Cherry Macarons


During Xmas time I made ginger flavoured Macarons filled with chocolate buttercream, so this time I made..

Durante el tiempo navideño hice ginger flavoured Macarons (Macarons con sabor a gengibre) relleno de buttercream de chocolate, así que esta vez hice..





..Macarons filled with homemade cherry preserve :-)  Some were filled with my vanilla buttercream topped with the cherry preserve.. both versions were deliCCCCious.. I´m a super fan of Macarons :-)

 .. Macarons rellenos de conserva casera de cerezas :-) Algunos estaban rellenos de mi buttercream de vainilla cubertos con la conserva de cereza... ambas versiones eran deliCCCCiosas .. Se puede ver que soy una super fan de Macarons :-)

When I made Macarons the 1st time, it took me 4 attempts to get them right and when you live in a high % humidity area like I do, it makes things even more difficult! This time I had success on the 1st attempt so I was very very happy! 

 Cuando hice Macarons la primera vez, me tomó 4 intentos para hacerlo bien y cuando vives en una zona con alta humedad como yo, hace las cosas aún más difícil! Esta vez tuve éxito en la primera tentativa y me hace muy, muy feliz!

CHERRY MACARONS
¡clic aquí para ver/imprimir la receta en Español!

Ingredients:
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 55g grounded almonds/almond flour
  • 1 ½ L egg whites at room temperature
  • 25g white granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence/paste
  • pinch of salt
  • pink gel colourant
Method:
Sift your icing sugar, salt and grounded almond together and leave to the side.  Beat your egg whites until soft peaks form and while continuing to beat on high, slowly add your granulated sugar until your egg whites have formed stiff peaks, now add your vanilla and continue to beat on high until the vanilla is incorporated.  Sift your sifted dry ingredients (again) into the same bowl you used to beat the egg whites. Use a rubber spantula to mix all the ingredients together by working in big/wide circular movements until the mixture resembles baby porridge (takes about 30-35 circle movements).
Filla piping bag with a round nozzle tip and pipe on a oven tray pre-lined with wax paper. I use a silicone mat for this job but if you don´t have it the wax paper works perfectly well just make sure circles are aprox. 2cm apart and they are all the same size. Leave in a dry room to set for aprox. 2-3 hours or when you touch them they don´t stick to your finger. Pre-heat your oven to 150ºC and bake for 15 minutes. Put your oven off and leave them for a further 5 minutes in the hot oven.  You will know if they ready if they have rised and have the famous bottom parts/feet and when you remove them from your baking sheet they come off quite easily.  Leave to cool at room temperature and when cool fill with homemade cherry preserve and vanilla buttercream (both recipes below).
Cherry Preserve:
Wash and un-pit about 2 cups of cherries, add to a heavy bottom saucepan with ½ cup of white granulated sugar on medium to high heat, stirring continuously. When the liquid has reduced, empty some of it (liquid only) in a cup and add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, mix well (make sure there are no lumps) then add to the cherry mixture on the stove, reduce the heat and continue to mix until then preserve is nice and thick. Remove from the heat entirely and let cool at room temperature. When cool, you can put it in a jar and let cool overnight in the fridge.
Vanilla Buttercream:
125g of unsalted butter at room temperature
200g of sifted icing sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence/paste
Cream the butter and when soft add the rest of the ingredients and continue to beat until smooth and fluffy. Takes about 3-5 minutes.


You don´t have to fill the Macarons with homemade cherry preserve, you can add your favourite store bought cherry jam too and it would taste very good too.. 

 Usted no tiene que rellenar los Macarons con confitura casera de cerezas, usted puede añadir su mermelada de cerezas favorita (comprado) también y tendrá un sabor muy bueno también ..

Until next time guys! Happy Macaron making! I´m really enjoying the time with my kids, although it doesn´t allow for much time to work.. so at times I feel a bit frustrated.. but truth be told I wouldn´t change these precious moments with them for nothing!

 Hasta la próxima vez chic@s! Disfruten de hacer los Macarons! Estoy disfrutando el tiempo con mis hijos, aunque no permite mucho tiempo para trabajar.. así que a veces me siento un poco frustrado.. pero a decir verdad yo no cambiaría esos momentos preciosos con ellos para nada !