Speckled Robin’s Egg Macarons

Spread the love

When you think of Spring, you think of re-birth, awakenings, growth. Buds emerging from branches, new generations of animals being born. Especially birds hatching. And when you think of birds hatching in the Spring, you think of speckled eggs.

I love these Speckled Robin’s Egg Macarons! Their blue hue with dark brown speckles embodies Spring. And these have a dark chocolate pastry cream interior. The perfect combination.

I used blue food gel for the color of the Macaron shells. To make the speckled look, place brown and black food gel in a small bowl. Add a couple of drops of extract or vodka to it. With a small paint brush used for just baking, dip it in the color mixture. Hold a fork over the Macarons and rack the brush over the fork until you have as many speckled as you want on the Macarons.

Recipe:

Macarons

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 1 cup almond flour

• 3 egg whites

• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

• pinch of salt

• 1/4 cup sugar

• blue food gel

•brown food gel

•black food gel

•clear vanilla extract or vodka

Chocolate Pastry Cream

• 2 egg yolks

• 2 tbsp flour

• 1/2 tsp cornstarch

• 1/8 tsp salt

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1/2 tsp vanilla

• 3/4 cup heavy cream

• 3 tbsp Dark cocoa powder

Instructions

Macaron

1. Sift confectioners’ sugar and almond flour together, discarding any bits of almond flour that are too large to pass through the strainer.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt on high speed until foamy, then with the mixer running, slowly add the sugar. When the mixture reaches soft peaks, add vanilla and blue food gel. Continue whipping just until mixture forms stiff peaks.

Gently pour the almond mixture over the whipped egg whites so they don’t deflate. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the almond flour mixture into the egg whites until the mixture holds a 10 count, meaning when batter falls from the spatula to the bowl it takes about 10 seconds until it fully blends into the rest of the bowl in the batter. This way, the almond mixture is fully hydrated but egg whites still retain some air. The mixture is thick enough to pipe without running everywhere, but the peak at the top of each piped cookie will fall on its own, making a perfectly smooth cookie. This takes about 45 turns, but depending on how aggressively you fold, it can be more or less.

Transfer the batter to a decorating pastry bag with a 1A tip. Pipe 1 inch rounds of batter onto the parchment lined pans, spacing at least 1 inch apart. Tap the pans hard on the countertop 4-5 times to release trapped air, and then let sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours or until the unbaked macaron form a skin and do not stick to your finger when touched. Allowing the macaron to crust over is what leads to their signature “feet.”

Bake for 19 minutes in a 275 degree oven on a shelf in the center of the oven, one pan at a time. There isn’t a great visual on how long to bake macaron. When underbaked, the centers can be wet. When overbaked, they start to brown slightly and become very crunchy instead of crisp on the top with a softer interior.

Cool the macaron completely on a cooling grid.

Mix two drop each of brown and black food gel. Add 1/4 tsp extract or vodka. Flick color with a small paint brush on to the Macaron shells.

Sandwich Macarons with your filling. Makes 36 to 48 sandwiched cookies.

Filling

1. Warm the milk in the saucepan.  It should not actually be boiling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Add the egg yolks and whisk them into the dry ingredients. This will form a thick paste.

Pour a little of the hot milk into the eggs and whisk to combine. Continue pouring the milk slowly into the eggs, whisking continuously.

When all the milk has been added to the eggs, pour everything back into the saucepan. Set a strainer over a bowl and place this near the stove.

Set the pan back over medium heat. Whisk constantly. When it has thickened to a pudding-like consistency, pause whisking every few seconds to see if the cream has come to a boil. If you see large bubbles popping on the surface, whisk for a few more seconds and then remove the pan from heat.

Stir the vanilla into the pastry cream and then pour the cream into the strainer set over the bowl. Cover the pastry cream with a piece of plastic wrap pressed right up against the surface of the cream and chill completely overnight.