“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.
