Rhubarb Rosewater French Macarons
A french classic- light almond cookie shells coloured pink filled with a smooth rosewater buttercream and a tart rhubarb jam. Made with the French Meringue method.
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Large mixing bowl
- Electric whisk or stand mixer with whisk attachment
- Rubber spatula
- Sieve
- Piping bag
- Plain piping nozzle
- 2-3 Flat Baking Trays
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
- 66 grams egg white room temperature
- 60 grams caster sugar
- 100 grams ground almonds
- 100 grams icing sugar
- Couple drops pink food colouring
Rosewater Buttercream
- 75 grams butter room temperature
- 150 grams icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp rosewater
- 1-2 tsp milk
Rhubarb Jam
- 1 bunch rhubarb, roughly chopped about 150 grams
- 200 grams sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
Macaron Shells
- In a large mixing bowl, begin to whisk the egg whites until bubbles start to form. Slowly add the sugar in additions, whisking well after each addition. Continue whisking the meringue until stiff peaks form.
- If your ground almonds are quite wet or doesn't seem to be very fine you can quickly blitz them with the icing sugar in a food processor on the pulse setting for a few seconds. Regardless if you took this last step or not, you need to sieve the icing sugar and ground almonds a total of three times. This is to remove any lumps and any larger pieces of ground almonds.
- Add in the ground almond and icing sugar mix. Very carefully fold this into the egg whites, being mindful to avoid knocking out the air initially. About 10 folds per addition such be sufficient for now.
- Next, add in any food colouring if using and fold another 15-20 times. The mix should be at the "ribbon stage" (when you drop the mix off the spoon, it should fold in on itself still briefly). If you think the macaron mix is still a little too thick, wait 20-30 seconds before folding more, and only fold another 5-6 times and reassess. It's much better to under mix these than over mix.
- Next, transfer this mix to a large piping bag fitted with a 1mm round tip. Or just cut the bag very carefully to achieve a perfectly straight line that will result in a perfectly piped circle. (No pressure)
- Line your baking sheets with parchment paper and pipe your macarons with plenty of space in between each one. You can use a macaron template for this, simply place the macaron mat directly onto your baking tray, put a layer of parchment over it, pipe your macarons and then slide the mat out from underneath.
- Bang the trays of macarons sharply down onto your counter to bust any large air bubbles left and to level them off to create a smooth surface.
- Place your trays in the driest part of your kitchen and rest the macarons for anywhere between 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on how humid your kitchen is. You're looking for the top to form a slight skin, you should be able to run your finger over them without sticking.
- 20 minutes before your macarons are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 150°c (300°f).
- Place one (yes you have to bake one at a time, I'm sorry) tray in the sweet spot of your oven, In most ovens, this is the lower third of your oven
- Turn the oven temperature down to 120°c or 248°f and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a macaron can lift off the tray fully without sticking.
- Continue baking each try until all are cooked. Allow to cool fully before filling.
Rosewater Buttercream
- Begin by adding the butter into a large mixing bowl.
- Beat well until pale and creamy.
- Add in icing sugar, vanilla, rosewater and milk and beat again for another 3-4 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
- Add a little more milk if necessary for a pipeable consistency.
Rhubarb Jam
- In a small saucepan, add the roughly chopped rhubarb along with the sugar and lemon juice.
- Cook on a medium heat for 10-15 minutes until the rhubarb has totally broken down and become soft and pulpy.
- Transfer to a container and place cling film directly onto the surface of the jam to prevent a skin forming.
- When the macarons and jam has totally cooled, assemble the macarons by sorting them by size. The macarons that are the closest shape and size to each other should be paired up.
- Pipe a small ring of buttercream on the outside of the bottom of one macaron, fill the middle with a teaspoon of jam and top with the matching macaron.
Notes
The calorie information is an estimate provided as a courtesy based off the website https://caloriecontrol.org/healthy-weight-tool-kit/food-calorie-calculator/. It will differ depending on the specific brands and ingredients that you use.