Weekend Cookbook: Macarons with White Chocolate and Raspberry Ganache

This week my photographer friend, Annette Audrey is guest posting for the Weekend Cookbook.She is such a talented lady! Not only does she take amazing photographs (see our Cherry Blossom shoot & Alicia's Newborn shoot and all the pics of me and the kids on my blog) but she is also an amazing cook. I have been lucky enough to sample her delicious creations and after tasting these Macarons I just had to ask her to guest post. 

 French Meringue Macaron
3 aged egg whites (100g weight)

50g caster sugar

200g icing sugar

110g almonds (whole or ground)

1. Make sure your bowl is immaculate and egg whites are at room

temperature. Whip the egg whites to a foam and then gradually add the

caster sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Mixture should sit in

the bowl if you lift it over your head.

2. Combined the almonds and icing sugar in a food processor.

3. Fold them into the meringue. This is the most difficult part! The

mixture needs to become this magma like consistency where if you tip

the bowl to the side, the mixture should slide back. It generally

takes me about 40-50 strokes.

4. Fill a pastry bag with the batter and pipe into small rounds onto

trays lined with baking paper. (Test a small amount. When piped, It

should hold its shape and the peak formed should fold back into

itself. If the peak doesn't flatten, give the mixture a couple more

folds. If you don't get a peak when piping, then you've probably gone

too far.)

5. Leave the piped shells to dry and form a crust. Time required is

dependent on humidity. I usually leave for an hour.

6. Bake in preheated oven 180 degrees for 6mins (you should see the

feet starting to form at this stage), then reduce the oven temperature

to 150 degrees and bake for a further 6mins. Take out to cool. If the

macarons are stuck to the baking sheet making them difficult to

remove, pop them back into the oven for a couple more minutes.

7. When cool, sandwich with your favourite filling and macarons are good to go!

This is my favourite filling as I find the tartness of the raspberries

compliments the sweetness of the macaron.

White chocolate and raspberry ganache

 50ml pouring cream

100g white chocolate

50g raspberries, chopped (frozen is fine too)

1. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to the boil.

2. Remove from the heat and add white chocolate. Let it stand until

melted (about 5mins ) and stir until smooth

3. Refrigerate until firm and still pliable (about 45mins) and add

chopped raspberries

4  Pipe or spoon onto macaron to make a sandwich

Tips:

* Age your egg whites: This means separating the yolks from the whites

and storing the whites in the fridge for at least 24 hours (up to 5

days). I usually age mine for 3 days. This reduces the elasticity of

the egg whites and contributes to good looking feet. Make sure you

return the egg whites to room temperature before using though.

* For chocolate macarons, add 15g cocoa powder to the almond and icing sugar

Annette, is a wife and mother of two gorgeous children. She is currently living in Canberra however next year she will be moving to the U.S.for three years. She will be greatly missed by us all and so will her photography skills. If you are interested in booking her for a photo shoot or just checking out her beautiful photos head to http://www.annetteaudrey.com/blog/ 

 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines:

1. Link up a recipe that you have posted (it doesn't have to be a new post).
2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)
2. Follow Mummy Undeserved Blessings on facebook
3. Check out the other links and leave a comment. 4.If you make other blogger's recipe take a photo and post it in their facebook page (or yours and tag them).