The First Attempt: Pistachio Macarons

It's hard to be coherent if you have the sniffles. No thanks to the funky weather we had this past week - too hot  and too humid at one point, then it rains minutes later! It's been a looooong work week, tiring enough that even if I was able to finally make macarons this past Wednesday when I got home from work, the itchy throat and the countless sneezing had gotten into me that I'd rather sleep instead of dealing with the annoying sniffles. Until now, I can barely recognize my own voice. Tsk.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Did you know that March 20th is the official annual macaron day? I didn't, but I've made my first attempt of macarons on the same day. What a coincidence! [Geek alert!] It was a tradition started in Paris by Pierre Hermé back in 2005 known as the Jour du Macaron where patisseries give away macarons during this day every year to the patrons who make a small donation to support the cure for cystic fibrosis. A sweet treat for a noble cause indeed. The same tradition was then carried on in New York by François Payard (I love his sophisticated cakes similar to that of Bizu's from his Upper East Side patisserie that I got to try years ago) since 2010 supporting another charity dedicated to feed the hungry in NYC.

I've been wanting to try this fragile sweet little cookie for quite sometime that I pinned the macaron recipe I stumbled upon in my Pinterest personal account knowing that I'll make it one day. I happen to have leftover egg whites from a cake my friend and I made over the other weekend which required egg yolks, and knowing that days have passed since then, I was hoping that the egg whites would already qualify as "aged" that the recipe called for. We never run out of nuts in our fridge, and I just have enough almonds and pistachios that I can use.

I've read that given the delicate conditions of this French cookie, the first try can be a disaster. I've already done quite a number of meringue bases for my pavlovas before, but there are just days when the meringue won't just turn out right. I have somehow managed my expectations that it can pretty much turn into a disaster given the humidity and knowing that at the back of my mind, nuts don't come out cheap so it's a double woe for me. But, just like any recipe attempt, whether if it didn't work out the first time around or if has gone well, there are more kitchen adventures to come. So… this is my first attempt to make macarons and luckily it turned out way better than what I was expecting.

Pistachio Macarons
(adapted from Cake Journal with tips from Not So Humble Pie)
Ingredients:
Macaron Shells
1/2 cup + 1/8 cup finely ground almonds
1/2 cup finely ground pistachios
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 egg whites
2 tablespoons refined sugar

Macaron Filling (Pistachio White Chocolate Ganache) way down below.

1. Always prepare all your ingredients so that you are sure you have everything you need. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick cookie liner.

2. I've used almond flakes (as long as the almonds are blanched) and unsalted, no shell pistachios. Grind the nuts in a food processor fitted with the chopper blade until they are fine enough. Note that if you're grinding from whole nuts, you will have to measure a little excess so that by the time you have to measure your finely ground nuts, you'll have enough for what the recipe called for. Then, sift the ground nuts as you won't want any lump in your macaron shells.

3. Sift the powdered sugar. Prepare your dry mix by combining the powdered sugar with the ground nuts and set aside.

4. In a mixing bowl, whip the egg whites. Once it starts foaming, gradually add the refined sugar one tablespoon at a time. Continue to whip until it is glossy and stiff. You can hold the mixing bowl upside down at this point without the mixture falling off. Be careful not to over whip as your egg whites will break apart and your meringue won't be stiff beyond this point.

5. Fold in the dry mix into the meringue until just combined. You can add food colouring at this point if you want to make your macarons slightly green - I didn't add food colouring for this attempt for the fear that I might screw up something. The consistency should be somewhat similar to a cake batter. Don't overmix as otherwise the batter will be thin which will make your macaron shells flat. If you are unsure, it's better to be slightly under-mixed than over-mixed. To test your batter, place a dollop on a flat surface (perhaps a plate) and check if it slowly flattens. If not, then fold your mixture more.

6. Put the mixture into a piping bag with a round tip.  Pipe 1-inch rounds onto the baking sheets and 1-inch apart from each other. If making even round shapes are difficult, you can actually print this template on a paper and place it beneath the parchment paper or non-stick cookie liner to serve as a pattern. I didn't have time to print one, but thanks to summer art classes, I made good rounds of macaron shells, although some are not the same as the rest but have another shell of the same size to complete the pair. Sorry, I have no photos of the steps from this point as my hands were a mess and I had to work quick before the batter dries up and creates crusts before it's piped.

7. Once one baking sheet is completed, tap the sheet (or rather bang the whole tray) on a sturdy surface to flatten the piped batter. This way, you release the air bubbles that may cause your macaron shells to be hollow.

8. Let the baking sheets rest for about an hour before baking them. The macaron shells need to form the dry crust at the top which will help your macarons to rise the way they should be.

9. Preheat your oven to 150c. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the middle shelf of your oven. To avoid hollow spaces, you need to slightly overcook the meringue. Undercooked macaron shells will collapse. It's okay for the shells to be crisp as they will be seep in the humidity later on to which your macarons will be at its right consistency. When baking meringue, always keep an eye so that you won't burn them by having them too brown.

10. Cool the macaron shells completely before removing them from the sheets.

I have leftover pistachio frosting from the cake my friend and I had baked and used it as filling for the macarons. However, I think it was too dense for a normal macaron. If I didn't have this leftover frosting, I would have made this:

Pistachio White Chocolate Ganache:
1/2 cup white chocolate
1/2 cup all purpose cream
1/4 cup finely ground pistachios
1/4 cup roughly ground pistachios

Place the white chocolate in a mixing bowl. In a sauce pan, heat the cream until it begins to simmer. Pour the cream over the white chocolate. Stir until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Add the ground pistachios (both fine and rough) and mix until just combined. Cool the mixture completely so that it will thicken into a spreadable consistency. Pipe or spread the filling into the macaron shells then sandwich it with another shell.

Macarons are at their best after 24 hours. Store your newly made macarons in an air-tight container then freeze it.

I had a few macaron shells that were hollow, but that's fine. They were eaten anyway as if they are normal cookies at home and no one even complained. I guess I'll be making more variations of macarons next time.