Tip: you can replace
the vanilla with
strawberry jelly and add
pink food colouring to the
macaron shell mixture.
For the macaron shells:
• 200g icing sugar
• 200g ground almonds
• 2x 80g egg whites
• 200g caster sugar
• 75ml water
• ½vanilla pod
For the mousseline cream:
• 500ml milk
• 6egg yolks
• 125g sugar
• 100g butter, diced
• 20g flour
• 30g cornflour
• ½vanilla pod
Prepare the shells: blend the 200g of icing sugar and the 200g of
ground almonds in a food processor. This mixture is called “tant pour
tant”, or “so-much for so-much” Sieve the “tant pour tant” then set
aside. Bring the water and caster sugar to the boil in a saucepan,
without stirring the mixture. Use a thermometer to check that the
temperature of the syrup does not exceed 115°C. Set up the stainless
steel bowl and the multi-prong whisk. In the bowl, beat 80g of egg
whites at speed 3until stiff peaks form and increase the speed when
the temperature of the syrup reaches 105°C. Take the syrup off the
heat when it reaches 115°C and pour it slowly into the beaten egg
whites in the stainless steel bowl. Continue to whisk this mixture for
6minutes so that the resulting meringue cools down a little. Add the
rest of the unbeaten egg whites (80g) to the “tant pour tant” mixture
that you set aside and mix until you have a smooth mixture. Slice the
vanilla pod in half and scrape out the vanilla seeds of one half, adding
them to this mixture. Combine around a third of the meringue with the
almond paste using a flexible spatula in order to loosen it a little, and
add the rest of the meringue whilst “macaron-ing”. This means to mix it
together using a spatula, lifting upwards from the bottom, for around
1minute. Place this mixture in an 8mm piping bag. Line a baking
sheet with parchment paper. Using the piping bag, pipe the mixture
into small and uniform walnut-sized balls, evenly spaced on the baking
tray. Gently tap the underside of the baking tray and leave to dry at
room temperature for around 30minutes. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
Bake for 14minutes then place the baking paper on a moistened work
surface in order that the shells can be easily removed.
Prepare the vanilla mousseline cream: heat the milk over a gentle
heat, adding the vanilla seeds from the other half of the vanilla pod.
In the stainless steel bowl, and using the multi-prong whisk, whisk the
egg yolks with the sugar for 2minutes at speed 6, then add the flour
and the cornflour and whisk again for 1minute at speed 4. Pour the hot
milk into the mixture, blend it all together using a hand whisk and put
the resulting mixture over a low heat for around 3to 4minutes, stirring
continuously until the cream thickens. Off the heat, mix in the diced
butter. Pour the cream into an airtight container and place it in the
refrigerator for at least 1hour 30minutes.
Assembly: Transfer the vanilla mousseline cream into an 8mm piping
bag and fill half of the shells. Top each filled shell with an empty
macaron shell and store in an airtight container.
WhiskBowl
Vanilla macarons
