In general, I try to be modest about my baking. Things can always be improved, flavors could be better, presentation may not have been spot on, etc. However, these macarons were perfect. Absolutely perfect. I can't take the credit though since they're PH's recipe, other than saying that I simply followed the recipe. Oddly though, the recipe listed almond meal as an ingredient for the lemon curd, but didn't say where/when to add it! With the trusty advice of my friend who used to intern at PH, I figured it out.
Pierre Herme Lemon Macaron
Macaron cookie:
300g almond powder
300g powdered sugar
110g egg whites
½ g yellow food coloring
+
300g granulated sugar
75g water
100g egg whites
Lemon curd/cream:
225 g eggs
240g granulated sugar
8g lemon zest
160g lemon juice
350g butter
100g almond powder
Prepare the lemon curd. Thoroughly mix the lemon zest with the sugar. In a double boiler, mix the lemon juice, lemon sugar, and eggs. Heat the mixture while whisking until it reaches 83/84 degrees C. Let it cool to 60 degrees C and then slowly incorporate the butter and almond powder. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool in the refrigerator (preferably overnight).
Prepare the macaron dough. In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar, almond powder, food coloring and first amount of egg whites. Boil the granulated sugar and water to 118 degrees C. When the sugar reaches 115 degrees, start whipping the second amount of egg whites. When the whites reach soft peaks and the sugar is at 118 degrees, pour the melted sugar into the egg whites. Whip until the mixture cools to 50 degrees. When cooled, mixed into the almond mixture. Pipe onto baking sheets and bake at 180 degrees for about 12 min. Assemble cookies: Pipe some lemon cream onto one cookie, top with another cookie.
9 comments:
they look amazing! :)
miss your posts! :)
Actually, in Pierre Herme's recipe, he states to "add almond meal" into lemon cream just before you begin piping. I had to read the recipe about 3 times to catch that! BEST LEMON CREAM AKA CURD ever!
Was this in the French version of the book? Because I swear I read it several times and couldn't see where to add it! :)
Yes, you add almond meal to the lemon cream right before piping. It's towards the end of the recipe in the English version.
Do you need to "cook" the almond meal to be added to the lemon cream? If not, does it have a raw taste?
I usually grind up some toasted or blanched (not raw) almonds, and the flavor is pretty good.
Thanks for clarifying.
Have you froze any of your macarons? Am making a large amount for a wedding and was wondering how best to freeze them. Am most afraid of condensation making the macarons soggy.
And your macarons are beautiful!
You can freeze macarons, but I generally never freeze them. Keeping them refrigerated is the best way to preserve them for a couple days.
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