Chocolate Macarons and Vanilla Buttercream

For all the times that I've struggled trying to describe the perfect macaron, Dorie had no problem painting a picture of her ideal specimen: "The Mallomar-shaped cookie must have a 'foot,' a crackly ringlet that surrounds the flat side. The outer shell is thinner than an eggshell but has an eggshell-like quality. Poking through the shell gives way to soft, almost-meringue texture. The macaron is just a tiny little thing made of only sugar, egg white, and almonds, yet it has bunches of texture and flavor that you can play with ad infinitum."

Dating back to the 18th century, the macaron is a traditional French pastry, made of egg whites, almond powder, icing sugar and sugar. This sweet pastry came out of the French courts' baker's oven as round meringue-like domes with a flat base.

Macarons, also anglicized "macaroons", are not to be confused with a similar pastry also called macaroons. Macarons are sandwich-like pastries made with two thin cookies and a cream or ganache between the cookies. Macaroons are dense cookies made either with coconut or with a coarse almond paste.

At the Versailles Court in Paris, members of the Dalloyau family, whose descendants later founded the gastronomy house of the same name, served macarons to royalty in the then ruling House of Bourbon.

In the 1830s macarons were served two-by-two with the addition of jams, liqueurs, and spices. The macaron known today is the "Gerbert" macaron, born in the 1880s in the Beleville neighbourhood of Paris. The double-decker macaron filled with cream that is popular today was invented by the French pâtisserie Ladurée.

Chocolate Macarons
adapted from: Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme

• 140 gm. finely ground almond
• 250 gm. icing sugar
• 25 gm. cocoa powder
• 100 gm. egg white - at room temperature

1. Blend ground almond, cocoa powder and icing sugar in a food processor till fine.

2. Whisk egg white till they are white and foamy. Turn the speed up to high and whip them just until they are firm but still glossy and supple - when you lift the whisk, the whites should form a peak that droops just a little.

3. Fold in the dry ingredients gently into the whites in three or four additions. It will seem like a lot of dry ingredients to go into a relatively small amount of whites, but keep folding and you'll get everything in. Don't worry if the whites deflate and the batter looks a little runny - that's just what's supposed to happen. When all the dry ingredients are incorporated, the mixture will look like a cake batter, if you lift with your finger, it should form a gentle, quickly falling peak.

4. Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Pipe into small rounds about 1" in diameter onto parchment paper, leaving about an inch between each round. Rest macaroons for about 20 mins.

5. Bake at 350F for 10 to 12 mins.

6. Remove macaroons from the parchment - they should be removed as soon as they come from the oven. You will need to create moisture under the cookies. Carefully loosen the parchment paper , lifting the paper, pour a little hot water under the paper. The water may bubble and steam. Allow the macaroons to remain on the parchment for about 20 seconds, then peel the macaroons off the paper and place them on a cooling rack.

7. Sandwich them with either ganache, butter cream or ice-cream.



Vanilla Buttercream

• 1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 vanilla bean, split open and seeded

1. Put the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream.

2. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the meringue on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick shiny meringue, about 5 minutes.

3. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth.

4. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.

5. Add the seeds from the vanilla bean to the buttercream and fold with a spatula until fully incorporated. If not using right away, refrigerate for up to a week or freeze for up to 1 month.


Personal Notes: Moderate success! Work on piping. Buttercream tasted too... buttery; find new recipe. ONLY use silicone mats; parchment paper was a headache. Still need to figure out how to properly whip egg whites.