Pumpkin Spice Macarons
by Sofia Gallo @in_cucinacon_sofia
I absolutely love this little bite of joy and I started baking them about 10 years ago. They can be a little temperamental and a lot depends on your equipment and the weather as well. The recipe proposed uses the Swiss Meringue method and has been tested in my gas oven. I use macaron silicon mats for ease and to have shells of the same size, but you can use parchment paper. They require little resting, but I will give you a few tips to try for yourselves.
Prep: 30 min
Cook: 12 to 15 min + resting time (if required)
Difficulty Difficult
Makes 20 shells
Ingredients
For the macarons shells:
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40g egg whites at room temperature
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40g caster sugar
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50g icing sugar
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50g almond flour
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Pinch of fine sea salt
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Food colouring - optional
For the pumpkin spice buttercream
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60 g softened unsalted butter
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90 g icing sugar – sifted
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¼ tsp of mixed spices – or 1 drop of pumpkin spice extract
Method
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For the macarons shells: sift together the icing sugar, almond flour and set aside. Preheat your oven at 150°C/Gas Mark 2 3/4. Place the caster sugar and egg whites in a bowl over a Baine Marie and whisk until foamy and the sugar has completely dissolved. This shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes and resemble a sugar syrup. Make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water and the syrup doesn’t heat up.
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Place the sugar syrup in a bowl of a stand-up mixer with the whisk attachment. Start whisking mixture on low (speed 2 of the mixer) for about 30 seconds, then gradually start increasing speed to medium (speed 4) for one to two minutes, until the mixture is white and starting to become fluffy. Raise the speed to medium or medium-high (Speed 6) and whip for a few minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Once the meringue gets glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, and the meringue raising in the centre of the whisk, it’s an indication that your meringue is ready.
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Macaronage: Pour the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into the stiff meringue. Add the food colouring at this point, if using. Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula, until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated. You can start squeezing the air out by pressing it down on the sides of the bowl. It’s time to stop folding when the batter is glossy and has a thick and flowing consistency.
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Transfer the batter in a piping bag and start piping on your mat of choice, at 90 degrees angle over the centre of each macarons template. Count to about 3 seconds and then remove gently by pulling the bag up and twisting slightly on the top.
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Once you’ve piped all your circles, bang the trays against the counter or against the palm of your hand a few times each. Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles in the surface of the shells.
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Let the trays sit until the shells have formed a skin and they are dry to touch. You can even try the non-rest method, and bake the macarons straight away once piped. It all depends on the oven. I can suggest trying this with a couple of macarons first.
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Bake for about 15 minutes. They should start rising at about 6 minutes into the bake and are fully baked, when trying to move the top, this doesn’t wobble anymore.
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Let cool completely on the side whilst you prepare the buttercream. Don’t be tempted of peeling them off as they are still ‘baking’ and creating the base.
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For the buttercream: place the butter and the spices in the bowl and with the paddle attachment start creaming this. Add the icing sugar a little at the time, until fully incorporated. You can also adjust with a tbsp of double cream or milk if not creamy enough.
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Once the macarons shells are completely cold, fill with the filling and store in the fridge for 24 hours before consumption. This will allow the flavour to mature fully.
TIPS:
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Have all your ingredients prepared before you are starting to bake.
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To make it easier, try the French meringue method, which will be adding the caster sugar slowly to the egg whites whilst whisking
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For a pumpkin colour, mix red, yellow and a little brown
