Ok, I've officially lost my macaron mojo. I've made three not-great batches lately. These ones are actually excellent in terms of flavor, but they didn't come out looking like I wanted. They got very frilly feet, and are flatter than my usual, and the shells are softer which is probably a good thing. I baked these a bit shorter than usual - 12 minutes rather than 15. Colorwise... well, I just can't seem to get the hang of that. These were supposed to be yellow and had a good amount of yellow food coloring in them but you can't see a trace of it in the baked cookies. Oh well!
Anyway - I made them for Easter, and for Mac Attack 6! Head over to MacTweets to see a lot more - and much prettier - macarons.
Lemon Cheesecake Macarons
15-20 filled cookies
(Printable recipe)
3 egg whites, at room temperature
2 tbsp caster sugar
200 g powdered sugar
110 g almonds, blanched
yellow food coloring (optional)
Combine powdered sugar and almonds in your food processor, and grind until very fine. Sieve. Re-grind any lumps or big pieces of almonds. Mix carefully (they tend to separate a little bit when sieving, since the sugar falls through first.)
Beat egg whites and sugar until you have a thick, glossy meringue. Don't overbeat. Stir in the almond-sugar powder, and fold together. Add food coloring, if using. Don't overmix this - most seem to say that you should use less than 50 strokes. (You can try it by dolloping a little batter on a baking sheet - if the peak falls down, it's ready. If it doesn't, try a few more strokes. The batter will thin as you keep stirring it.)
Pipe small rounds on a baking sheet with baking paper. Leave at room temperature for 30-60 minutes, to form a skin.
Bake at 150°C for 12-15 minutes. (I have a convection oven, and 12 minutes was perfect for me.) Let them cool completely before filling. Unused shells can be frozen, or kept in an air-tight container for a day or so.
Lemon Cheesecake filling:
150 gram cream cheese
60 gram unsalted butter, at room temperature
250 ml confectioner's sugar
finely grated zest from 2 lemons
Beat all ingredients until it's really light and fluffy. If it seems too runny, place it in the fridge to firm up for a short while, before sandwiching between the macaron shells.
Recipe in Swedish:
Citron-cheesecake macarons
12 comments:
they still look lovely and i am really liking the falvor idea in these!
Oh Anne, we all go through this. I had 3 horrid batches, flat and cracked and 2 batches that had feet but were much flatter than usual. I think it's just a phase and anyway, if they taste good that is what's important, right? I still think yours look pretty darn good and I love the flavor! Thanks for sharing and baking with us at Mactweets!
The Macarons looks wonderful!
Regards from Cyprus!
Hey no worries re: losing the mojo - I made two perfect batches first time round in Jan and Feb then in March it took me FIVE times to get it right then this time they worked on the first go. They are so unpredictable. These look lovely in my opinion!!!
Yum, cream cheese! (Who hasn't a batch of macarons that didn't quite work out?) About the color, do you have access to paste or powdered coloring? They're much stronger, more concentrated, and usually will color they way you want it. I did a search in German (because my Swedish is way too rusty ;), and came up with this: http://www.gaumenshop.de/speisefarben/speisefarben-pasten.html
I do use paste colors (or well, gel ones, from Wilton) but I don't really get them to work. Maybe I don't dare add enough? I really need to get some powder colors instead. And I really wish I could find freeze-dried berries, as I'd love to make flavored shells.
Thanks everyone for your kind comments :)
Hey, looks aren't everything ;) If I had a choice between lovely but so-so tastewise macs and delicious but uglier ones, I'd choose the latter. And yours are definitely not ugly! The filling is for keeps, def. will make it.
HI Anne!!
Every now and then I look in on your blog and I always like what I see...but today I thougt, RIGHT-this time I am going to make them! I have not ever made Macarons, but have always wanted to. I think yours look devine - even though you don't seem to think so, but to me - a TOTAL macaron beginner, they look perfect and delicious!
According to the English Press, cupcakes are so last year and Macarons are this year's thing - so with that in mind and your recipe, I'd better get started!!
Thank you for sharing!
Kind regards
Nicola
Great cheesecake macarons. They look very tasty.
Look, I'm a failed Mac-a-baker and I know that they often look better than they taste. Superb job....
Yours look great Anne. You would weep if you hear of my mac mojo. After 8 attempts, it still never came back. I love your choice of flavours... refreshing and so different. Thanks for doing macs with us!
Macarons are so finicky. Yours look pretty and it really is all about the taste.
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