Category Archives: Baking: Macarons
Recipe: Hazelnut Macarons with Chocolate Nutella Ganache
Learnt many lessons from today’s baking session…
1) Do not modify recipes unless you are a pro. If you are a noob like me, stick to the recipe to a T!
2) Do not add extra eggs or extra ingredients when delicate stuff like macaron shells are involved or the whole consistency will change
3) Oven is very very important! Use one with a ‘fan’ mode or the baking will end up uneven with the outer part burnt and the inner part still gooey and not cooked
4) Electronic scale is preferable!!
5) Adding extra Nutella to ganache always makes it so much yummier ;)
The ingredients…
Add the icing sugar, hazelnuts and milo powder into the processor
Add the fine processed mixture to whisked egg whites and caster sugar and fold
Pipe it onto the baking tray and put it into the oven for 10 min..
Round 1- Not so successful :( Burnt and cracked shells due to temperature issues
Round 2 which was heaps more successful :)
Start on the ganache- thickened cream, dark chocolate, nutella and butter. Pop the mixture into the fridge to harden
Pipe it onto the cooled down shells from the oven…
Not so nice macarons from the first round..
Round 2 without the added milo powder and extra egg! :D
Good job Tim! :D
P.S. You can refer to http://gninethree.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/making-macadamia-macarons-in-wilmington/ for the recipe of the macaron shells and the exact measurements of the icing sugar, nuts, caster sugar etc :)
Recipe: Making Macadamia Macarons in Wilmington
Spent the weekend in Wilmington and it was absolutely amazing! It was like culinary and baking school :) Attempted to find an easy macarons recipe and found http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/03/10/the-macaron-whisperer/ for Pistachio Macarons but Megan only had Macadamia nuts so we simply modified the recipe by a little bit.
The ingredients you need…
For the macarons:
- 75g macadamias/any nuts you would like
- 125g icing sugar
- 2 large egg whites
- 15g caster sugar/white sugar
For the buttercream:
- 55g macadamias
- 250g icing sugar
- 125g unsalted butter, softened
Extras:
- Baking tray with parchment paper
- Food processor
Pop the macadamia nuts and icing sugar into the food processor
Grind it until as fine as dust
Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites and add the caster sugar in
Fold the nut mixture with the egg/caster sugar mix
Pipe the mixture onto a baking sheet on a tray
Pop it into an oven that had been preheated to 180 degrees and leave it there for 8-10min (remember to keep checking the oven, we almost burnt our skins because the recipe suggested 10-12min)
Take it out and let it cool while you start on the buttercream
Grind the nuts and icing sugar again, add the mixture to creamed butter and mix until you get a smooth texture (We added extra macadamia nut bits to the buttercream for the extra crunch! :))
Butter the skins and sandwich them together with the soft buttercream in the center! :)
