Here’s a delicious summer recipe: an incredibly indulgent and very fresh dessert. I made quite a few macarons last week, and then, when it came to piping my green shells (with a view to making a lime ganache and a mint one), I thought I’d make a few slightly larger shells. That’s why the shells are green, but you can colour them however you like — pink, for example, to echo the red berries.
I’d already made a dessert of this kind last year (with heart-shaped shells), but I’d filled the macarons with a diplomat cream. This time, I wanted something lighter and went for a simple vanilla mascarpone chantilly.
Around the edge of the macaron, I arranged raspberries, but what you can’t see in the photo is that there’s also some finely diced strawberry inside the cream. My other half (and official taster) really liked it!
Ingredients & preparation
3 components · Full recipe
Shells (you’ll have extra — make small macarons with the rest)
Ingredients
- 2 × 52 g (1.8 oz) egg whites
- 150 g (5.3 oz) icing sugar
- 150 g (5.3 oz) ground almonds
- 50 g (1.8 oz) water
- 150 g (5.3 oz) caster sugar
- food colouring
Preparation
1
Blitz the icing sugar and ground almonds together, then sift.
2
Make the syrup by placing the sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil until the temperature reaches 118°C / 244°F. When the syrup reaches 110°C / 225°F, gradually whisk 52 g (1.8 oz) of egg whites to stiff peaks. You can add the food colouring at this point. Once the temperature reaches 118°C / 244°F, reduce the speed of the whisk and pour the syrup over the whipped whites. Increase the speed again to cool the meringue. Check with your finger — it should be warm but not cold.
3
Switch to the paddle attachment on your stand mixer and fold in the remaining 52 g (1.8 oz) of egg whites, then gradually add the ground almond and icing sugar mixture. Leave to run until the mixture becomes smooth, shiny and falls from the paddle in a ribbon.
4
Once the right consistency is reached, transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Don’t hesitate to use a tall glass to hold your piping bag — that way you can use both hands.
5
Pipe circles of about 8 cm (3.1 in) in diameter onto a sheet of baking paper. To get evenly sized rounds, you can use a template that you slide underneath your baking paper.
6
Bake at 120°C / 250°F for approximately 25 minutes. Once out of the oven, leave to cool before removing the shells. They are ready when they lift off the baking paper easily.
Step by step
Not quite comfortable with macaron shells yet? I’ve put together two full step-by-step picture guides to help you get it right every time:
Vanilla Chantilly Cream
Ingredients
- 200 g (7.1 oz) full-fat liquid cream
- 20 g (0.7 oz) mascarpone
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- ½ vanilla pod
Preparation
1
Place the bowl and the whisk attachments of your electric mixer in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
2
Pour the cream and mascarpone into the chilled bowl and begin whisking at medium speed, then as the cream starts to thicken, increase the speed. The cream will gradually rise and firm up.
3
Check the consistency from time to time by stopping the mixer and observing how it looks. It is ready as soon as it holds completely — if you turn the bowl upside down, it should not fall out. Be careful not to over-whip, or you will end up with butter. You need to know when to stop.
4
Don’t forget to add the icing sugar and vanilla seeds when the cream is almost fully whipped.
5
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle and keep refrigerated until assembly.
Assembly
Ingredients
- raspberries
- strawberries
- lime
Preparation
1
Place raspberries around the edge of one macaron shell, leaving a small gap between each raspberry.
2
Pipe small balls of chantilly between each raspberry and then fill the centre of the macaron.
3
Add the strawberries, cut into a small brunoise, and zest a lime over the top.
4
Cover with a little more chantilly and close with a second macaron shell.
5
Refrigerate for at least 24 hours. (Note: my other half didn’t wait that long — this dessert was eaten after just a few hours in the fridge, and the macaron shell was not too hard.)
Gallery
