Macarons..Italian Meringue!!

Like I made macarons successfully many many months ago...I jumped with joy when my macarons started showing their feet last night...I attempted the Italian Meringue method..woo hoo! I had a postponement for a macaron order, so...I took the opportunity to give this method a go!

....and what can I say...I might convert from the classic French meringue method to this...it was like doing step 1, 2, 3...and so on and so forth...and knowing that the result would be a good one! I had taken the recipe and method from Sue, whose blog I had been following ever since I started attempting making macarons!...you know, the thing that I feared most when doing this last night was the thermometer.....why!??? I don't know!!

I followed Sue's step by step method to the t! So...here goes!

Basic Macaron Recipe : Italian Meringue Method

Ingredients

100g egg whites (I used mine that was aged in the fridge for 3 days, left out at room temperature before I used last night)

125g icing sugar

125g almond meal

125g caster sugar

34g water

food colouring

Method

1. Prepare your almond meal and icing sugar....weigh and sift and keep aside.

2.Prepare your baking trays with baking paper. I used 3 baking trays lined with Silpat.

3.Get ready with your piping bag. Get ready with your mixing bowls and a spatula. Get ready with a heavy bottom pan and a digital thermometer.

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4.Divide the egg whites into 2 equal portions. Put one portion 50g into the almond meal icing sugar mix. Do not mix them together, then, put some food colouring on the egg white. I used Sugarflair's Gooseberry Green gel with a tinge of Lemon Yellow colour powder.....very springy eh!

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5.Put the other portion 50g egg white into a bowl fitted into your stand mixer (I used a stand mixer this time), fitted with whip attachment. Set aside.

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6.Place water and caster sugar in a small heavy-bottom pan (like my bottom...haha!) over medium heat. Bring the mixture to boil. Do not stir as the sugar might crystalise...I just gently shook the pan while the sugar syrup was boiling....

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7.Once bubble starts to appear, start running your mixer with medium speed, whip the egg white until soft peak is formed, and keep the motor running...

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8.When the sugar syrup reaches 118Celcius, remove the saucepan from heat, and let cool slightly until about 115Celcius. Slowly pour this sugar syrup into the mixing bowl (I turned down the motor, whilst doing this so as to avoid any splatter).

9.Keep beting the egg white at medium-high speed until the mixture cools down, when you touch the mixing bowl, it feels like touching your skin. The finished egg white will be stiff and very glossy...it was glossier than the normal French meringue method.

10.Using a spatula, fold one third of the meringue into the almond meal mixture. I mixed simply quite vigorously until the batter is smooth and well blended.

11.Then, I mixed the remaining meringue in two additions, being careful so as not to overfold....rid the air pockets like you do for macaronnage with French Meringue method.

12.Pour into piping bag, and pipe the batter....tap your baking tray to rid of any trapped air.

13.Let the piped batter to dry...I did mine for 20 minutes and later used the oven drying method to dry the shells.

14.Bake at 150Celcius for about 20 minutes.

The verdict....shells were noticeably harder and not as brittle as those from the French meringue, the surface was smoother and shiny...love it love love it!!

The batter yields about 45 macarons...I had a "fast sale" order from someone who was leaving for Riyadh tomorrow, so...I filled up with wahtever filling I had...Lemon Curd, Fresh Raspberry, Salted Caramel, Cream Cheese and French Pastry Cream....

hmmm.....with this, am smiling all the way to woo the weekend, in Ayer Baloi..woot woot!