Darling but Finicky Macarons

Last Year's Less Sweet Chocolate Macarons

It's been a year since I made my first attempt at macarons, those darling, but finicky, little confections. I had been seeing photos of them for years already, and making them was on the "to-do" list, which sometimes takes a while before getting around to. I have a serious lack of "round tuits" to hand. I also had never tasted macarons before, and when I finally did try some from a new local "patisserie," which does a fantastic job at all their pastries and breads mind you, I was really surprised and dismayed at how tooth-achingly sweet they were. At that time last year then, I was searching for ways to make them less sweet, and so called my confections "Less-Sweet Chocolate Macarons." Not necessarily a glamorous name, but it fit the bill, and they were amazing. They were also a LOT of work, even for me.

I guess sometimes time passes and we forget the magnitude of a thing. Kind of like having a baby and swearing off sex, only to come back once all that trauma wears off and decide to give it another go. Maybe it wasn't quite that bad, after all? 

Unsuccessful First Attempt
at Matcha Macarons

So it happened that last week I got an idea. I swear absolutely that I did not look up a single recipe, nor had I even seen macarons in photos for quite a while. I decided that if cocoa in macarons would  help making them less sweet, then surely Matcha tea powder would do the same thing. And then I thought about what I would use to fill Matcha flavored macarons and came up with two possible options: raspberry or orange. As it happened, I had a frozen bag of raspberries that needed using, and so raspberry filling it would be.

What are "Macarons?"

Macarons are a confection made with meringue and almond meal. There is no flour being added to the batter, so these are essentially meringue "cookies" of a sort, and by their nature, gluten-free. There is a delicate balance needed with the ingredients to get the texture just right, otherwise the characteristic smooth tops and pretty, frilly little "feet" at the base of the cookies will not happen. The batter itself has to come out slightly thick, but acting much as a lava flow: slow, but implacable movement. If it is too runny, it will spread all out of shape and make thin, unappetizing wafers. If the batter is too thick, it cannot spread at all, and the tops can never become smooth. The little frilly feet cannot form when baking. There is no "give." And so, that delicate balance needed. I speak from experience. 😉

I have most often seen macarons as quite small confections of a bite or two size. They can be made larger, if preferred, but the baking time will need to be altered as well, to accommodate the proper setting and drying time. I like the 1½-inch diameter size, but they can be made smaller, as well.

First Attempt

I used the recipe in the links above last year, substituting Matcha tea powder for the cocoa. But somehow, my measurements were totally off or something, and instead of adorable little cookie confections, they turned out rather incredible-hulk-ish. There was far too much dry ingredient to be able to mix into the meringue. There was far too much Matcha tea powder, period. The whole mixture was dry and deep dark, dark green. Not a single view of the little "feet" at the base of the cookies. Not a single glossy top. Not terribly appetizing or appealing (note the photo above right). The one great thing was the filling, which turned out perfect. 
 

Successful Matcha Macarons with Raspberry Filling

In the meanwhile, a couple of days back, out of curiosity, I Googled "Matcha Macarons with Raspberry Filling". You cannot even believe how many recipes are out there for this same combination. Oh well; nothing new under the sun, I continue to aver. Still, my idea also encompasses the less-sweet aspect, and the way I chose to make my filling was totally different that those recipes I read. This version is all my own. Once the raspberry puree is fully cooked down to a thick paste, it is nicely tart, toning down the very sweet icing and making a great counterpoint to the less-sweet meringue cookie. Plus, you just cannot beat that lovely, all-natural color.

Raspberry Filling

Raspberry Filling

Makes about 2 cups

12 ounces frozen or fresh, unsweetened raspberries
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar
¼ teaspoon salt

Place the raspberries in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cover and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes, until well broken down. Remove from heat and pour into a sieve over a bowl. Use a spoon to press out raspberry juices and any solids that will pass through the sieve. Keep pressing until the seeds are looking very dry inside the sieve. With a clean spoon scrape off any thick raspberry puree from the outside of the sieve and stir well into the juices. Discard the seeds and return the puree to a clean saucepan. Set over low heat, allowing the puree to cook down to approximately 2 tablespoons of very thick puree. Let cool, not refrigerated.

Straining raspberries - cooked down puree - mixed with icing

Make the frosting by first placing the butter into a stand mixer and beating on medium speed for 8 minutes, until very light and nearly white in color, scraping down sides and bottom as needed. Slow the beating speed to as low as it will go and add in the confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat gently about 1 minute, to incorporate the dry ingredients, then increase to medium speed and beat a further 6 minutes, scraping down sides twice during this time. The frosting will be very light and fluffy. Add in the completely cooled 2 tablespoons of raspberry puree and beat well to completely incorporate.

Use immediately or refrigerate, well covered for up to a week. Bring completely to room temperature before using.

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Round Two . . .

As I said, somehow last week I had to have measured or weighed wrong. It can happen to the best of us. I went back and re-examined my older recipe, re-read my own blog, and still couldn't find any flaw in it, so apparently it was my measuring at fault last week. Today, I tried it again. I still had plenty of the filling left to use, so it was only the macarons themselves I had to re-do. And today I worked carefully and measured carefully and they came out - if not completely perfect - at least 98% close. I am more than happy. The tops are not 100% smooth. But there are lovely little feet at the base of each cookie. The flavor of the Matcha is lovely and not overdone. I am happy. 

Matcha Macarons with Raspberry Filling

In order to make macarons less sweet, there are a couple of things that can be done without totally screwing up the delicate balance of the recipe. 

1. It is possible to substitute 1/10th of the confectioners' sugar (but no more, at the risk of altering the consistency needed) with rice flour. Simply take the total amount of the confectioners' sugar called for in a recipe, easiest done by weight, and multiply by 1/10th:  8 ounces x .10 = .8 ounce. This means that this same amount (.8 ounce) is removed from the confectioners' sugar, leaving 7.2 ounces of the sugar, as well as measuring out .8 ounce of rice flour to add back in. This keeps the proportion even, without upsetting balance.
2. You may substitute 1 tablespoon of the almond meal with 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder or Matcha tea powder, both bitter on their own, which further helps tone down the sweetness.

Today, I re-weighed and re-measured these substitutions, to ensure that my older recipe was okay. As the photos demonstrate, this time they came out quite well. I think I might add in just a little more egg white, if I was making these again. Maybe using 4 ounces of egg white would give a bit more looseness to the batter, making for smoother tops. That will be my next test.

Altogether, the macarons came out really wonderfully, with far less bitterness from the Matcha than that first time, and the nice bright and tart raspberry filling just pops with flavor.

Matcha Macarons with Raspberry Filling

Made 76 (1½-inch) individual macarons or 38 sandwiches

Matcha Macarons with Raspberry Filling

7.2 ounces (204 grams) confectioners' sugar
0.8 ounces (22 grams) rice flour
5.4 ounces (153 grams) almond meal
0.2 ounces (4 grams, or 1 tablespoon) good quality Matcha tea powder
3.85 ounces egg whites (3 to 4 medium), completely room temperature
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1.4 ounces (3 tablespoons) superfine sugar

One recipe for Raspberry Filling, above

Set the egg whites in a squeaky clean glass or metal bowl and allow them to come completely to room temperature, at least 2 hours.

Draw 1½-inch circles, spaced at least 1-inch apart, on the underside of three sheets of parchment. Set the parchment onto three baking sheets with the circles on the under side. They can be seen through, giving a template. Make at least 80 circles. Set baking sheets aside.

Weigh out the almond meal first and pass through a sifter or sieve with medium holes. Any almond bits that do not pass through, place these into a tablespoon measure. Remove a further amount from the sifted almond meal, enough to top off the tablespoon measure, leveled. This tablespoon of almond will not be used; discard or return to the bag of meal. Return the sifted almond meal to the sifter and add in the tablespoon of Matcha powder. Sift again, and once completely sieved through, return any bits of almond that did not pass through, back to the bowl with the rest (some become so coated with the Matcha powder that they seem too big, but they are not). Once more, add the sifted almond-Matcha mixture back to the sifter. Add in the confectioners' sugar and the rice flour and sift the whole mixture into the bowl and set aside.

Prepare a piping bag, or a zip-top bag and have it ready. The batter will need to be used right away once finalized.

With extremely clean beaters and a stand or hand mixer on medium speed, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until they are very foamy and holding soft peaks. Continue beating, raising the speed and adding in the superfine sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until well incorporated and the mixture is holding stiff peaks.

Using a large spatula, fold the dry mixture into the meringue in three additions, folding each addition in completely before adding the next third. It should take a total of about 50 to 60 "folds" to completely incorporate all the dry ingredients. (Folding: Spatula down the center of the bowl from 12 to 6 o'clock and continuing the swipe down around and up the side edges of the bowl and folding over to the center. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat, until all the dry is mixed in.) At this point, the batter should resemble a lava flow, a slow but definite slide off the spatula. If not, then do a couple more folds.

Scoop the batter into the prepared bag and snip off the tip to make a ½-inch opening. Be careful, the batter is soft and will start to run out. Pipe the batter inside the circle templates on the parchment. The batter should spread only slightly. Once finished piping all the circles on one sheet, set the bag aside and with both hands, lift the baking sheet and let it drop at least three times from a height of about 6 or 7 inches. This helps to release air bubbles. If any air bubbles appear on the surface but do not break open, use a straight pin to burst them. Set the pan aside and proceed with piping rounds of batter inside the circles on the next sheet, repeating with the lifting and dropping once that pan is filled. If there is more batter, continue on the next sheet of parchment.

Once finished piping all the batter, set the trays aside for 30 to 60 minutes and let them air dry. The tops of the meringue cookies should be dry to the (gentle) touch. Fifteen minutes before you are going to bake the cookies, set the oven to 300 degrees. Set one tray in the oven and time for 5 minutes. Rotate the tray 180 degrees and bake for a further 5 minutes. Then put the handle of a wooden spoon in the oven door to keep it slightly opened and bake a further 5 minutes. Once done, replace the tray with the next one and repeat the sequence.

When all the meringue cookies are baked and cooled, you can begin removing them from the parchment. Understand that these meringues are quite delicate and need to be handled gently. They should not stick badly to the parchment, but if they do not lift off easily, use the method of sliding the parchment over the edge of the counter and effecting release of the meringues that way.

If your filling is prepared, pipe a small amount in the center of the underside of one cooled meringue, then gently press a second meringue over top. Repeat with all the meringues.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.