Macarons – the sweet French temptation

A touch of France in your own home? No problem with our macaron recipe. Bring the French pastry into your home! This popular meringue pastry enchants with its airy biscuit halves combined with a creamy filling. These little delicacies not only add color to the table, but also a whole lot of enjoyment. Bon appetit!

This is what you need:

Macaron shells:

- 45 g ground almonds

- 75 g powdered sugar

- 36 g egg white (approx. 1 medium egg), the egg should be at least 5 days old

- 10 g sugar (approx. 1 tbsp)

- Food coloring paste or powder (liquid color does not work)

Ganache:

- 100 g white chocolate (not couverture)

- 50 ml fresh cream

And here's how it works:

1. First, finely grind the ground almonds and powdered sugar and mix thoroughly. Add 1 tablespoon of each ingredient to the food processor and blend well. Gradually add the almonds and powdered sugar.
2. This almond powder is now passed through a fine sieve - it must then be a very, very fine powder.
3. Beat the egg whites with a hand mixer.
4. When it starts to become foamy, add the sugar and continue beating.
5. When the mixture is nice and white, add some of the food coloring with a spoon handle or the tip of a knife and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
6. The almond-icing sugar flour is now mixed with the egg white mixture in 3 portions: Add 1/3 of the mixture to the egg white mixture and stir in with the spatula in even, circular movements.
7. Then fold in the second and third thirds in the same way. The egg whites will soften slightly during this process. The resulting mixture should be neither too runny nor too stiff.
8. Fill the mixture into a piping bag with a perforated nozzle.
9. Pipe small circles (approximately the size of a 2 euro coin) onto the baking sheet, leaving a gap of about 3 cm between each circle. Then let the macaron shells rest for 15 to 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius (top and bottom heat).
10. In the meantime, prepare the ganache.
11. After the resting time, bake the macaron shells for 15 minutes on the middle rack of the oven at 140-145 degrees top and bottom heat.
12. Remove the tray from the oven and carefully remove the baking paper with the shells onto the work surface. After about 5 minutes, when the shells have cooled, carefully remove them from the baking paper and turn them over to allow the feet to dry better. Only leave them on the delicate shell surface for a short time, as otherwise they will suffer. Then turn them over again.
13. Now stir the ganache vigorously again and fill it into the piping bag.
14. Then place 2 bowls each and the cream on the bottom of each bowl and place it on top with a small twist.
15. Now the macarons should be refrigerated for another 4 hours so that the flavors of the shell and filling can blend well.

Ganache:

1. Heat the cream (do not boil) and pour over the chocolate.
2. Mix both vigorously with a whisk and stir until a smooth, even mixture is formed.
3. Cover the ganache and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes. Then whisk briefly but vigorously again.

Good succeed!

Photo(s): Birgit Maier