Friday, September 30, 2011

Batch #15 - Passionfruit and Milk Chocolate, Lychee and Rose, & Passionfruit Butter Cream Macarons


Blogger tells me that this is my 100th post already!  Woohoo!  I talk a lot.  And pretty quickly (deep breath in) it seems!

Since the last batch, 2 significant things have happened in my world of macaron making.  Firstly is the acquisition of my new kitchen helper, the Thermomix!  This has made the preparation of the TPT an absolute breeze.


Next is the publication of Pierre Herme's book Macarons, in English.  I am so inspired by the wonderful variations and combinations of flavours Monsieur Herme uses in his celebrated macarons.  So for this lot of macarons, we decided to experiement with the flavours, based on passionfruit, and also lychee and rose.


For the lychee and rose macarons, I made neutral colored shells, and for the first time, embellished the shells.  I sprinkled edible ruby rose glitter on the shells before I rested them prior to baking.  I loved the simple and pretty shells this produced! 


The filling itself was a bit more difficult.  I followed the instructions for the lychee and rose filling according to the book, but probably due to the fact that my white chocolate and cream were not as nice as Monsieur Herme's, the filling was too runny.  I made about 10 macarons with this filling, but due to the moisture they were a tad too mushy and had to be eaten within the first 24 hours of assembly.  Hubby then boiled down another lot of lychee puree into a thick syrup and I made another lot of ganache with some Nestle white chocolate buttons (it was late at night, pouring with rain and my local supermarket had nothing else to offer).  This worked better and the macarons looked lovely.  The rose flavour comes from the addition of rose essence to the ganache. 


The taste of the lychee and rose is subtle, much like other fillings made with less acidic fruits and flowers.  It doesn't hit you like the tangy Tahitian Lime, nor does it give you the bite and texture of the Salted Caramel, but is nonetheless a pleasant flavour alternative, ideal with a cup of Earl Grey.  In the book Monsieur Herme actually makes a raspberry jelly which he cubes and puts into the middle of the filling.  I am too lazy to make the jelly just wanted to try the lychee and rose flavour this time so omitted that step.  In compensation I tried sneaking in a tiny piece of lychee in some of the macaron fillings.  I am still undecided whether it adds or takes away from this flavour combination.  I'll have to eat another one..... *cheeky grin*


Lychee and Rose Macaron, shells embellished with edible ruby rose glitter.


In fear of another lot of too-watery filling, we started by boiling down the passionfruit juice to a thick syrup prior to adding it to the milk chocolate for the next ganache.  This produced a really sour syrup and gave the ganache a lovely passionfruit note, and in comparison the milk chocolate is less prominent in the ganache.  Still not as nice as the one I had at Monsieur Truffe in my opinion, but not bad for a first attempt.

Passionfruit + Milk Chocolate Macaron, shells embellished with cocoa powder.

I had some more passionfruit syrup left over and decided to try making a butter cream to see what the flavour would be like.  I liked the texture of this the best, the butter cream giving the macaron that lovely bite after maturation, and the the tart passionfruit giving it the tangy taste.  Those who like the Tahitian Lime macarons would like this one!

Passionfruit Butter Cream Macarons, harlequin shells.

Lessons Learned -
  • When using fruit puree, it is sometimes necessary to reduce it to a thicker syrup prior to using it in a ganache or butter cream, so that a less runny mixture can be achieved for piping.
  • Now a firm believer that better quality ingredients will give you a better tasting product!


Happy 100th Post, Eat.Play.Shop!

6 comments:

  1. Happy 100th post to you too! I just got a thermo and I LOOOOVE it!!! So much fun to play around with. The lychee rose and raspberry combo is just so delicious isn't it? I made a dessert with it, but I'd love to try your macarons, yumm..

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  2. Happy 100th post :D Everyone is getting a thermomix lately! So jealous!! I cannot believe that those are not store-bought macarons, though! They are beautiful, it looks like you've honestly mastered the making of them!

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  3. Congrats on your 100th post :) thats awesome!! These macarons look so fab! Very professional and are making me crave macarons now lol

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  4. omg i must get that book!! yay for thermomix! they look fantastic!

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  5. @TheInTolerant Chef : Yes I'm loving the thermomix, and it certainly was a great help when I had to make multiple batches of fruit puree! I made the creme brulee in the book the other day and it was divine!

    @Bianca : So glad you got better service than us! Unfortunately it's not the first time we've had less than ideal service when dining out with the whole gang - dining with kids can be trickier for parents and restaurants alike, but as you can see from my blog it ain't stopping me from eating out, and I will sing high praises to the places we visit with good food, great service and are tolerant of the little ones!

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  6. @Nic : Thanks for your lovely compliments! Fortunately I didn't get too many maca-wrongs this time! Part of the reason I love making them is that they're so pur-ty when I get them right so I get to take lots and lots of photos!

    @Shellie : The book is a real inspiration to read when you love macarons as much as we do! I am so glad I have the thermomix, I still beat the whites with my old trusty mixmaster but everyelse is so much faster in the thermie! You must try making some with yours!

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