When MrHubby's Oncalled

What did I do when MrHubby's oncalled on weekend??? I baked macarons!!! 
Macaron is a sweet confectionery made with egg whites, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder/ground almond and paste/powder food colouring. 2 shells of macarons are sandwiched together with the filling that could be either jam, ganache or buttercream. This confectionery is considered posh, it costs up to almost 2euro each! I never bought macarons before but I've heard about it so long ago. And with spare time on my hands, I've decided i should try baking them. This was my second trial (using different recipe). In my opinion, this recipe is a keeper! The shells were smooth and shiny! Love them! 

Macarons with vanilla buttercream

Piped shells need to be rested for about 30mins before baking

Piping the shells on the imprinted circles

Red powder food colouring

Pandan, green paste food colouring

Folding in the sugar almond mix into meringue (beaten white eggs)

Soft-peak white eggs

Mixing the ground almond and sifted icing/confectioners sugar (sugar almond mix)

So here goes the recipe, and happy baking!
Source: www.grouprecipes.com

Swiss meringue buttercream

• 2 large egg whites
• 175g butter
• 120g granulated sugar (next time i probably will use 100g-slightly sweet to my liking)
• 1 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method:

1. Double boil the egg whites and sugar, whisk until sugar dissolved and mixture warm to touch.
2. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks (picture is above), continue to beat for 6minutes until mixture is cooled.
3. Add butter (several tablespoons at a time) until smooth. (use medium speed)
4. Beat in vanilla extract on lowest speed until well mixed.
5. Stir in until smooth.

Macarons

• 230g confectioners/icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 120g ground almond
• 3 large egg whites
• 50g granulated sugar
• pinch of salt
• (1/4 tsp cream of tartar)-i added to the recipe-could be omitted if u don't have it

Method:

1. Make imprints of circles (1inch diameter) on parchment paper/baking sheets (as guidance for the piping)
   
2. Sift confectioners/icing sugar into a bowl. Whisk in the ground almond.
3. Beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy, then add salt (and cream of tartar)
4. Gradually, add in granulated sugar 1tsp at a time until soft peaks (picture is above)
5. Sprinkle half of the sugar almond mix and fold in with rubber spatula (picture is above) until just incorporated.
6. Then add the vanilla extract and remaining sugar almond mix, and continue to fold until incoporated.
7. Then pipe the mixture onto the imprinted circles. Let them rest for 30minutes before baking them at 160'C for 10-15minutes and rotating them halfway through until macarons feel slightly firm to the touch.
8. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer parchment and macarons to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Using a small offset spatula, carefully remove macarons from parchment. Spread 2 teaspoons buttercream on the flat sides of the half of macaroos; sandwich with the other halves, keeping flat sides down. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes, before serving.

Note: My oven only needs 120'C and took about 7-9minutes for shells to be cooked.