Sunday, November 27, 2011

Macarons-like Meringue Cookies





Meringue Cookies ... challenging right? from oven temprature to choosing your eggs  , passing by humidity and so on .. I can go on for ever .
In theses babes , there is nothing to worry about, the almond flour will prevent  em from collapsing and you will have a macarone - like delicious cookie that melt immediately in your mouth ... yummmmmmy!
 It was a friend's baby shower party and I decided to make a pinkish treat ... everyone loved em and they were gone in seconds ... literally!
But to be clear, those are macarons meringue cookies .

Ingredients
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 4.5 oz
3/4 cup almond flour, 2.5 oz.
2 large egg whites, room temperature ( older eggs hold air better, and take them from the fridge the day before or the morning of and let them sit there happily on the counter and warm to room temp)
Pinch of cream of tartar, to hold your meringue better.
1/4 cup superfine sugar, 1.5 oz. (also called baker’s sugar)
Food coloring



Method:
 Partially inspired from not so humble pie

1.Pulse confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a food processor until combined. better than sifting it ,right?
 2. Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and whisk until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low, then add superfine sugar. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form (3 to 5 minutes). If you’re going to add color, do so near the end of your whipping.
3. Sift flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny. The amount of folding is crucial. Fold too little, and your macaron shells will have peaks instead of nice rounded caps. Fold too much, and your meringue will drip into a mess of wafer-thin blobs. Tartlette recommends about 50 folds, until your batter has a magma-like flow for macarons, and here also it is ok to follow her path.

 4. If the batter forms a round cap but doesn’t run, it is just right. When spooning the batter into the pastry bag, the perfect batter will start to just ooze out of the tip once the bag is full !

5.Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip. Lin your baking sheet with parchment paper ( I recommend a heavy bottomed sheet ). to let them cook evenly.

6. Pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Put the tip right in the middle of where you want each cookie  and let the batter billow up around it, then drag the tip to the side of the round. (You can pipe 1-inch to 2-inch rounds, but you will need to add cooking time). Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes while you preheat your oven to only 140 c.

7. Bake for 8 minutes and rotate half way .. Let your cookies  cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.and you are done!

You can sandwich em if you like .. Nutella or butter cream would be perfect !


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