Mint Chocolate Macarons

Confession time... When I set this month's We Should Cocoa theme, I was so busy trying to come up with an ingredient that hadn't already been picked, I didn't spare a second to think about what I was actually going to make myself... and I have to admit, I was a little stumped at first! As the days and then initial weeks went on, I had a few ideas, and as luck would have it, each time I had an idea, someone submitted the same bake a few hours later on the linky... I mean - seriously, it happened three times!!! And then last weekend, it finally hit me - a Mint Chocolate Macaron! Of course! 

These little emerald beauties that you see today are actually the second attempt to make a Mint Chocolate Macaron, the first attempt being perfectly edible and tasty, but had a few technical difficulties. Firstly, I used a peppermint essence rather than an extract, and the resulting mint flavour was practically non-existent. Secondly, I used a liquid food colour, and the combined liquid from the essence and the food colour affected the stability of the meringue, meaning that my macarons didn't rise or develop feet. Finally, I coloured the mixture a beautiful pale peppermint colour, which just turned brown and unattractive in the oven. All that being said, they did taste just fine, and I promise none of those issues would arise from this version of the recipe! 

Ingredients (makes approx 20 shells/ 10 macarons)

40 grams ground almonds

65 grams icing sugar

1 egg white

2 teaspoons caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (not essence) 

green food colour gel

100 grams double cream

100 grams good quality dark mint chocolate (I used Green & Black's)

Method

• Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together well in a bowl, and set aside.
• In a separate bowl, add the caster sugar and egg white, and whisk together until it forms stiff glossy peaks. Once the mixture has stiffened, add the gel food colouring, and whisk until the meringue mixture is evenly coloured. 
• Add the almond mixture, and the peppermint extract, and fold into the meringue base. Do this gently, and with as few turns of the spoon as possible. You are aiming for a consistency similar to shaving foam, if you stir too much the mixture will become runny, and the macarons won't rise properly. 
• Transfer the mixture to a piping bag, and pipe the macarons onto a sheet of greaseproof paper, leaving plenty of room between each to allow for spreading. 
• Set aside for 60 minutes until the macarons form a shell, and are no longer sticky to touch. Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees, and then bake for 15 minutes or until the shells peel easily from the greaseproof paper. 
• Remove the shells from the paper and place on a cooling rack to cool. 
• Meanwhile, make the ganache filling. Heat the cream in a saucepan until it just starts to bubble. Add the chocolate a little at a time and whisk into the cream. Continue until all the chocolate has been added, and the mixture is thick and glossy. Transfer the ganache to a bowl to cool. 
• Once the macaron shells have cooled and the ganache has set, transfer the ganache to a piping bag, and fill half the shells. Sandwich the macarons together, and refrigerate for 60 minutes.

We Should Cocoa is traditionally co-hosted by Choclette of Chocolate Log Blog, and Chele over at Chocolate Teapot.

May's Classic French Round Up: Macarons

I am so pleased to have hosted this month's Classic French challenge for Jen over at Blue Kitchen Bakes, and even more so to see all the amazing flavours of macarons that have been submitted. I picked macarons as a theme because the flavours can be so versatile, but I don't think I expected the range of flavours and colours that I am about share! Stand back for a rainbow coloured feast for the eyes! 

Lavender and White Chocolate Macarons

I kicked off the challenge this month with Lavender and White Chocolate Macarons, using the new Taste the Difference Lavender infused Sugar from Sainsbury's and pairing the flavour with a white chocolate ganache centre. They were delicate and floral, and although not entirely perfect that really didn't matter to my tasters.

Kransekake - Marzipan Macarons

Next up was Choclette over at Chocolate Log Blog, who entered these unusual Marzipan Macarons, or Kransekake. Although Scandinavian in origin, these gorgeous looking biscuits are full of almonds, marzipan and egg whites, (not to mention covered in chocolate) and that makes them good enough for me!

Limoncello Macarons

Our next entry was Limoncello Macarons from Caroline from Caroline Makes. The very mention of Limoncello had my mouth-watering before I'd even opened the post, and the addition of a White Chocolate ganache filling makes these one of my favourite flavour combinations.

Double Raspberry Macarons

Lucy of Supergolden Bakes left me speechless with the photography of her gorgeous Double Raspberry Macarons, which her little boy affectionately calls 'macaroonies' and even has a little dance for! I'd be dancing if someone offered me one of these exquisite looking treats too! I love the decorative sprinkles...

Rhubarb and Vanilla Macarons

Next up were these bright pink beauties from Michelle at Utterly Scrummy, beautifully coloured pink and filled with a Rhubard and Vanilla Jam, I bet these flavours worked incredibly together, the Rhubarb and Vanilla Jam alone sounds delicious!

Vanilla and Blueberry Macarons

Janine at Cake of the Week entered these lovely golden Vanilla and Blueberry Macarons, which have a vanilla flavoured shell, and a bold blue blueberry swiss meringue buttercream filling that looks exquisite, they're just like little jewels!

Chocolate Macarons

It's A Fine Life entered these beautiful Chocolate Macarons, with a simple whipped cream filling. They were chilled for 24 hours before eating, which shows an amazing amount of will power, and we are assured that they were well worth the wait!

Chocolate Dipped Mango Macarons

Gill from Tales of Pigling Bland submitted these amazingly posh sounding Chocolate Dipped Mango Macarons, with a gorgeous homemade Mango Curd filling. The half dipped dark chocolate  case looks fantastic too.

Earl Grey Macarons

Our next entry was from Elizabeth at A Girl In Her Kitchen, and she made these incredibly elegant Earl Grey Macarons, filled with an Earl Grey infused Ganache! This was the first time Elizabeth had made or even eaten a macaron, and they look just beautiful - what a great flavour choice!

Chocolate and Raspberry Macarons

Jen, our Classic French creator from Blue Kitchen Bakes hadn't attempted Macarons before either, and has entered these Chocolate and Raspberry Macarons, always a winning flavour combination! Jen proved true the saying 'if at first you don't succeed' with these great looking macarons, you'll have to head over to her post for the full story!

Thank you so much to everyone for taking part this month, it has been an absolute pleasure to host the challenge and I am totally inspired and in awe of the amazing entries that have come in. Don't forget to head over to Jen's blog to find out the theme for June's Classic French challenge! 

Lavender and White Chocolate Macarons, and a Review of Sainsbury's New Infused Sugar Range

Lavender and White Chocolate Macarons

Ever since seeing them at the Cake and Bake Show in Manchester earlier in April, I have been keep to test Sainsbury's new range of infused sugars. Sainsbury's have really got on board with the ongoing baking trend that is running through the country, and have updated, revamped and expanded their home baking ranges for Spring with some fantastic new products, the focal point for me being these Taste the Difference Lavender, Vanilla and Cinnamon infused sugars. You can read more about their full range revamp here.

The infused sugars are pots of granulated white sugar, which actually have their flavour elements embedded in the sugar, so the vanilla sugar contains vanilla pods, and the lavender sugar is flecked with  lavender flowers. I really like this touch, it would have been easy I am sure to have created an essence or flavouring, but the presence of the ingredients is really great, especially in the lavender sugar, as the flecks of flowers will be present throughout whatever you bake. If I had one niggle, I would have preferred to see Sainsbury's use a caster sugar, as it would have been better for us bakers, however it is only a little niggle!

I decided to try the lavender sugar first, and as I am hosting this month's Classic French challenge, I thought it would be an ideal flavour to incorporate into the theme of macarons, as the delicate flavour and dainty patisserie treats should go hand in hand. I took my basic macaron recipe, and replaced the normal caster sugar with the lavender sugar. Simple! Despite only having two tablespoons in the recipe, the lavender taste really comes through strong, and although not overpowering, you certainly wouldn't need any more. If you are using the lavender sugar in another recipe, you would only need to substitute a few tablespoons of normal sugar with this to get the flavour through really well, and with 250g in a pot, it will last quite a long time making it a reasonably priced investment to add the wow factor to your bakes. I can't wait to get creative with the Vanilla and Cinnamon versions!

Anyway, onto my macarons. I use quite a simple recipe, which I have found works well for me every time. The quantities are quite big, and make around 24 full macarons (48 halves) or 40 mini macarons (80 halves), you could happily halve it if you can find a way to split the eggs, or use a ready made egg white liquid such as Two Chicks. 

Ingredients

• 125g ground almonds
• 200g icing sugar
• 3 free-range egg whites
• 2 tbsp Taste the Difference Lavender Infused Sugar
• ½ tsp cream of tartar 
• violet food colouring gel

For the white chocolate filling

• 200g white chocolate
• 160ml double cream
• 40g unsalted butter

Method

• Blend the ground almonds and icing sugar together in a food processor until well combined. Set aside. This is to make sure that the mixture is as smooth as possible. I actually don't have a food processor, so I don't do this step, it doesn't make any difference to the flavour, you will just notice from my pictures that my macarons have a little bit of a bumpy finish...
• In a large mixing bowl, slowly whisk the egg whites in a large bowl at a low speed until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed. This will take about 5 minutes on the slowest setting, just keep going gently until you get there. Whisk in the cream of tartar and lavender sugar until the mixture is smooth and glossy, increasing the speed of the whisk as the mixture stiffens. I just scoped two teaspoons of the lavender sugar in, taking some of the lavender flowers at the same time, as I wanted them to be scattered through my finished macarons. 
• Add the food colouring and the ground almonds and icing sugar, and stir through gently until the mixture resembles shaving foam, do not mix too much, as you will lose some of the structure. I added quite a bit of the violet food colouring, but didn't worry too much about getting it spread evenly through the mixture as I wanted a more marbled affect on my finished macarons. 
• Spoon the macaroon mixture into a piping bag, and snip off the end. Pipe onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, making sure to pipe even sized circles, and leave at least an inch between each macaron as they will spread. I cheat a little here, as I use a double sided macaron mat I bought from Baked by Me, it's brilliant, and has both normal and mini sized ridges on, which means that you can pipe more macarons on a sheet without fear of the spread...

• Once you have piped out all of the macarons, drop the tray a couple of times to flatten them out, and then set aside for around 60 minutes before baking. This is to allow the surface of the macaron to set its hard shell, they will be ready to bake when you can touch the surface of the shell and it is no longer sticky. 

• Whilst the shells are setting, make the white chocolate ganache. Melt the butter and cream together in a saucepan, and bring to a low boil. Once little bubbles are starting to appear, turn the heat down as low as it will go, and add the white chocolate a couple of pieces at a time, stirring constantly, until the chocolate has all been melted into the mixture.
• Transfer the chocolate ganache into a bowl, and set aside to cool. I try and stir mine every 5 minutes or so, to prevent a skin forming, and once it is cool, place the bowl in the fridge to let it solidify enough to be piped easily without it running out the sides. 
• Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees.
• Bake the macaron shells for 10-15 minutes, until cooked. The top of the shell will rise up, and little 'feet' will appear at the base of the macaron. If you take them out of the oven too soon, they will split when you try and take them off the baking sheet, however if you bake too long, you won't keep the chewy middle of the macaron. After 10 minutes, test one shell to see if it lifts off the sheet easily or not, and keep checking until they are ready. 

• Remove the shells from the oven, and transfer them carefully from the baking sheet to a cooling rack.
• Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes, then turn over half of the shells. 
• Pipe the ganache onto the upturned half of the shells, then sandwich one empty shell onto one with ganache. Press them genlty together, so that the ganache pushes out to the edges. 

• Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the ganache to set, and then tuck in! 

I made some mini and some full sized of these macarons, and in this instance, the mini ones are perfect for the flavour combination. The lavender taste comes through strong, and therefore the sweet white chocolate ganache balances the floral tones perfectly, and as both flavours are quite pronounced, the mini macaron is the perfect mouthful.

These are my entry into this month's Classic French challenge, you can see the full challenge and add your macarons to the linky here.

May's Classic French Challenge

When I agreed to host this month's Classic French challenge for Jen over at Blue Kitchen Bakes, I had a long hard think for a theme for all of ooo... three seconds! I wanted to chose something that was first and foremost French (obviously), but secondly would give us all the freedom to experiment with flavours and colours to our little hearts content. Having scrolled through the archives on Jen's site to check what had been covered before, I could see that these hadn't been tackled yet, and as a Classic French patisserie treat, I felt compelled to make this the theme for this month's challenge.  If you haven't guessed it yet, May's challenge is of course, Macarons!

I've only made these once before myself, and that was because someone told me they were difficult, and that sounded like a challenge to me! There is definitely a knack, but as long as you are methodical and patient with them they come out just great, and my goodness the taste is always well worth the effort. So for those of you who have never made a macaron, now is the time to give them a go, and for those who have, well let's just see how creative you can all be!

Challenge Rules

• Please use the logo on your post and tag the post with the label 'Classic French' and include a link to myself at A Kick At The Pantry Door, and to Blue Kitchen Bakes.
• Please add your entries via the linky at the bottom, enter the name of your dish in the name box. If you don't have a blog or linky doesn't work then email your entries to kickatthepantrydoor@gmail.com including the name of your dish, your name, a photo and a link to your post
• If you're on Twitter you can also tweet your links to @ThePantryDoor1 and @BlueKitchenBake using the hash tag #ClassicFrench and we will retweet any that we see
• You can enter as many times as you want and you can enter your post into other challenges as long as it fits in with their rules 
• You can enter an old post if you want but please update with a link back to my blog and the challenge logo 
• Don't forget that if the recipe you use is from another source i.e. book/magazine/website/blog to credit the original author.
• The challenge will run until the 28th of the month.
• New challenges will be announced on the 1st of each month
• Above all have fun and use this as an excuse to learn something new and get creative!

Macarons versus Macaroons

Like so many things, baking has trends and fashions, crazes that take over in a big way - such as the current international taste for cupcakes (or fairy cakes if you prefer). In recent years, macaroons (or macarons to the Parisians) have resurfaced in a big way, something about the bright colours, versatile flavours and fillings and super sweetness has made them not only a culinary delight for bakers, but a fashionable home-made gift.

My interest peaked, as it so often does, by watching endless cookery shows, and reading countless blogs, all of which told me in no uncertain terms that these tasty little treats were horrendously difficult to master, making them the holy grail of baking. For those of you that know me well, this translates directly into a challenge of the highest order... I mean seriously... how hard can they be? ! ?

So I googled. I read. I compared several recipes, and marvelled at how much they varied. Eventually I found one that seemed fairly easy to master, and more importantly I had the ingredients for in the house, and got to work. I'm proud to say that, aside from a sight spacing issue when piping the shells that caused a few mutated double shells, batch one came out pretty damn good! Coloured a pale peach, sweet and almondy, and the correct texture, I sandwiched them with a chocolate buttercream, and smugly presented them to Gary...

The reaction I received was not quite the one I had hoped for, when Gary turned to me and asked "oh, I thought they were supposed to have coconut in them?" Of course, I thought, those are called macaroons as well! So I turned to trusty google, to find out the difference. In essence, the macaroon has existed since the 1500's in various guises, the original being the almond shell version above, and has been adapted over time by various cultures into various different confections, the staple being the meringue base.

Just to compare, I made a second batch last night of the coconut version, which were equally sweet and delicious.

And so I blog tonight slightly more educated in the history of the macaroon, and a little more pleased with myself for completing the challenge of making my first batch, with big plans for new colours and flavours swirling in my mind's eye... watch this space!

V x