These macarons are perfect for vanilla-lovers. Intense vanilla ganache core enclosed in vanilla macaron shells. These little treats are perfect for every occasion and will surely impress the guests.
Special material requirements
Mixer
Thermometer
2 Piping bags
Round nozzle (I used Ateco 12)
2-3 Silicone mats for macarons (optional)
Recipe
Yield: approx. 40 macarons | Difficulty: medium
Ingredients
Vanilla macaron shells
85g powdered sugar
80g almond flour
31g egg white (approx. 1 egg white) at room temperature
1/4 tsp vanilla powder
1/4 tsp white powdered food colour
31g egg white (approx. 1 egg white) at room temperature
85g caster sugar
25g water
Vanilla ganache
156g white chocolate
46g cream
23g butter
3/4 tbsp vanilla paste
Directions
Vanilla ganache
Place white chocolate, cream and vanilla paste in a bowl and heat up in the microwave in impulses, while stirring in between, until the chocolate has completely melted.
Add the butter and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Transfer into a bowl and cover with cling film to touch. Let it cool.
Vanilla macaron shells
Preheat the oven to 150°C fan and place the silicone mat/baking paper onto the back of a baking tray.
Sieve the almond flour and powdered sugar, removing bigger bits of the almond flour. If there are many bits you remove, add some additional almond flour to even out the weight.
Place the powdered sugar, almond flour, first part of the egg whites, white food colour and vanilla powder into a large bowl and mix with a rubber spatula until you have a paste.
Place the caster sugar and water into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
In the mean time, place the second part of egg whites into a bowl and start whisking on medium speed, until you have soft peaks.
When your syrup reaches 118°C and your egg whites are at a soft peak, remove the saucepan from the heat and slowly pour the syrup to the egg whites, while still whisking.
Keep whisking the egg whites on high speed until they have increased in volume and are fluffy and shiny.
Add one third of the beaten egg whites at a time to the almond flour paste, incorporating it completely every time.
IMPORTANT: mixing the macaron dough is the most important step. Mix your dough with a rubber spatula in circular motions, starting from the outside working yourself towards the centre. Spread the dough along the walls of your bowl and then scrape it down, again working in circular motions from the outside in. Repeat this process several times. Check in between if the dough is ready. The dough is ready when you pick up some dough with your spatula and let it drip back into the bowl. If it comes off in chunks it is not ready yet. If the dough flows down in one string without breaking, it is ready to be piped.
Transfer the dough into a piping bag with the nozzle and pipe circles with 2.5 - 3cm diameters onto the silicone mats. Try to pipe all of the dough at once. Use baking paper to pipe on if necessary.
Tap the bottom of your baking tray to release any air bubbles. If you have air bubbles on top that won't pop, use a toothpick.
Bake the shells in the middle of the oven for 9 minutes. Depending on your oven you may need to adjust the temperature or baking time.
Take the shells out of the oven and let them cool completely. Then gently remove them from the silicone mat/baking paper.
Assembly
Check the ganache, it should be soft, thick and hold its shape to pipe. If the ganache is too hard, use a hand blender to soften it. If the ganache is too runny and does not hold its shape, place it into the the fridge until it has the desired consistency. Otherwise transfer the ganache into a piping bag.
Pair same sized macaron shells together and lay out on a flat surface.
Pipe the vanilla ganache onto half of the macaron shells.
Place the other half of the shells on top and gently push the shells together until the ganache is evenly spread.
Notes
Silicone mat: I use a silicone mat that has circles printed on it as guidelines for piping the macaron shells. If you do not have a silicone mat, you can use baking paper. If you also prefer guidelines, you can print macaron guidelines on a paper an place it underneath the baking paper. Don't forget to remove the paper before you place the macarons into the oven.
Egg whites: 31g of egg whites is approximately the amount of one medium egg. However, this may vary. For the macarons it is important to have the exact amount for all ingredients. I like to use pasteurised and bottled egg whites. It is a lot easier to measure and you don't have excess egg yolks. I buy the egg whites in fitness stores where they sell high protein foods. Otherwise you can weigh your egg whites and adjust the other ingredients to your egg white amount.
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