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{Baking} DOUBLE COFFEE MACARONS … finding FEET in failure! Mac Attack 8
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
Harry S. Truman
All aboard! The Mactweets Express took off for adventure this month! Jamie and I tugged you along with us at your own peril, asking you to take your life into your own hands … for if you came along with us to the Savannah, the desert, the forest or the jungle, as you chose, you could only survive by creating a macaron inspired by the wild animal of your choice, whether beast or bird, but well armed with the right equipment and enough patience!! Yes indeed, MacAttack 8 asked us to TAKE A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE!Did you succeed and make it out of the dangerous wilderness of your kitchen alive?
… by hook or by crook succeed I DID!! Was time for the MacAttack, and this one like most others left me anticipating feet in every attempt, and as always, the attempts were plenty, and sob stories a thing of the past!! In the scorching heat and in that vast untamed wilderness that was my kitchen: the pastry bag, the mixer, the mighty spatula met to tame the beast! Failed macs went into the oven, were baked until crisp, cooled and ground … and voila! That made for basic ingredients and led to double macarons! I tamed the failed beasts, ground them to smithereens and finally found my feet!
Just back from a small vacation in the Himalayas in the North East of India, from a beautiful place called Gangtok.It was here that we took the kids to see the zoo. It was beautifully maintained, built over acres and acres of land, LOTS of climbing {oh my weary legs}, and it was raining too. Most of the animals and birds were hidden away because it was raining. We were fortunate enough to see the ‘common leopard’ which was happy to put up quite a show of himself, seemingly enjoying our company. He was an utterly beautiful creature!
I made my macs before we left on vacation. At that time I was mac-inspired by cheetahs, leopards and tigers … the big cats were calling my name. There were paw prints in my dream macs, and ROARS, stripes, circles, spots. You name the ‘catty’ stuff, I tried them! Hmmm, don’t know whether it was the weather, the heat and the humidity, but the jungle is never easy to win over, so the macs put up a fight. 3 failed batches later, I boarded the MacTweets Express yet again. FEET were meant to happen, they had to be conquered. I used the failed ground macs as the basic nut and sugar mix, used a slightly lighter egg white and was piping in an hour. This time was awarded with a success! Yes, we had FEET!! Not the most perfect feet, but FEET nevertheless!
The flavours were supposed to be vanilla macarons with chocolate spots and stripes, but repeated failures meant giving in to the temptation of coffee, so in went some yummy coffee from the FSK girl. Always good and always a winner. So here we are double macs with a mocha ganache filling. The recipe posted below is the one I’ve had success with in the past!
Do you want to join us making MACARONS? If you do, you are most welcome to join us for the next challenge. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally post the round up by the 15th of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
Coffee Macarons with Mocha Ganache Adapted from Ottolenghi – The Cookbook Macaron Shells 110gm vanilla sugar {or granulated sugar} 60gm whole almonds 60gm egg whites {of 2 eggs} 40gm Castor sugar 1/2 tsp ground coffee Mocha Ganache Filling 100gm dark chocolate 1/2 tsp ground or instant coffee 2-3 tbsps low fat cream For macaron shells:
Whiz the almonds, coffee and vanilla sugar with 1/2 a vanilla bean in the coffee grinder till well ground. Sift 2-3 times.
Whisk the egg whites and Castor sugar till it forms a thick aerated meringue, firm but not too dry.
Turn the nut mixture into the bowl, and fold gently to get a lava type batter.
Pipe out the macarons, leaving an inch in between each. Hold the tray firmly and tap the underside firmly. This should help to spread and smooth out the macarons.
Preheat the oven to 140C.
Bake in preheated oven for about 12-13 minutes. They are ready when they readily leave the paper when lifted with a palette knife. Remove from oven as soon as this happens, and leave to cool completely.
Mocha Ganache
Melt half the chocolate, coffee and the cream on simmer in a pan, stirring constantly. Once melted and bubbling, take off heat. Add the rest of the chocolate and stir until all the chocolate has melted. Cool.
To assemble
Match equal halves of macarons, and keep together.
Use a small spoon or piping bag, deposit a tiny amount of ganache on the flat side of the macaron, and sandwich with another of the same size. Sandwich them, squeezing gently. Leave to set in fridge.
Note: Macarons tend They taste much better after maturing for 24 hours.
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
View all posts by Deeba @ PAB
48 thoughts on “{Baking} DOUBLE COFFEE MACARONS … finding FEET in failure! Mac Attack 8”
Deeba…you remain a Mac Queen in my heart…love your stories and the pictures and I think those macs look WONDERFUL.
Hoping one day again to have the time and patience to return to the monthly challenge, in the meantime so enjoy seeing what everyone else does; thanks for bringing mac enthusiasts together.
Your double macs look wonderful! I love your photo collage-so beautiful! I just may have to join this mac group…I've been looking around at all the mac posts and it looks so fun! 🙂
Sweetie, I feel for you! I also had failures, was eaten alive by a herd of zebra macs! But your coffee macs are fabulous and I want! Yum! These are really beautiful! Gorgeous shots of your trip! Mwuah!
I want to have a holiday loke that in Himalays. You never give up till you get feet 🙂 They look beautiful love the deco on top of the macs. I am trying that cofe gnache for my necxt mac.
sigh. i wish i could participate. but i know i'd fail – am sure i wouldnt find feet. your macarons are gorgeous and what a trip, Deeba-i would love to be able to spend a vacation in a place like that. really beautiful photos. x shayma
Deeba! How brilliant of you to re-use your failed macs! I wonder if the pastry chefs at Laduree and Pierre Herme have done this – surely they occasionally have a failed batch! Being an animal lover, I am very drawn to big cats, and this leopard is gorgeous.
Thanks to you , I now know what to do with the failed batch of macs I have sitting in the cupboard. 🙂
I've always wanted to visit Gangtok… somehow I've never made it to the North East despite having a very close friend there! I love your macarons.. so pretty!
Hello Deeba, I haven't been neglecting you, I had a shocking 800 odd posts in my reader after nearly 2 weeks and I'm gradually reading and eliminating!!
So pleased you got feet with these felines! Coffee macs sound great.
You are the mac queen! Your coffee macarons look wonderful. And from what I read, everyone makes mistakes with them. You turned your mistake into a plus! The photos of that leopard are amazing.
Hooray! Doing the happy feet dance for you Deeba. I truly admire your determination and how clever to recycle the failed macs into the next batch. And tyou were duly rewarded. Yay.
Maybe it is the humidity affecting your mac attempts since the double baked macs would be drier?
Anyway, so glad to be part of Mactweets and looking forward to our next exciting adventure together 🙂
What a wonderful vacation! Beautiful pictures of family and wild ones. So creative in your reuse of mac's. Who would have thought? Lovely as usual- perfect!
Deebah…from the soul of your story telling to the challenge of your hot kitchen…I trully believe that your feet are very well grounded! I love the way you run circles around your recipes. Your feet must be pretty sore all the time;o) You continue to impress me. BTW: Thank you for passing by my place…it was a real pleasure to receive you ;o) Flavourful wishes, Claudia
What a great idea to grind up the macs that didn't get feet and to use them again. Now that adventurous! The last macs are perfect and I am jealous of your adventure to the Himalayas.
Deeba, YAY FEET! How creative of you to use the failed macs that way. These are perfect and I love that you flavored with coffee. The Ottolenghi book is high on my list of books to purchase. Can't wait to try their recipe!
Great – both pictures and recipes; I am so happy I found your blog; I will definitely use one of your recipes as soon as I will be able to cook more often 🙂
Deeba you are the queen of the macs in MY heart!! I love your persistence, perseverence and determination. Reminds me of someone else I know 😉 I love your use of failed macs, you're so clever!
Oh, look at that leopard! You must have been lucky to see it – they are very shy in Africa. love the macs too – how can I resist mocha/coffee macs? Like a cup of coffee and a cookie all in one 🙂
I’m just about to make my very first macarons and plain old vanilla just won’t do. These sound great for a first trial, however, I don’t own a digital scale so was wondering how much the sugars & almonds would be in cup measures? Also, does it make a difference if I don’t use vanilla sugar (don’t have any!) and scrape in half a vanilla pod instead?
Hi. There is a basic David Lebovitz recipe that I use often. The ratios for 1 egg white {about 30-33gm} are 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 cup almond meal and 2 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar. For a single egg white, a 1/4 scraped vanilla bean can be ground with the sugar, else you can use it to flavour the filling. Place the remaining bean in a small jar of sugar, shut tight and shake once a day. Store in a cool place, and about 4-5 days later you should have sweet smelling vanilla sugar.
Good luck!!
Deeba…you remain a Mac Queen in my heart…love your stories and the pictures and I think those macs look WONDERFUL.
Hoping one day again to have the time and patience to return to the monthly challenge, in the meantime so enjoy seeing what everyone else does; thanks for bringing mac enthusiasts together.
The double coffee flavor sounds fantastic, and I love the photos of the leopard!
This post is the best! with a real live leopard no less. Love your writing. Love the macs and the pictures are wonderful.
I'm so impressed you reused the baked macs. Genius! Gorgeous pictures from your trip.
Welcome back.Gorgeous pictures of your vacation. Love this mac dessert. Looks scrumptious!
What a wonderful vacations and photos! The leopard and macarons with chocolate spots match perfect in colors 😉
Excellent sweet post for my weekend 🙂
Cheers,
Gera
Splendid macarons and leopard! Your pictures are stunning, thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Rosa
reused macs?! what an idea!!! Hats off Deeba!!
Btw, that Cheetah is GORGEOUS!!! mesmerizing indeed!
Your double macs look wonderful! I love your photo collage-so beautiful! I just may have to join this mac group…I've been looking around at all the mac posts and it looks so fun! 🙂
ahhhhhh..lovely pics of the dessert mac….cheetah and awesome vacation snaps…mindblowing creativity
Ah, Deeba! These are magnificent, and I'm completely smitten by your cheetah pictures. Incredible!! Hope you have a gorgeous weekend. 🙂
these are spectacular!
Sweetie, I feel for you! I also had failures, was eaten alive by a herd of zebra macs! But your coffee macs are fabulous and I want! Yum! These are really beautiful! Gorgeous shots of your trip! Mwuah!
And okay, Barbara @VinoLuciStyle: WHO is the Mac Queen??? Now you are bringing out the wild beast in me!
I want to have a holiday loke that in Himalays.
You never give up till you get feet 🙂
They look beautiful love the deco on top of the macs. I am trying that cofe gnache for my necxt mac.
Your cat macarons are superb and so are your photos! How creative to make "double macs". They turned out perfectly and look delicious indeed.
wow.. love the macarons.. Looks delicious…
Delicious double dose of coffee, yummaxx!!
sigh. i wish i could participate. but i know i'd fail – am sure i wouldnt find feet. your macarons are gorgeous and what a trip, Deeba-i would love to be able to spend a vacation in a place like that. really beautiful photos. x shayma
It looks like you had an incredible vacation. The leopard is beautiful as are the macs. I love the flavor combination. Scrumptious!
Deeba! How brilliant of you to re-use your failed macs! I wonder if the pastry chefs at Laduree and Pierre Herme have done this – surely they occasionally have a failed batch! Being an animal lover, I am very drawn to big cats, and this leopard is gorgeous.
Thanks to you , I now know what to do with the failed batch of macs I have sitting in the cupboard. 🙂
I've always wanted to visit Gangtok… somehow I've never made it to the North East despite having a very close friend there! I love your macarons.. so pretty!
Hello Deeba, I haven't been neglecting you, I had a shocking 800 odd posts in my reader after nearly 2 weeks and I'm gradually reading and eliminating!!
So pleased you got feet with these felines! Coffee macs sound great.
These look fantastic!
I can barely make good macs with pied and you were able to reuse from a previous batch and still get perfect pied/feed! Beautiful macs.
You are the mac queen! Your coffee macarons look wonderful. And from what I read, everyone makes mistakes with them. You turned your mistake into a plus!
The photos of that leopard are amazing.
Hooray! Doing the happy feet dance for you Deeba. I truly admire your determination and how clever to recycle the failed macs into the next batch. And tyou were duly rewarded. Yay.
Maybe it is the humidity affecting your mac attempts since the double baked macs would be drier?
Anyway, so glad to be part of Mactweets and looking forward to our next exciting adventure together 🙂
What a wonderful vacation! Beautiful pictures of family and wild ones. So creative in your reuse of mac's. Who would have thought? Lovely as usual- perfect!
Deebah…from the soul of your story telling to the challenge of your hot kitchen…I trully believe that your feet are very well grounded!
I love the way you run circles around your recipes. Your feet must be pretty sore all the time;o)
You continue to impress me.
BTW: Thank you for passing by my place…it was a real pleasure to receive you ;o)
Flavourful wishes, Claudia
What a great idea to grind up the macs that didn't get feet and to use them again. Now that adventurous! The last macs are perfect and I am jealous of your adventure to the Himalayas.
Gorgeous Mac Deeba!
It's a jungle out there Deeba:D
oh wow these look delicious, ive never had macarons before but i would love to try yours, i love coffee!
I wish you lived here, I would love to bake with you Deeba my friend! 🙂 BEAUTIFUL!
Wow Deeba!!! You are really a creative lady!!! Not only the macarons, but the theme too is lovely!
Wow, I wouldn't have thought of grinding up my failed macarons to make the next batch. Great work. Beautiful pics!
amazing shots – the leopard and deeba? hmmmn i think i could get used to that image in my head! a wild one you are my dear. these look amazing!
Love macarons and the power you have in making them. Great images and story.
Fantastic flavours Deeba – they sound and look amazing.
love your gangtok pictures! and these macarons look amazing. double coffee? yes please!
Those are cute macs! Love the photos too.
Deeba, YAY FEET! How creative of you to use the failed macs that way. These are perfect and I love that you flavored with coffee. The Ottolenghi book is high on my list of books to purchase. Can't wait to try their recipe!
Great – both pictures and recipes; I am so happy I found your blog; I will definitely use one of your recipes as soon as I will be able to cook more often 🙂
Deeba you are the queen of the macs in MY heart!! I love your persistence, perseverence and determination. Reminds me of someone else I know 😉 I love your use of failed macs, you're so clever!
Oh, look at that leopard! You must have been lucky to see it – they are very shy in Africa. love the macs too – how can I resist mocha/coffee macs? Like a cup of coffee and a cookie all in one 🙂
I’m just about to make my very first macarons and plain old vanilla just won’t do. These sound great for a first trial, however, I don’t own a digital scale so was wondering how much the sugars & almonds would be in cup measures? Also, does it make a difference if I don’t use vanilla sugar (don’t have any!) and scrape in half a vanilla pod instead?
Hi. There is a basic David Lebovitz recipe that I use often. The ratios for 1 egg white {about 30-33gm} are 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 cup almond meal and 2 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar. For a single egg white, a 1/4 scraped vanilla bean can be ground with the sugar, else you can use it to flavour the filling. Place the remaining bean in a small jar of sugar, shut tight and shake once a day. Store in a cool place, and about 4-5 days later you should have sweet smelling vanilla sugar.
Good luck!!
Thank you! I will most likely try this out in a day or two. If I manage to avoid disaster, will blog about it 😉