Vanilla Bean Macarons with Raspberry Buttercream Filling

I have a long week, or I feel it's longer than usual. Because I try to make this macaron, I heard about it before but someone told me that it's easier to make than using French meringue, and I believed (when there are new recipes or new way of making something, I just can't wait to try it). I made three batch of this recipe in a week and the two of them are disaster, the macarons cracked in front of my eyes (yes, I was there in front of the oven after 3 minutes all my lovely little macarons turned into nightmare, oh). But I never give up, and I didn't want to so the next day I just baked another batch and my life ruined again.

Why this always happen at that time I's confused, and a little mad (even the cracked top macarons are edible but just looking at them make me feel bad). As I made two batch of the macarons so I test everything that I can, rest or not (it's not necessary to rest for Italian Meringue Macarons) , the consistency after the macaronage or the temperature of the sugar syrup. So, this is the time to start reading, and it's so funny that I have a lot of books but I can't find more than one of the Italian Meringue Macarons recipe in my collection (I use the recipe from ............... this is the only recipe that I have, do I have to buy more ?, haha). All I had to do was typing "Italian Meringue Macaron" into Google, and the results are long and long. But I found my answer in this blog ; serious eats

And this is what I saw "propping the oven door open with a wooden spoon for the entire baking period or halfway through the baking period". How can I forgot this simple trick ? May be because all the time I can bake my macarons (French Meringue Method) without doing anything to my oven. So, I had to find more information to get me out of the blue and I saw the light from Fanny at foodbeam, the Italian Meringue Macarons, which I'd been looking for, and I have to admit that the only problem is my oven temperature.

All the time I followed the instruction from the book, without reconsidering the fact that my oven couldn't act the same, so when the book said that I should lower my temperature I did it but the heat still there. When open the oven door a little, the heat in the oven is lower faster and the drying process is better.

So, today this is my first Italian Meringue Macaron, which I want to share the recipe with you.

Vanilla Bean Macarons with Raspberry Buttercream Filling

Makes about 20

Vanilla Bean Italian Meringue Macaron
For the macaron base
65 g	almond powder
65 g	icing sugar
25 g	egg whites
	Bean form ½ of the vanilla pod
	Yellow food coloring (you can skip this but it will give the macaron a lovely color)
For Italian Meringue
120 g	caster sugar
30 g	water
60 g	egg whites
	* You will use 90 g for the macaron and the rest will use for the buttercream

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Mix the macaron base:

Sift together almond powder and icing sugar into a bowl, put the color, vanilla bean and egg white into the bowl. Use a pastry scrap to bring everything together. Set aside.

Make the Italian meringue:

In a sauce pan, put the sugar and water and bring to boil over medium low heat.
When the syrup reaches 114°C, start whisking the egg whites.

The syrup is ready when it reaches 120°C; pour it over the egg whites and continue whisking until cold.

Make the macaron:

Mix together the base and 90g of Italian meringue.

The mixture should be softer and very glossy, a little stiffer then cake batter..

Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Pipe or spoon mixture into 2.5cm rounds onto baking paper-lined (or Silpat) oven trays. When you’ve pipe out all the macarons lift each baking sheet with both hands and then bang it down on the counter (you need to get the air out of the batter).

Bake for 9 minutes to 15 minutes depend on your oven (oven door maintained open with a wooden spoon). Remove from oven and cool on trays. Slide a knife under each macaron to release.

Make the Raspberry Butter cream

First make the sweeten raspberry puree

(if you don’t want to make it, you can use seedless raspberry jam).

150 g	Frozen raspberry
30-35 g	Granulated sugar

1. Thaw frozen raspberry in a bowl. Do not strain the juice.

2. Put the raspberry in the blender and blend until smooth and strain through a fine-mesh sieve set over a large bowl (you will get about 100g of the puree).

3. Place the raspberry purees in a small saucepan, add the sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat (add more or less sugar according to your taste) until all the sugar dissolves.

Make the raspberry buttercream

	Italian meringue the rest from making the macaron
100 g	Unsalted butter
50g	Sweeten raspberry puree

Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time into the meringue. Increase the mixer speed to high for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the butter is fully incorporated. Then add the puree and mix to combine.

Sandwich macarons with filling.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour for filling to firm.

Vanilla Bean Macaron with Raspberry Buttercream Filling

Milk chocolate ice cream with bittersweet chocolate chunks

Most of us love Ice cream and most of us love chocolate too. So this is the combination of both things, which always make us happy. But this ice cream is not the bitter one so anyone who don’t like bitter taste of chocolate still enjoy it (Ok, I have the real taster in my home, my sister always hate dark chocolate but she really love this one, without the sauce). When eating with the sauce the sweetness of the ice cream is contrast to the bitterness of the sauce, it’s so good.

Milk chocolate ice cream with bittersweet chocolate chunks

60 g	bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3	large egg yolks
70 g	sugar
⅛ teaspoon	kosher salt
1 cup/250 ml	milk
1 cup/ 250 ml	heavy (whipping) cream
60 g	milk chocolate, finely chopped
To serve	BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE SAUCE

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 20g of the sugar, and the salt. Cook the milk, cream, and remaining 50 g sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until almost simmering. Slowly pour the milk and cream into the egg-and-sugar mixture, whisking as you pour.

Whisk in the milk chocolate until it is completely melted.

Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant plastic or wooden spatula, until the custard reaches 175°F and lightly coats the spatula.

Strain the custard into a clean bowl and cool over an ice bath until room temperature. Refrigerate the custard for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

Churn the ice cream in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Fold the bittersweet chocolate chunks into the ice cream and freeze until scoop able.



Serve with BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE SAUCE

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE SAUCE

This chocolate sauce is so tense, due to the high percentage of cocoa mass. But it’s very easy to make, you can use this sauce to pour over ice cream or etc. (or I just dip a piece of bread in it and taste a delicious sauce).

Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce
Makes about 1½ cups (525 grams)

4½ ounces (130 grams)	bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona Guanaja,(or any brands, which contain 70% of cocoa mass) finely chopped
1 cup (250 grams)	Water
½ cup (125 grams)	heavy cream
⅓ cup (70 grams)	sugar

Place all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the sauce thickens very slightly and coats the back of the spoon. (Alternatively you can use the draw-a-line test: Dip the spoon into the sauce and draw your finger down the back of the spoon - if the sauce doesn’t run into the track created by your finger, it’s done.) This can take 10 to 15 minutes and shouldn’t be rushed. Use the sauce immediately, or allow it to cool, then chill until needed. Reheat the sauce in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water or in a microwave oven.