Macarons Part Two: Coffee, Pistachio, Chocolate and Lemon

The past few days have been macaron mania in my kitchen and I’ve still only made about half my list of flavours. I made lemon, pistachio, chocolate hazelnut, and coffee. They’re all absolutely delicious although the texture is a little off in all of them in one way or another. There was some underbeaten meringue, as I switched from using a stand mixer to a hand mixer, and one batch I even forgot about and left in the oven for far too long (tried to pass these off as meringue cookies, didn’t even bother filling them they were so crispy).

Even with all the troubles I ran into, these were still lots of fun to make. A couple hollow shells don’t ruin the flavour of the cookies and they are still very tasty. I found recipes for different fillings all over the internet, mixing and altering them until I got something I liked. The pistachio cream and coffee infused ganache are amazing. It was my first time making both of them and they are definitely my new favourites.

I could only snap a few shots of the filled and completed batches before the sun went down, and my dog curiously came down to join.

This coffee infused white chocolate ganache is so sooo good, and it complements the coffee speckled shells perfectly. This recipe is an altered version of the one found in Pierre Hermés Macaron book.

Coffee Infused White Chocolate Ganache

200 g white chocolate (about 7 oz)

150 g heavy cream

2 tablespoons ground coffee (this makes a very strong coffee flavour, if you want more chocolate and less coffee, use about 1.5 tablespoons)

Coarsely chop the white chocolate and put it in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Stir until all the chocolate is melted.

Boil the cream over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Add the coffee grounds and remove from the heat. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes, then strain out the grounds.

Add the coffee-infused cream to the chocolate in three parts, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Let stand for 30 minutes.

The ganache can be used now, or whipped for 1-2 minutes (my option, it also lightens the colour).

 

Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache 

I started out just making a good ol chocolate ganache, then decided to throw in some nutella and needless to say, the results were delicious.

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter, cut into little cubes

1/4 cup nutella, or other chocolate hazelnut spread

Coarsely chop the bittersweet chocolate and put it in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Stir until all the chocolate is melted.

Boil the cream over medium-low heat, stirring constantly.

Add the cream to the chocolate in three parts, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the butter and nutella, and stir to combine.

Let the mixture stand for 30 minutes. At this stage, the ganache is ready for use. If you want to whip the mixture (as I did), place it in the refrigerator until it stiffens (30-60 minutes) and whip it for a couple minutes. The colour will lighten and the mixture will become delightfully airy.

Pistachio Cream
Recipe from Food Nouveau

45 g unsalted and shelled pistachios

1 cup icing sugar

6 tablespoons (85 g) butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using a food processor, finely grind the pistachios and icing sugar. Cream this mixture with the softened butter until you reach a creamy consistency. Add the vanilla extract and mix well to combine. If you find the mixture too thick, mix in a tiny bit of cream until you reach the right consistency.

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See also: my first post on macarons and a recipe for swiss meringue buttercream (another great macaron filling)

Up next: raspberry, salted caramel, maple pecan, and vanilla bean macarons!