersweet chocolate chips)
500 g gourmet coffee ice-cream (preferably with coffee bean chips)
1 pink macaron (I used fairy floss)
1 lemon madeira cake (with lemon buttercream)
2 tblspn Cointreau (to splash over the lemon madeira cake base)
3 tblspn Brandy (to ignite)

Unfortunately, I could only get a bar but it worked fine

INGREDIENTS FOR THE ITALIAN MERINGUE
300 g Caster Sugar
75 g water
120 g Egg Whites


INGREDIENTS FOR THE RASPBERRY COULIS
1 punnet raspberries
2 tblspn icing sugar
1 tbsp lime juice

DECORATION
1 punnet blackberries
rose petals


MAKE THE BASE
1.  Line a small pudding bowl or stainless steel bowl with cling film.

2. Scoop the coffee ice-cream into the bowl and smooth the base and sides until the bowl is lined.  Place in the freezer.

You have to work fast here as the ice-cream melts extremely quickly

3. When firm, remove from the freezer.  Using a glass roughly the same size as the pudding bowl, cut a thin layer of lemon madeira cake (including some of the lemon buttercream) to fit the base.  Gently place the  macaron on top of the cake and return to the freezer for about 5 -10 minutes.

Although, I took a photo with the macaron on its side I actually laid it flat

When ready, scoop the chocolate ice-cream around the macaron and over the top until the bowl is completely full. Try to get the ice-cream surface relatively smooth and even.  If you want it to look perfect you can dip a knife in hot water and smooth it over.

The lemon buttercream on the cake was yummy so I left it on.  If you have a round cake it makes this part of the process much easier but nonetheless the bar worked fine

4. Cut either a round or slices of lemon madeira cake to cover the base and drizzle with Cointreau.  Freeze until rock hard.  


MAKE THE RASPBERRY COULIS
1.  Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until you have a sauce.  Pour into a small jug and chill until ready for use.

MAKE THE ITALIAN MERINGUE
1.  Pour the egg whites into a Kitchen Aid mixer and insert the whisk attachment.  Bring the caster sugar and water to the boil in a small saucepan.


2.  When the sugar syrup reaches 115°C start whisking your egg whites into soft peaks. 

3.  As soon as the syrup reaches 118°C slowly pour the syrup into the beaten egg whites in a thin stream.  Continue whisking the IM in the Kitchen Aid until cool enough to pipe.

The whisk should look like a bird's beak

ASSEMBLE CHÂTEAU DE CHENONCEAU
1.  Remove the frozen base from the pudding bowl by gently pulling and removing the cling wrap.  Set on a serving plate.

2.  Pipe the Italian Meringue onto the frozen base.

3.  You can either put Château de Chenonceau back in the freezer until you are ready to serve or serve it now.  If serving now, use the kitchen torch to cook the meringue then pour Brandy over the top and ignite.

4.  Extinguish the flame and decorate with blackberries, rose petals and the raspberry coulis - bon appetit.

Notice how Château de Chenonceau is  studded with a pink macaron (jewel) in the centre

TIP: If you feel like being creative swirl a small amount of liquid food colouring through the Italian Meringue to tint Château de Chenonceau - a soft rose pink would look lovely and compliment the pink macaron in the centre and the rose petals.  Alternatively, use any colour or flavour macaron that takes your fancy and let your imagination go wild. 

I Love Macarons & Art

Tiffany Box Designer Cake

Mad Hatter's Tea Cake

The Painter's Collection (Stephane Glacier)

Chinotto Limone Macaron Shells

These macaron are dedicated to those lovely Italian blokes sipping Chinotto on a balmy afternoon dressed in crisp white linen.

BASIC MACARON:
INGREDIENTS FOR THE TANT POUR TANT (TPT)
300g sifted TPT (150g almond meal with 150g icing sugar)
55g egg whites
 (fresh)

INGREDIENTS FOR THE ITALIAN MERINGUE (IM)
150g caster sugar
37g water
powdered purple food colouring or Wilton gel paste
55g egg whites (old egg whites aged 12-24 hours in a bowl on the kitchen bench)

STEP 1. MAKE THE TPT
Mix the Tant Pour Tant (equal quantities of icing sugar and almond meal) with the fresh egg white until it forms a thick paste, cover with cling wrap and set aside.

 

STEP 2. MAKE THE IM
Pour your aged egg whites into a Kitchen Aid mixer and insert the whisk attachment.  Bring the caster sugar, water and food colouring to the boil in a small saucepan. When the sugar syrup reaches 115°C start whisking your aged egg whites into soft peaks. 

As soon as the syrup reaches 118°C slowly pour the syrup into the beaten egg whites in a thin stream. Continue whisking the IM in the Kitchen Aid until it reaches a temperature between 50-55°C.



The whisk should look like a bird's beak

STEP 3. COMBINE THE TPT & IM
With a spatula, fold one-third of the IM into the TPT and egg white paste and knock out some of the air in the batter. At this stage of the process you can be quite rough when handling.





Gently fold in the rest of the IM into the TPT and combine until you have the right texture (should be glossy and look like cake mixture). Be careful not to over-mix the batter here or it will get too runny and your shells may crack in the oven.














STEP 4. PIPE YOUR MACARON SHELLS
Fill a piping bag with the macaron batter and place some parchment paper over a baking sheet.

Put four small dabs of macaron mix underneath the parchment paper in each corner to secure the paper. Pipe 3.5 - 4cm diameter circles onto the parchment paper, tap the tray on the work surface to remove air bubbles and leave to dry for about 15-20 minutes to form a crust and are dry to touch.





STEP 5. COOK YOUR MACARON SHELLS
Cook the macaron for 17 mins at 150°C (fan forced oven). To release steam, leave the oven door open slightly. If this doesn't work for you, keep experimenting until you find the right temperature as every oven is different. Once cooked, remove from the baking sheet and leave to cool on the parchment paper over a wire rack. I have a new commercial style oven which is very powerful so I have to reduce the temperature by another 20°C and cook my shells for 19 minutes.

STEP 6. ASSEMBLE YOUR MACARON
Remove the shells from the parchment paper and pair like sizes together. Pipe a decent blob of ganache onto the shell, then place the lid on top and twist slightly so that the ganache flows out towards the edge of the macaron. When piping the ganache onto the shell always leave a small rim.

STEP 7. STORE YOUR MACARON
Store your macaron in the fridge for 24 hours prior to eating so that the humidity helps the ganache to soak into the shell and allow the flavours to develop. Try not to eat your macaron the day they are made as they are too dry. Allow the macaron to return to room temperature prior to serving. The recipe for the Chinotto Limone Ganache appears in my previous post.