Random 11 - Blackberry

Was motivated last week to make lighter, airier shells, so today was round 2 inspired by Pierre Herme's book Macaron.

2 quick learnings:

1. Making more meringue does *not* make for a lighter macaron.  Using 50% more egg whites for the meringue ends up with batter that is no-where near the lava / magma consistency needed.  Good news is that it dawned on my quickly what I'd done, so I just took out 50% more almond meal and powdered sugar, and sifted it into the bowl.
2. Pierre* - I owe you an apology.  The problems I had in last batch were 10x more my fault (not making a proper meringue, AND not following your recipe exactly - adding 20% more dry ingredients (cocoa powder instead of chocolate liquor) than anything else. As I said - I was probably being unfair and judging my results from trying to following your recipe than the recipe itself.

Which, as everyone who has tried to follow a recipe for something non-trivial like a macaron, even a good recipe doesn't replace experience and knowing.

This week I tried to make Pierre's recipe for Raspberry Macarons.  As I admitted in (1) above, I had initially tried making a lighter shell by just making more meringue, although ultimately this just resulted in me having 50% more shells.  But - as the meringue was done right - a few minutes at low speed (3/9 on my mixer) to lightly froth the whites, a few minutes at medium speed (6/9) to double in size, and then full speed (9/9) as I drizzled in the hot sugar syrup.  I used my new Thermapen to read the temperature this time - which was good, as my old thermometer turned out to be about 10C off.

Piped the shells - I think the hazelnut meal makes the batter a bit thicker / rougher, so they weren't as smooth as last time, and I still get the little tips, but I choose to just use place an almond slice / sliver on top of each shell and push them back down.

Filling - well, the store had frozen raspberries with sugar - how much, no one noes, or frozen blackberries, cherries, strawberries and blueberries.  Not a huge fan of strawberries (unless you get really ripe & sweet ones) or blueberries. Had a strong leaning towards cherries, as I love them, I know they go well with cardamom macarons, and I had some Bitter Chocolate Ganache left over from last week, and wouldn't that be great. So I resisted that urge and got blackberries, to try to be as close to Pierre's recipe as I could.  Mashed them up, added some sugar (not quiet as much listed) and pectin.  Tasty jam.

Piped the Ganache  - instead of just having enough for a dozen or two, it ended up being enough for the whole batch (~120 cookies), since this was only supposed to be half the filling.  The jam (Confiture) also ended up being a lot more than needed - partially because of the Ganache, and also because I think the recipe made a generous amount.

Overall - great combo. I call it a "3 flavor macaron", as you really notice the fruit up front, and then the cardamom almond shells, and then finish up with the chocolate.  And the shells are crispy and air. Yum. Not sure if it's my favorite batch overall, but it's certainly a keeper.

No heresies this week - could it be that with a little more experience and practice, I've come to see the wisdom in the established faith?  Eeerrrccchhhh - I'm talking macarons here, not religion or politics. I may blaspheme about Pierre's recipe a bit less, but the Establisment is still evil.

* Notice that not only have I challenged the man's recipe, but have assumed because I own a copy of his book, we're good friends and I can call him by his first name.