Batch #4+5 - Raspberry White Chocolate Ganache & Lemon Butter Cream

When I made Batch Number 4, I thought they were the best tasting batch yet, although they didn't look as nice.  So I made the same flavours again, and I was happier with the way Batch Number 5 turned out.



Batch 4 on the left, Batch 5 on the right. 
Notice how the shells are a lot flatter in Batch 4! Not happy!

I was still very unsure with how much beating is required to get a good meringue.  I was also very worried of OVER beating the meringue and probably erred by UNDER beating, giving me a runnier macronage and a much flatter shell.

Batch Number 4 - Lemon Zest and Raspberry White Chocolate Ganache

The shells were a bit flat

I was more confident with using the coloring.  Finally brightly colored shells!

I also eliminated the one step that doubled the amount of time it took for me to make the macarons - I stopped passing the TPT (tant pour tant - the icing sugar and almond meal mixture) through a fine sieve, and just gave the food processor a few extra pulses to make sure the almond meal is very fine, and well mixed with the sugar.  The resultant macronage still yielded pretty smooth shells, with not that much noticeable difference.  But boy, my forearms ached a lot less and that probably meant I had a more steady hand in piping and got more evenly shaped shells!

For the filling, I stuck with the Lemon Butter Cream as I'm getting addicted to the zingy, zesty taste of the lemon macarons with a cup of tea! 

The kids always want pink macarons so I thought I'd try some raspberry jam with the white chocolate ganache.  I found that the ganache worked better with double cream.  I was a bit lazy in that I didn't use fresh raspberries, but chose to use a small bit of raspberry jam smeared on one of the shells before piping the ganache on top.

Raspberry White Chocolate Ganache Macarons

I really enjoyed making this bunch of macarons, and had a great time taking photos, as you can see!

Lessons Learned -

• A stiff meringue is very, very important.  A little tartaric acid can help stablise the foam and you need to get to the firm to stiff peak stage prior to adding the sugar syrup.
• Different fillings will be absorbed into the shell at different rates.  The raspberry ones were at their best at Day 3-4 of maturation, but by Day 5 the jam had made it all the way THROUGH the shell.
• After piping, giving the tray a tap on the table will help air bubbles rise to the top, which can then be popped by gently pricking the bubble with a tooth-pick.