September Birthday: Les macarons à la framboise ~ 覆盆子風味馬卡龍

I mentioned before that macarons are on a mission to take over the world and they have what it takes – appealing look and exciting flavors! In fact, my whole families had converted from soft & chewy cookies monsters to die hard macarons fans. So, September birthday stars, I present to you les macarons à la framboise – raspberry flavor macarons and wishing you a merriest birthday! These little guys are filled with different fillings so there must be one for everyone^^

If you have not noticed (you should now, look to the book list to the left), I have purchased quite a few books on macarons, wanting to learn all the tricks of the trade on how to perfect them. Though I still have a long way to get to perfection, I’m quite satisfied with the end result of these batches of macarons. The shell was perfect, chewy inside and crisp outside. The foot is more profound than my 1st attempt, which is super hard to get right in the first place. I almost broke down in tears of joy! Yes, I was that serious about getting my macarons right!

Like most of the recipes on my blog, the flavors are interchangeable base on taste. I strongly encourage experimenting with different flavors combo (and I love to hear about it too); however, I, on the other hand can never get enough of the raspberry + chocolate golden combo or doubling up for an intense raspberry flavor^^

Prep:
- First, sift the almond flour twice; mix it with the powdered sugar and raspberry powder, and sift 1 more time then refrigerate until called for.
- On the back side of 2 parchment papers, trace 2.5cm circles about 2cm apart. Flip them over and line the baking sheets.
- Prepare 2 sheets of foil the size of the baking sheets.

I thought you should know:
- Fold the batter with a light hand to prevent bursting the air bubbles.
- Must let the piped cookies sit out until dry to touch before baking to prevent them from cracking during baking.
- Press the piping tip on the baking sheet and for uniformly shaped macarons. Do not suspend the tip in the air!



Raspberry flavor macarons – 15 sandwiches

French meringue method
50g egg whites
25g caster sugar

Tant pour tant
60g almond flour or finely grounded blanch almonds
80g powdered sugar
2tbs raspberry powder
2 drops red food coloring

In a large dry bowl, whip the egg whites on medium speed until the whites just hold soft peaks and the color turns white. Gradually add the caster sugar, increase the speed to high and continue to whip until meringue holds stiff, glossy peaks.

With a rubber spatula, fold half of the meringue into the almond/sugar/raspberry flour mix, fold until incorporated then fold in the remaining meringue, food color and fold until completely incorporated. With the rubber spatula, scoop and spread the batter, in a full circle, on the inside wall of the mixing bowl. Repeat this scoop & spread process also known as macaronnage, 14 more times (exact number of times please). Lift some batter with the spatula, it should falls into the bowl in a ribbon fashion, and has a glossy look; set aside.

Fit a piping bag with a 3/8-inch round tip, or take a 12 inches plastic piping bag and snip off one corner. Fill the piping bag and pipe the batter from the center of the drawn circle onto the baking sheets. Pipe about 30 circles. Let dry at room temperature for 20 -30 minutes before baking to allow skins to form. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F/220°C, with racks in upper and lower thirds.

When the batter is dry to the touch, place into the preheated oven and bake for 2 minutes, then quickly turn it down to 300°F/150°C, bake for 5 minutes, then rotate the baking sheets (upper and lower racks), cover the sheets with foil, and continue to bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to cool on the cooling rack. Once cooled, slide a knife (fragile, must be careful) underneath the macarons to remove from the parchment paper.



Raspberry Buttercream (Italian meringue method)
1 whole egg
40g caster sugar
40ml water
50g raspberry jam
100g unsalted butter
1tbsp Crème de framboise
Some ice water

Heat the raspberry jam briefly using the microwave, run it through a sieve for a smoother texture; set aside.

Cut the butter into ½ inch thick squares, place in a heatproof container and heat in the microwave over medium heat for 10 – 15 seconds, butter should be soft to touch but NOT melted. Using a rubber spatula, mash the butter until smooth and creamy (like the texture of mayonnaise); set aside.

In a heatproof container, mix the caster sugar with the water then heat over medium heat in a microwave for 1 minute, stir until sugar completely dissolved. Return it to the microwave and continue to heat for 4 more minutes over medium heat. Remove with CARE out from the microwave and stir with a spoon. Spoon a little bit of the hot syrup into the ice water; it should solidify into a little ball. If it does not, continue to heat in the microwave, 1 minute at a time, until it gets to this state.

While the syrup is heating, begin whisking the egg at high speed in the bowl of your mixer using the whisk attachment; whisk until pale and foamy. Reduce the mixer speed to low and begin slowly (very slowly) pouring the syrup down the side of the bowl being very careful not to splatter the syrup into the path of the whisk attachment. Some of the syrup will spin onto the sides of the bowl but don’t worry about this and don’t try to stir it into the mixture as it will harden! Raise the speed to medium-high and continue beating until the egg mixture is thick and satiny and the mixture is cool to the touch (about 5 minutes or so).

With the mixer on medium speed, begin adding in two-tablespoon chunks. When all the butter has been incorporated, raise the mixer speed to high and beat until the butter cream is thick and shiny. Add the raspberry jam, crème de framboise and beat for an additional minute or so. Refrigerate the buttercream for 10 minutes before piping.



FAQs for making buttercream:
1. Wait! My buttercream won’t come together! Reheat the buttercream briefly over simmering water for about 5 seconds, stirring with a wooden spoon. Be careful and do not overheat. The mixture will look broken with some liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Return the bowl to the mixer and whip on medium speed just until the cream comes back together.
2. Wait! My buttercream is too soft! Chill the buttercream in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes and rewhip. If that doesn’t work, cream an additional 2-4 Tbsp. of butter in a small bowl– making sure the butter is not as soft as the original amount, so make sure is cool and smooth. On low speed, quickly add the creamed butter to the buttercream, 1 Tbsp. at a time.

Filling variations:
Praline Buttercream Filling
Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache Filling
Raspberry jam

Assemble cookies:
Pair 2 macarons of similar size, pipe about 1 teaspoon of the filling onto the flat side of one of the macarons then sandwich them. Let them set in room temperature or refrigerate to set. Make 15 sandwiches. If refrigerate, let stand at room temperature at least 2 hours to soften before eating.

我曾經說過造型呈小巧可愛飽滿的胖圓形的馬卡龍正以旋風似的速度席捲及征服世界。不過這也是意料中的事﹐就憑它們五彩繽紛﹐可愛到極緻及形形色色的口味﹐不受到愛戴才奇怪吧?﹗以我的家人來說﹐他們以前是美式軟餅乾的超級粉絲﹐現在全部拜倒在馬卡龍裙下﹐真的是魅力無法擋呀﹗我現在就送這些可愛的傢伙 - 配上多種口味餡心的覆盆子風味馬卡龍 - 給九月生日的你們。這樣就可以照顧到有不同口味的你們﹐希望大家會喜歡喔~

不知大家有沒有注意到我買了不少烤馬卡龍的書(在左邊可以看到我的書單)? 這些書是為了能製作出完美的馬卡龍而買的﹐因為要做出質地超凡的餅殼並不是容易的事。雖然第二次烤的馬卡龍還是談不上完美但是外殼平坦又有著咀嚼口感的內在﹐還有裙邊比我的第一次做的明顯多了﹐比第一次進步﹐讓我開心到想哭﹗哭? 是不是太誇張了? 一點也不﹗馬卡龍看似簡單﹐然而卻是處處玄機﹐一道手續都絲毫馬虎不得。只要過程出現一丁點兒微妙差異﹐成品截然如天地。可以說是折損率極高的一道點心。

雖然我最愛巧克力+覆盆子的黃金配搭及極富覆盆子味的配搭﹐你可以自行配上你喜歡的餡心口味。希望大家能鑽研出新的口味配搭﹐說不定會找到讓你驚喜的味道喔﹗



事前準備:
- 杏仁粉過篩2次後再和糖粉、覆盆子粉混合過篩1次﹐備用。
- 準備兩張烤纸﹐然後在每一張的反面畫上直徑2.5cm間隔2cm的小圓圈。鋪在烤盤上。
- 準備兩張相等於烤盤大小的包裝鋁箔紙﹐備用。

要注意什麼呢?
- 記住麵糊要輕輕拌勻﹗
- 擠出麵糊後要放置到表面乾燥為止才可進烤箱。
- 擠可可糊時先固定一個點再擠出是要訣。

覆盆子風味馬卡龍 - 15個

法式蛋白霜
50g 蛋白
25g 細砂糖

Tant pour tant
60g 杏仁粉
80g 糖粉
2湯匙 覆盆子粉
1滴 紅色食用色素

使用電動攪拌機將蛋白以中速打發至柔滑、顏色變白。將細砂糖分成兩~三回加入蛋白中﹐轉用快速仔細打發﹐打至出現尖角成立體型法式蛋白霜為止。

將一半的蛋白霜拌入篩過的粉類中﹐用橡皮刀從底部往上翻起的方式拌勻。加入剩餘的蛋白霜﹑紅色食用色素﹐拌勻。將麵糊從底部往上翻起再往 mixing bowl的內壁壓推勻15次﹐至表面紋理細緻且有光澤的麵糊為止 (這製作過程名為 macaronnage) 。

擠花袋裝上直徑3/8寸的圓形擠花嘴﹐將麵糊裝入擠花袋中﹐在先前畫了圓圈的烤盤紙上擠出圓形的麵糊。先固定一個點﹐在從上方擠出麵糊。總共擠出30個﹐放置20 - 30分鐘讓表面乾燥﹐用手摸不沾黏即可。放置的同時預熱烤箱至400°F/200°C。

待表面形成薄膜後用400°F/200°C烘烤2分鐘﹐然後迅速降溫到300°F/150°C繼續烘烤5分鐘。迅速取出烤盤各自覆上包裝鋁箔紙﹐放回烤箱時將烤盤調換 (上下烤架) 好 讓馬卡龍烤的均勻﹐再烘烤5分鐘﹐取出﹐放網架上靜置放涼後用抹刀取下﹐備用。



覆盆子風味奶油餡心

1個 大的全蛋
40g 細砂糖
40ml 水
50g 覆盆子果醬 (無籽)
100g 無鹽奶油
1湯匙 覆盆子酒利口酒

將覆盆子果醬放進一個耐熱的容器裡﹐再放進microwave裡加熱30秒至流動的狀態﹐過篩﹐備用。

把無鹽奶油切成1/2寸厚的小方塊﹐然後放進一個耐熱的容器裡﹐再放進microwave裡加熱10 - 15秒使奶油變軟﹐但絕對不可以加熱到融化(手指按下去有壓進去的軟度即可)。用橡皮刀用力壓變軟的奶油﹐再攪拌成美乃滋狀﹐備用。

將細砂糖與水混合放進一個耐熱的容器裡﹐放進microwave裡加熱60秒後取出﹐迅速拌至砂糖完全溶解。再次放進microwave裡加熱4分鐘後取出(要小心處理﹐非常燙喔﹗)﹐用湯匙拌勻。舀取一湯匙糖漿滴到冷水中﹐取出在手指間 搓揉﹐若能成為小球狀的濃度即可。

用電動攪拌器以高速將蛋打散至起細泡﹐轉低速繼續打發﹐細絲般的慢慢地注入糖漿(千萬不要攪拌糖漿會結晶的)，完全注入糖漿後轉中速繼續打發﹐直到冷卻出現結實尖角的程度﹐約5分鐘。將奶油加入蛋霜中﹐繼續打發攪拌至光滑立體狀態為止﹐拌入覆盆子果醬及覆盆子酒利口酒﹐繼續打發1分鐘。將奶油醬放冰箱冷藏10分鐘即完成。

如果不立刻使用﹐將奶油醬放入密閉的容器裡放冰箱存放﹐可以保存5天。如果放冰格冷藏可以存放6個月。使用前靜置回溫即可。

製作奶油餡最常遇倒的問題:
- 奶油餡看起來有分離的跡像﹗將奶油餡隔熱水加熱5秒﹐看到奶油餡融化時即停止加熱。用木匙稍微攪拌﹐然後用電動打蛋器打發至光滑立體狀態為止。

- 奶油餡看起來太軟了﹗將奶油餡放進冰箱冷藏10分鐘後﹐用電動打蛋器打發至光滑立體狀態為止。如果還是不夠立體﹐可以加2-4湯匙的奶油 (硬的) 至奶油餡中用低速打發至光滑立體狀態為止。

也可以配這些餡心:
苦甜巧克力甘那許餡心
焦糖榛果奶油夾心
覆盆子果醬

組合馬卡龍:
在半數的馬卡龍平面上擠出約1茶匙的夾心﹐再蓋上另一半的馬卡龍。做成15個。將蛋糕放進冰箱冷藏3個小時固定。吃的時後將蛋糕回室溫就可。

存放馬卡龍:
將馬卡龍包好進密封的容器中﹐放冰箱存放﹐可以保存2天。如果放冰格冷藏可以存放1個月。使用前靜置回溫即可。