Peanut Butter&Chocolate Macarons

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Macarons

I always wanted to make macaron, delicate and adorable sweet. Today it's no, rain no humidity which is macarons enemy, blue and clear sky...it's macaron's day.

For macaron shells I use recipe from one of my Thai favorite blogger Na Pang Pond(น้าปังปอนด์) which this recipe never failed me.

I love white macarons but in the other way they're brown very easily, normally I bake for 8 minutes then reduce the heat down and then bake for more longer to prevent macaron shells going brown. 

To prepare egg whites or "liquefied" egg white by placing them in a glass container, cover with plastic wrap, cut a small slit on top and sit them in the fridge for several days to loose their elasticity, allowing them to whisk to a higher volume.

Macaron Shells

Ingrediens

75 g. "liquefied" egg white in room temperature

50 g. caster sugar

135 g.  confectioners sugar

90 g. almond meal

 white gel food coloring

Chocolate Ganache Filling

50 g. cream

50 g. dark chocolate

Peanut butter (smooth)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 150C degree.

For more smooth surface of macaron shells, grind almond meal and confectioners sugar together then sift, set aside.

Whisk egg whites, caster sugar and gel food color with standard mixer-whisk until you reach stiff peaks, then gradually add almond meal and confectioners sugar mix, vigorously fold in together until combine and then you need to adjust the appropriate consistency by using baker scraper or flat spatula, press down from the centre to the side of the bowl and scrape the batter from the side of the bowl to the centre then press down again, repeat for few times until you have the right consistency, some said "flows like lava" a bit tricky but honestly, I never seen lava or magma before so I just pipe the batter into the baking sheet. It should go flat in about a minute. I used to count when I fold the batter to not more than 50 times or it will over mix.

Line baking tray with baking paper, Pipe macaron batter onto the tray. Firm tap the tray 2-3 times against the workbench after piping to remove any air bubbles. I use a toothpick to coax the larger bubbles to pop. Dust with cocoa powder.

Let them dry for 30 mins-1 hour, gently tap the centre with your finger, the batter will not stick to your finger, if still not dry, leave it dry for longer.

 Bake for 8 mins then leave the oven door ajar then reduce the heat to 130C degrees,  continue bake for more 15-20 mins. 

To make chocolate ganache, place cream and chopped dark chocolate in a bowl, microwave for 1 minute and mix them together, if still lumpy put in microwave again for 10 sec.
Once the macaron shells cool, pipe peanut butter and chocolate ganache on one side of macaron shells, sandwich them together, leave them in the fridge for 1 day before serve.

Enjoy…

IG : PIMMO

Coffee Meringue Cookies

After I made Pina Colada Tarts last time I have left over egg white and I need to get ride off them that's why I decided to make meringue cookies but I do love to add some coffee flavor in to my meringue cookies to make them more interesting, I remember when I used to work in Bankok there was a lovely coffee shop on the first floor, I used to buy coffee meringue cookies with almond on top for my afternoon sugar rush!!! Today I add hazelnut and almond which I already have in my kitchen.

Ingredients
2 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar 
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
pinch of salt
3 tsp instant coffee 
2 tsp hot water
2 tsp Tia Maria or other coffee liqueur (optional)

Yield : 30-40 Cookies 

Directions
Preheat oven to 90C.

Mix instant coffee and hot water, stirring until dissolved, add Tia Maria, set aside.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar with standard mixer-whisk attachment until reach to soft peaks form, continue to beat and gradually add sugar in, continue beat until reach stiff peaks then fold in coffee mixture.

Line 2 trays with baking sheet, pipe the mixture onto the trays. Place on the top of each cookie a roasted almond and hazelnut.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours, switching the trays in the oven about half way through cooking.

Leave the door ajar and continue bake for another 40 mins or until the cookies completely dried.

Turn the oven off and leave cookies to cool in the oven about 1-2 hours.

Keep the cookies in an airtight container in room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Enjoy

IG : PIMMO