Almond and Blueberry Macarons

Published article Friday 1st June featuring myself as in the June/July issue of “Xcite” C.ex Group Magazine presenting my “Almond and Blueberry Macarons” is displayed below with story and recipe.

There is currently an immense fascination with the French macaron biscuit although it has been around for a long time and has for a few years gone through a transformation. The modern macaron is in essence a sweet sandwich made using two almond meringue disks and a smooth filling.

Ingredients make 30 petit macarons

100 g almond meal

100 g icing sugar

100 g caster sugar

2 egg white (40g each)

¼ tsp vanilla sugar

Method

Blend almond meal and icing sugar in a food processor. Add 1 egg white and vanilla to make a smooth almond paste. Remove almond paste from food processor and transfer to a bowl. Whisk 1 egg white in a separate bowl until soft peak. While whisking continuously add caster sugar until all sugar is added and a stiff glossy meringue is created. Blend the meringue into the almond paste ⅓ at a time working the batter until meringue is incorporated and the batter is evenly mixed. Pipe batter onto a baking tray covered with baking paper in small even sized dots the size of a walnut. Preheat oven to 150ºC while the piped macarons are drying and developing a skin for approx. 20 minutes. Bake in the oven for approx. 14 minutes. Allow cooling for at least 60 minutes before sandwiching them together. Place blueberry jam on the bottom side of one macaron and pipe a ring of almond buttercream on top. Place another macaron on the buttercream and place them covered in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.

Note: Use the egg yolks to make vanilla custard or lemon curd. Other flavours and colours are added while mixing the almond paste in the food processor. Other fillings can be used such as ganaché, cream cheese, whipped cream, custard and jam.

Almond Buttercream

Ingredients

125 g butter

70 g icing sugar

80 g almond meal

Method

Beat the soft butter with an electrical mixer to a smooth consistency and blend in the icing sugar. Whisk mixture until airy and silky. Add almond meal and whisk until aerated for approx 3 minutes.