Taking advantage of a unique flavor mixture to celebrate the last moments of summer
I'm always a sucker for more tropical-inspired flavors and had some lychee and passionfruit nectar so I decided to combine the two for these macarons to take advantage of the last few moments of summer!
Passionfruit-Lychee Macarons
Ingredients:
120g almond flour
120g powdered sugar
120g granulated sugar
90g egg whites
32g water
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp Sugar Art Autumn Gold color
Passionfruit-Lychee Ganache
Ingredients:
125g white chocolate
86g heavy cream
~50 mL lychee nectar
~100 mL passionfruit nectar
~1 tsp vanilla bean paste
~1/2 tsp citric acid
Directions:
Passionfruit-Lychee Macarons
Steps:
Step 1
I start off by measuring out all of my ingredients prior to proceeding with any further steps, once you start the process it's usually for the best to keep going and not stop intermittently.
Step 2
Mix the almond flour, powdered sugar, powdered egg whites, and color powder together in a bowl
Step 3
Combine the water with the granulated sugar in a saucepan
Step 4
Separate your egg whites into half (45g) portion sections
Step 5
Add one section of the egg whites into the sifted almond flour and powdered sugar and mix until it forms a thick paste, cover the bowl this mixture is in with a towel or plastic wrap while you work on the meringue
Step 6
Pour the other section of egg whites and cream of tartar into the bowl for your stand mixer and start whisking the egg white together on a medium-high speed (i.e. ~7-8 on a kitchenaid).
Step 7
Once the eggs start to get foamy, start heating your saucepan with the sugar and water mixture until your syrup reaches ~118C (240F)
Step 8
Once your syrup reaches 118C (240F) and your egg whites have been whisked to soft peaks, bump up the kitchen aid to 9 and slowly pour the syrup into the egg whites.
Step 9
Continue whisking the egg whites until the merengue your mixing bowl becomes cool to the touch (~85C, ~5-7 minutes), doesn't need to be stiff peaks
Step 10
Take a spoon or spatula of your merengue and add it to your almond paste mixture, then mix until well combined
Step 11
Add the rest of your merengue and start the macaronage process, I'd recommend looking at some videos for this step. Basically you want to mix the batter by scooping the batter along the walls of the bowl and bring it in to the batter at the center of the bowl in a sweeping motion. You will be done with this step once your batter is roughly the consistency of running lava.
Step 12
Once your batter is the correct consistency, transfer into a piping bag fitted with Wilton 2A piping tip (or a different one depending on what you prefer)
Step 13
Place your parchment paper/teflon sheet/silicon mat on a metal baking sheet, and then start to pipe out your macarons by piping the batter while holding the piping bag such that it's perpendicular to your sheet.
Step 14
Once you've finished piping the macarons, tap the baking sheet on the edges of a table or floor to induce air bubbles trapped in the piped macarons to rise to the surface. Pop those with a toothpick if necessary
Step 15
Preheat your oven to 310-315 F* and wait for your macarons to become dry to the touch (i.e. the batter should not stick to your finger if you touch them, usually takes around 30 min-1 hour depending on the environment).
Step 16
Put your macarons in the oven and give them ~15-30 minutes to bake, it's dependent upon both your oven and also a check to see if they're done is to try and jiggle the top of one of the macarons to the sides gently, if it doesn't move then you should be good to go.
Step 17
Take your macarons out of the oven and let them cool before removing them from your mat.
Passionfruit-Lychee Ganache
Steps:
Step 1
Finely chop white chocolate and put in a large (ideally glass) container or bowl
Step 2
Place heavy cream into saucepan and heat until 82C.
Step 3
Pour heated cream over chopped chocolate, then let sit 7-10 minutes.
Step 4
Immersion blend chocolate and cream until completely incorporated.
Step 5
Put lychee nectar, passionfruit nectar, vanilla bean paste, and citric acid into the ganache and immersion blend until smooth.
Step 6
Taste ganache and continue to add small amounts of any additional amounts of nectar to reach desired flavor into ganache and then blend.
Step 7
Cover ganache and place in fridge for 3+ hours or until it has set.
Assembly
Steps:
Step 1
Take ganache out of fridge and let warm at room temperature for 30 minutes
Step 2
Place ganache into piping bag fitted with 2A tip
Step 3
To assemble macarons, pipe dollop of ganache onto bottom macaron shell, then press the two shells together to form completed macaron
Step 4
Place completed macarons into fridge and leave overnight to mature
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