See my previous post on macaron "failures." Even though friends and family loved the vanilla raspberry macarons, I call them failures because they were inedible to me.
But this third batch of macarons, they were *chef's kiss.*
The main reason being that I caved and used dairy in the filling. My boyfriend, who can consume absolutely ZERO dairy, told me to make the buttercream to my liking since macarons aren't his thing. So for the filling, I made a white chocolate coffee ganache.* And it was life altering.
There are some flaws. The coloring isn't quite as deep as I would've liked it, the feet aren't as prominent (some are even non-existent) and more than half had some hollow bodies. My BF said he knows exactly what he did wrong with this batch and he will correct it next time.
The coffee flavored macarons from Ladurée are actually my favorite flavor, so it made sense that I'm in love with these. And despite their less than perfect appearance, I think they taste just as good as Ladurée's. Dare I even say that?
Pairs well with an iced latte.
Prep:
1. Bring all ingredients to room temperature
2. Grind granulated sugar to a castor sugar consistency (somewhere in between granulated and confectioner's sugar)
Shells:
Dry:
275 g almond flour, sifted
250 g confectioner's sugar
Meringue:
6 1/2 egg whites at room temperature (aren't you glad we did this step already?)
210 g castor sugar (and aren't you glad we now have the equivalent of this?)
1 1/2 tbsp espresso powder
Ganache:
170 g white chocolate (or one box of Baker's white chocolate)
140 ml whipping cream
40g unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp espresso powder
Instructions:
To make the shells, follow the Ladurée recipe EXACTLY. I can't perfect this recipe. Nobody can. There's a reason they made their recipe public. They know it's difficult and time consuming, but it's also foolproof if you're good at following directions. Most people don't have the patience but the recipe is solid.
To make the ganache, dissolve espresso powder in a pot of the whipping cream. Once it boils, remove from heat.
Put white chocolate in a medium glass bowl and pour over hot cream.
Let white chocolate melt and then stir until mixture is even.
Slowly add butter and whisk until ganache is thick and creamy.
Let it get to room temperature and then refrigerate. If you refrigerate over night, simply leave it out at room temp for 15 minutes before putting in a piping bag.
Pipe the macarons!
*As I mention in my first ever blog post and recipe, certain dairy products, such as butter and heavy cream, have minuscule amounts of lactose. Many lactose intolerant individuals can consume products with low-lactose levels.
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