Lemon Honey Macarons

Lemon Macarons with Honey Swiss Meringue Buttercream!

Finally had a chance to take the making-of photos when I'm not the baker this time. Taking photos is as fun as baking macarons. I wish I could do both at the same time.

Matcha with Dark Chocolate Ganache Macarons

KitchenAid Speed = 6 for 7 minutes
Baked at 320F for 13-15 mins
Using French meringue method

First tray baked with Silpat Mat. Second tray baked with parchment paper. They produced different textures for the raised "feet". Silpat Mat seemed to distribute heat more evenly than the parchment paper as macarons' feet all raised at the same time. However, the raised feet seemed to be shorter with Silpat Mat.

Macaronage might be a little bit over mixed this time as the raised feet are shorter than the previous experiment. Meringue was beaten a little longer than the Blood Orange batch which produced shinier surface.

Blood Orange Macaron Shells

❤ Blood Orange Macarons

KitchenAid Speed = 6 for 5:30 mins.
Baked at 160C (320F) for 15-20 mins.




Sprinkled Blood Orange peel on wet meringue surface... Not a good idea...as you can see in the above pictures. The ones with orange peel have cracked surface after being baked. These shells also turned out to be hollow. My theory for this phenomenon is the cracked surface allowed air to penetrate faster, so when the shells cooled down outside of the oven, the temperature dropped too fast and caused the inside to deflate.


However, the shells without blood orange peel on top came out pretty well. I was curious so I cut the cooled shell apart to see. The body came out full and not hollow. There are a few air bubbles but that should be fine since it needs to rest and become moist after leaving in the fridge for 24 hours.

My conclusion for today is do not beat the meringue too dry. Once it reaches a firm peak (I'll try to post a picture later) it is good to stop the beating. Fold the dry ingredients with meringue until you get a runny paste (but not overly runny) that would flow like thin lava and form a ribbon pile that would disappear after a few seconds. Another very important factor is the temperature. I think it is totally worth it to buy an oven thermometer to test the temperature of the oven. I found out that when the pre-heat was done for my oven which was set to 320F, the oven thermometer showed 250F instead. It took about 20 more minutes for it to reach the set temperature. It also fluctuated sometimes so it is a good idea to keep an eye on the oven thermometer. Every oven is different so get to know your oven :) Be nice to her and she will produce you nice macaron shells!

Bonne Chance!

Fresh Raspberry Purée & Blueberry Preserve Mascarpone Macarons

❤ Homemade Fresh Raspberry Puree Mascarpone Filling Macarons

Puree was made from fresh raspberries by boiling them with lemon juice and sugar. The reason I chose Mascarpone cheese was because it's low-fat and not as sweet as the swiss meringue buttercream.

This macaron shells were made using Italian Meringue method which sugar has to be boiled to reach a certain stage before it could be mixed with the meringue. This was my first attempt with this approach. It was a little messy and took longer time but the shell surface is shinier than the French Meringue approach. I also noticed this chewy layer right before the bottom of the shells when I bit into it. I wonder if this texture was achieved because of this method.

❤ Homemade Blueberry Jam Mascarpone Filling Macarons

The Wild Blueberry Preserve was too sweet by itself so I decided to mix some with the mascarpone cheese to produce less sweet taste. The macaron shells are not as hollow now (great improvement!) but the shells were baked too long and caused the outside to discolor a bit.

This was done using French Meringue method which I've been using for awhile but produced hollow shell. I did some adjustment to the firmness of the meringue and made sure the temperature of the oven was accurate. This time I could produce really nice shell (less hollow now!) with this approach.