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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Vanilla Bean Macaron with Passionfruit Curd, My 1st Bake-gether - Random Sunday


Remember when I did my kitchen post, I dreamt of a large kitchen with an island so that I can have lots of friends over to bake. But in the end I got so sad with my final kitchen. To those who didn't believe it's small ... ask Lena. Don't believe the pictures, they lie. LOL. Lena has seen the truth.

2 weekends back, Lena came over for a bake-gether. My first!!! Since she stayed just 40 mins away, we are considered pretty close to each other. Chatted and yakked so much that we started our baking session much later than planned, LOL. When 2 chatty ladies come together... imagine..  Some more it's not our first real life encounter. This is our 5th, so we can be considered old buddies already, Lena right?? LOL.



Vanilla Bean Macaron with Passionfruit Curd
Adapted from Pierre Herme's version

Almond mixture
100gm almond meal
100gm icing sugar
37gm egg white (from 1 Grade A egg)
Small pinch of salt
Seeds from 1 vanilla bean
1 small blob of yellow colouring
1 small blob of red colouring

Meringue
37gm egg white (from 1 Grade A egg)
100gm sugar
25gm water

1. Pulse almond meal, vanilla beans with icing sugar in blender/mill
2. Mix almond mixture with 37gm egg white and salt. Mix in food colouring. Set aside.
3. Cook sugar and water until it reaches 118C.
4. When the syrup reaches 105C, beat egg white until medium peaks.
5. When syrup reaches 118C, pour it into egg whites with beaters running on low speed.
6. Turn speed to medium high and beat meringue until stiff and glossy (mine was all slacky, but glossy)
7. Stir 1/3 of meringue into almond mixture.
8. Pour almond mixture into meringue and fold(not stir) until batter is able to fall without trace after a count to 10.
9. Place batter into a piping bag with a plain 1cm nozzle. Pipe dollops of batter onto a lined baking tray (I used Tesco’s baking paper and they are easy to be removed).
10. Preheat oven to 150C (fan off).
11. Bake for 14 minutes on the lower 3rd of oven.
12. Remove from tray (with paper) and let it rest on a rack to cool down.
13. Peel macarons off and pair them with similar sizes.
14. Put half a teaspoon of passionfruit curd onto one macaron and top with another piece.
15. Place covered air tight and keep in fridge




Wait.... something's missing right?? Where's the passionfruit curd recipe?
Lena has the filling in her hands.. the yummylicious passionfruit curd that is not very sweet, fragrant and nice. Lydia licked and licked the balance. LOL.

There's nothing special about these mac shells, as ordinary as ordinary can be. How nice a macaron is highly determined by its filling.

So don't wait anymore and hop on to Lena's blog (click here) to complete this jigsaw puzzle.




***********************************************
I am submitting this post to
Aspiring Bakers #17 – March Macaron Madness! (Mar 2012)

32 comments:

  1. your kitchen is not that small lah..can still put a mahjong table there and play. LOL! i also wish i had an island in my kitchen..too bad, impossible! thanks a lot for guiding me on the macarons. does this sound much better? buddies? yeah..'kai teong mm tuin' i had a good time.*wink*

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  2. Good day Wendy,your macaroons look sooooooo beautiful,really really&using passion fruit curd as filling,it is a brilliant idea,so much better than what i had from a 5* hotel in HK!Njoy the rest of your weekend

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  3. lena,
    If put the table there, then no place to put chairs oredi lor. Stand and wash the tiles. Table oredi 3 ft, walking space 5 ft. With 3 ft, gone, left only 1 ft for chairs on each side. I think my tummy too big to fit into the 1ft.
    Thanks a lot for my first taste of passionfruit curd :)



    Jessie,
    Lena made the curd :p

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  4. How fun to get together with a friend and bake...they look perfect...I've never tried making them before.

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  5. wonderful macs! Both you and Lena have quite a bit of fun, I'm sure..love to follow your blog!

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  6. Beautiful macarons! Love passionfruit curd a lot.

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  7. Wendy, I was so excited that you share with Lena your cooking. I'm start wonder where you stay until just read about you. Opps, I always thought you are from KK (Kota Kinabalu cause I'm from KK too) But too bad I'm in Kota Kinabalu not Kuala Kangsar,so I can't join your cooking experiment together! But your recipe is always easy to follow. Hopefuly one day if I go to your KK, can pay you a visit. Cheers!

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  8. So fun to have a blogger friend that stay close and can bake and cook together..Beautiful macarons, now hop over to Lena place.

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  9. Bo,
    Try making some one day :)


    What's Baking,
    It was really fun. See you around :)


    Angie's Recipes,
    me too


    Small kucing,
    LOL,. not really, you will see burnt ones at Lena's. She has more pics



    Mary Chey,
    sure sure. If only our KK is the same, right? LOL


    Sonia,
    U have so many of them near you. Can always organise bake-togethers. You can start it :)

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  10. You know when I move back to Asia, I so so so miss my US home kitchen!! Yes indeed an island is such a Gooooood thing to have. Nice company + nice macs!

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  11. Really sound fun! :) Love your macarons! :)

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  12. I haven't tried making macarons using italian meringue yet...looks quite tough with the thermometer and all!

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  13. Thank you very much for putting these great recipes on the Internet

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  14. I'm so full of envy, I want to learn too!

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  15. I envy this a lot. I just fail with my Macarons attempt last nite :( ... LOL.

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  16. Lovely macarons with amazing ingredients! I love passion fruit but I've never add them in my macarons before! Really an amazing combinations with vanilla beans! And I really love the colors of these macarons, so sweet! How nice to have Lena over & baked together! Sounds so fun! Have a nice day!

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  17. Bee,
    If the house wasn't majorly renovated, I'll just accept any kitchen, but if you know how much changes we've done to the layout, but yet end up with such a kitchen, that's where the heartache is. My hall is too big and the kids love messing it up :(


    hanushi,
    sure fun to have company to bake with :)


    Jeannie,
    It's actually much more easier than the french method. That one i want to cry.


    Loveforfood,
    U're welcomed. It's not created by me, just adapted


    BH,
    come come... let's do soemthing together


    Abbygail,
    So far, this method hasn't failed me at all, except for the burnt ones u see at Lena's. That was my fault.


    Kit,
    Try this with passionfruit, it's yummy :)

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  18. Just finished reading Lena's passion fruit macarons... So nice to have a bake-gether, ya! Lots of tips and experience sharing.

    You macarons is always a success, I guess you can bake it with your eyes close ;)

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  19. Can advice when to get vanilla bean?

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  20. Sori. I meant where can buy vanilla bean.

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  21. yvonne,
    This method only fail proof. The french method, I sure die one.
    You so near me, can also bake-gether ma.



    Louise,
    Location please?
    Bakery supply shops will have it.

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  22. you must having so much great time with Lena there, chatting and baking macaroons together...:)
    the macaroons look very very pretty, i like the color a lot...

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  23. Hi Wendy! I completely agree!! The filling ultimately determines a macaron's taste! I loove the way your passionfruit filling looks! Natural sweetness without the hint of overpowering icing sugar!! Delicious!! Beautiful macarons! :)

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  24. your macarons are so pretty. the feet are so even..=) i drooled when i saw my screen..=)

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  25. I wish I stay next to you, can learn so much from you lah. It is always fun to bake and cook with a someone who share the same passion in cooking and baking. Your macarons is not nice, it is VERY nice:D

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  26. Very lovely macarons! I have frozen passionfruit in my freezer and have been looking for a good curd recipe. I will have to try this one! Thank you.

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  27. I tried it out today. I'm extremely happy that the feet rise out nicely, nice colour n smell but the only thing is shell cracked!!!! Oh my? What happened? I followed to the dot except that I let it dry 30mins b4 baking.When peel off from the paper after cooled, it still a bit sticky but can peel.

    My first trial using the other method doesn't have crack shell, have feet but only hollow. Can u advise? How should a correct macaron taste?

    ReplyDelete
  28. esther,
    macarons taste sweet. LOL
    Crack means the oven is too hot.
    Macaron doesn't bake the same with every oven. You have to find the best way that works with your oven, and if the other method is french method, the baking might differ with this.

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  29. Oh crack due to oven, I thought I didn't fold enough. The almond mixture is rather thick during piping. It doesn't flow out easily.
    After spreading the curd n left in fridge the next day, the macaron is little wet. Am I under cooked it?
    How to get the cute little burger bun that puffed up so nicely. Mine r all round n flat.
    Its toooo sweet but I love the curd alone.

    ReplyDelete
  30. esther,
    I've only baked macarons 3 times, and frankly, what's the real problem, I don't think I can really advise you on that. But if you underfolded, you will have nipples on your shells.
    With curd as filling, it's best eaten on the same day, but if you're using buttercream, it's best eaten the next day, that's what I find.
    When macarons are aged, means, the middle gets soft and infused with the filling.
    Macarons are not meant to be eaten like cookies, one after the other, it's meant to be slowly savoured, one or 2 after dinner, not a whole big plate.

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  31. hi wendy,

    I tried baking macarons a few weeks back but it failed and i suspect that i did step 8 of your recipe wrongly. is it possible to send me a picture of step 8 so that I know what consistence i have to fold it till?

    God bless,
    Nigel

    ReplyDelete

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