- It reminds of a summertime fair
- It's literally just sugar
- Its gorgeous brown colour
1 thing I really don't love about caramel:
- How messy it is to make.
I made salted caramel macarons! And they are so so so good. The shells are so light and airy, and the filling is so creamy and tangy. I used a different recipe compared to the first Vanilla Macaron Recipe I posted. Both are great and very similar, this one is just half the quantity.
Macaron Shell: (makes about 20 small or 10 large)
- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
- 3 egg whites
- 1 cup of almonds (I'd go with sliced or already ground)
- 1 cup of icing sugar
- Food colouring
Salted Caramel Filling:
- 1/4 cup fresh cream
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp of granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp fleur de sel (coarse sea salt)
- 1/4 cup butter (room temperature)
To make the shells, first grind your almonds and icing sugar in a food processor and sift into a mixing bowl. Set that bowl aside. If you've got a small food processor like I do, grind your almonds first with a 2 tbsp of icing sugar to keep your almonds dry, then mix in the rest of your icing sugar.
The trouble with a mini food processor is that it won't grind up the almonds as fine. I used whole almonds and my food processor can only grind so much so that's why you see little specks in my macarons which is the skin of the almond. I think it gives them character.
Separate your egg whites and put into a heatproof bowl. As I say every time you're making a meringue, here are my tips:
Over a double boiler, heat your egg whites and granulated sugar. To set up a double boiler, fill a pot with about an inch of water and simmer it with a heatproof bowl on top.
Whisk until the sugar dissolves and using a candy or instant thermometer, remove off heat when the sugar and egg whites reach 105 -110 F or around 45 C.
Transfer to a mixer and beat on medium high for 4-8 minutes until soft peaks. I was very very close to over-beating at the 5 minute mark but it all depends on your mixer and the way you beat it. You're done when you lift up your whisks and the egg whites stand upright without falling or they hang off your whisks without dripping.
As soon as you hit the consistency where the ribbons made by the mixer stay in place, stop beating. Mix in half of the almond flour, fold gently until streak-free, and fold in your other half.
Continue folding until streak-free, add your food colouring here, and scoop into a piping bag. You can choose to use a #11 tip (large circle tip) or simply use the opening of the piping bag. For piping the macaron shells, I highly recommend using a template underneath. For example: here. You can add a pinch of the sea salt on top of your macaron shells.
These were my large macarons, about an inch and a half wide. Let them sit for 15-30 minutes until a skin has formed on top. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 275 F. Check at the 12 minute mark by tapping a toothpick or chopstick on top. If it's hollow sounding and you can see the bottom isn't still wet, take them out and let cool for an hour.
Now for the filling, oh boy!
Cook your granulated sugar in a saucepan (I actually suggest one larger than this because you'll be pouring the cream in) and bring your cream to a boil. They should be about the same temperature always because caramel hardens when it hits something cooler.
Reduce your sugar and you'll notice that the colour is browning. Take a whisk and work out the sugar clumps.
Quickly, it'll start to turn a golden brown shade. This is about as golden brown as you want it. Once caramel burns, it turns very bitter. Slowly pour in your hot cream, and whisk your caramel sauce. If it does harden because the cream is cooler than the caramel (like mine did), put it over simmering heat to melt down the caramel. I actually had to wrestle with the caramel to get it to turn into a sauce.
Let your caramel sauce sit in the fridge for 20-30 minutes, remove, then beat in your room temperature butter. Get all the clumps out and you should see this gorgeous filling.
Get it into your piping bag and squeeze out the excess air.
Flip over half of your macaron shells to pipe on.
Pipe in a circle, almost near the edges.
Cap your piped macarons, giving it a very light push downwards so the filling goes right to the edges.
To make the shells, first grind your almonds and icing sugar in a food processor and sift into a mixing bowl. Set that bowl aside. If you've got a small food processor like I do, grind your almonds first with a 2 tbsp of icing sugar to keep your almonds dry, then mix in the rest of your icing sugar.
Separate your egg whites and put into a heatproof bowl. As I say every time you're making a meringue, here are my tips:
- Don't get any yolks into your egg whites while separating! The fat of the yolks can very well mess up your meringue.
- If you get shells in while separating, do not fish them out with your fingers! Same goes, the oil from your fingers can mess up the meringue. Instead, take a spoon (or chopsticks) and attempt to get the shell pieces out.
Over a double boiler, heat your egg whites and granulated sugar. To set up a double boiler, fill a pot with about an inch of water and simmer it with a heatproof bowl on top.
Whisk until the sugar dissolves and using a candy or instant thermometer, remove off heat when the sugar and egg whites reach 105 -110 F or around 45 C.
Transfer to a mixer and beat on medium high for 4-8 minutes until soft peaks. I was very very close to over-beating at the 5 minute mark but it all depends on your mixer and the way you beat it. You're done when you lift up your whisks and the egg whites stand upright without falling or they hang off your whisks without dripping.
As soon as you hit the consistency where the ribbons made by the mixer stay in place, stop beating. Mix in half of the almond flour, fold gently until streak-free, and fold in your other half.
Continue folding until streak-free, add your food colouring here, and scoop into a piping bag. You can choose to use a #11 tip (large circle tip) or simply use the opening of the piping bag. For piping the macaron shells, I highly recommend using a template underneath. For example: here. You can add a pinch of the sea salt on top of your macaron shells.
These were my large macarons, about an inch and a half wide. Let them sit for 15-30 minutes until a skin has formed on top. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 275 F. Check at the 12 minute mark by tapping a toothpick or chopstick on top. If it's hollow sounding and you can see the bottom isn't still wet, take them out and let cool for an hour.
Now for the filling, oh boy!
Cook your granulated sugar in a saucepan (I actually suggest one larger than this because you'll be pouring the cream in) and bring your cream to a boil. They should be about the same temperature always because caramel hardens when it hits something cooler.
Reduce your sugar and you'll notice that the colour is browning. Take a whisk and work out the sugar clumps.
Quickly, it'll start to turn a golden brown shade. This is about as golden brown as you want it. Once caramel burns, it turns very bitter. Slowly pour in your hot cream, and whisk your caramel sauce. If it does harden because the cream is cooler than the caramel (like mine did), put it over simmering heat to melt down the caramel. I actually had to wrestle with the caramel to get it to turn into a sauce.
Let your caramel sauce sit in the fridge for 20-30 minutes, remove, then beat in your room temperature butter. Get all the clumps out and you should see this gorgeous filling.
Get it into your piping bag and squeeze out the excess air.
Flip over half of your macaron shells to pipe on.
Pipe in a circle, almost near the edges.
Cap your piped macarons, giving it a very light push downwards so the filling goes right to the edges.
And that's it! Comment if you've got questions, comments, or suggestions. Thanks and good luck!
- Jane
You're so amazing! These macarons look like the ones from Butter Avenue. And I kind like how you have the almond skin flecks going on.
ReplyDeleteTake it from a former restaurant cook: I tried these macarons and let me say...
ReplyDeleteJane's baking is amazaing!!!!
These look delicious, however when does the salt go into the caramel?
ReplyDeleteAh I am sorry for never specifying! It goes in when you beat the room temperature butter into the cooled caramel sauce!
Delete