On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me three peppermint macaroons, two orange date cookies and a freshly baked ginger snap
I have never made macarons before, so this was definitely a trial. Also, I followed a recipe... sort of. I saw the idea and the recipe on Tasty, but then altered it slightly to suit my ingredients, and to avoid using too many noisy kitchen utensils after Little Bit's bedtime. Below is what I actually did. They were tasty but came out a little flat. I am not sure if I over- or under-beat my egg whites, but it took me two attempts. The first time, when I added the sugar it went stiff and then increasingly liquidy. So I set it aside (need to figure out what to use that for) and tried again. The second time they were stiff peaks but maybe not quite stiff enough, but I was hesitant to keep going lest I get a syrup again. As a result, I think my batter was a little thin, making piping difficult, and instead of standing up as little blobs, as soon as I dolloped them onto the cookie sheet, my macarons went flat. My macaron work needs some practice, but I will do so and hopefully master macarons in the future!
Ingredients:
1 3/4 c powdered sugar
1 c ground almonds
3 egg whites
A pinch of salt
1/4 c granulated sugar
2 tsp dried peppermint leaves (or 1 tsp mint extract)
1 c chocolate, smashed up
1/2 c cream
1) Mix the powdered sugar and almonds together. (If you don't have the noise restrictions I did you can blitz them to get them as fine as possible)
2) Brew the mint leaves in 1/2 c of boiling water for at least an hour. Then bring to a boil and add 1 tbsp of the sugar, reducing to form a syrup.
3) In a clean bowl beat egg whites and the pinch of salt to soft peaks.
4) Gradually add the granulated sugar and beat to form stiff peaks.
5) In thirds, fold in the sugar and almond mix until thick and ribonny. With the last third add the mint syrup.
6) Dollop (or pipe, but I don't have a pastry piping set) the batter onto a lined cookie sheet and bang on the counter a couple of times to release air bubbles. Leave to dry 30-60 minutes.
7) Melt the chocolate in a Bain Marie, combining it with the cream until it forms a smooth mass. Let it cool for about an hour.
8) Bake the macaroons at 150°C for 20 minutes then cool on a wire rack.
9) Either dip the individual macaroons in the chocolate or use the chocolate to sandwich two macaroons together ( or, as I did with some of mine that broke, put them in a bowl and drizzle the chocolate over.)
These were very tasty but a little too sweet and not nearly minty enough. I would like to try these again, cutting the sugar ( but then I need to find some way to balance out the textural needs) and I need to step up the minty-ness. Very tasty though and a worthy inclusion! If you make them and get them a little taller than mine send me a picture!
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