Delicious Parisian macarons filled with a decadent sticky toffee ganache.
This gorgeous treat was developed for bride and groom - Victoria and Simon - and featured in their beautiful macaron wedding tower. It was a great success with all their wedding guests and now it's time to share it!
Sticky Toffee Pudding Macarons
Ingredients
Macaron shell
40g ground almonds
40g caster sugar
40g icing sugar
32g egg white
Vanilla bean paste
Food colouring ( optional)
Salt
Ganache
100g chopped dates
15g unsalted butter
½ tbsp of dark rum
¼ tsp of mixed spice
½ tbsp golden syrup
drop of vanilla extract
30ml double cream.
Directions
Macaron shell
Weigh all of the ingredients carefully, preferably using electronic scales for greater accuracy.
Sieve the icing sugar and almonds into a bowl and gently combine with a metal spoon.
Place the egg white - at room temperature - into a clean, stainless steel bowl and add a pinch of salt.
Using an electric hand whisk, start on a low speed and whisk until frothy and there is no sign of the liquid egg.
Add about half of the caster sugar and whisk again, increasing to high speed once the sugar is incorporated.
Whisk until you achieve stiff peaks. Add the remainder of the caster sugar and continue whisking on high speed again, until the mixture is very stiff and holds its peaks.
Add gel colouring if using and a blob of vanilla bean paste ( about 1/4 tsp) at this stage and whisk into the mixture until fully incorporated. Do not over mix - it is important that the mixture remains stiff and the peaks are maintained.
Now add half of the dry ingredients - almonds and icing sugar - to the meringue mixture and fold in with a spatula. Add the remainder and fold in gently. Now beat through the mixture with a spatula until you have a thick, glossy mixture that flows from the spatula in a continuous ribbon and reforms in the bowl.
Transfer this mixture to a piping bag. No need for a nozzle - just cut the tip of the piping bag cleanly with scissors, so that you have a hole of about 1cm.
Pipe small rounds of batter – approximately 4cm in diameter is a good standard size - onto baking parchment on a sturdy, flat baking tray, or even better onto a macaron silicon mat on a baking tray. If using parchment, use a template of circles drawn on paper and place under the parchment while you pipe. Remember to remove the paper before you put the tray in the oven.
Don’t over fill the macaron mould, or the circles on the template. The mixture will spread a little as it settles.
Tap the tray firmly on the work surface to bring any air bubbles in the macarons to the surface. Allow to settle for up to 40 minutes, as preferred. (Some recipes insist on this but it is not actually essential).
Bake in a fan oven at 140 C for 14-16 minutes for 3cm macarons and 18-20 minutes for 4cm macarons. They are cooked when they don’t wobble when you gently feel the shell. If in doubt, let them have another minute or two. It may take a couple of goes to find the right timing for your oven - but I would recommend not altering the temperature.
Once out of the oven, leave the macarons to cool on the baking tray for 15 minutes or more.
Now fill them with the delicious filling that you have made in advance.
Sticky toffee pudding ganache
Add all the ingredients – except for the cream to a small pan and add a tablespoon of cold water and simmer gently until the liquid has been absorbed and the dates have softened and the mixture is sticky. ( a bit like a thick, chunky jam).
Remove from the heat, add the double cream, stir in and leave to cool. Once cool, puree the 'jam' in a food blender. The mixture should be thick enough to pipe and not ooze out of your macaron shells.
Pipe or "dollop" the ganache into the centre of one shell and gently place the other shell on top with a gentle twist to spread the ganache between the two halves.
Dust with cocoa powder or edible glitter, if you wish.
Store the finished macarons in an airtight container in the fridge for 24 hours or so before serving at room temperature.
Let me know how you get on and do send photos of your bakes. I'd love to see your beautiful creations.
Happy baking!
Yorumlar