Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Vanilla Fleur De Sel Macarons with Nutella Filling


This month Aspiring Bakers theme is March Macaron Madness . I was thinking of not participating as I always have love hate relationship with macarons. I baked them few times but it don’t always turn out right. Something always went wrong like cracked tops, over baking it, under baked, sometimes no feet appearing and etc…

This batch of macarons was no exception. I have to throw out the first batch because it was under baked. I am still learning the temper of this oven. Thank God I still have some aged egg whites left from my Pineapple Rolls and I am able to start all over again. It turns out ok but still need some improvement. Nevertheless, I like the taste of these macarons. I particularly love the sprinkled of the glorious Vanilla Fleur de Sel as the saltiness of the salt compliments so well with the sweet macaron.


Fleur de Sel ("Flower of Salt" in French) is a gourmet hand-harvested sea salt that is formed at the surface of salt beds and collected by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt. Rich in minerals with superior flavor qualities, Fleur de Sel is one of the most expensive salts in the world.



Ingredients:

3 egg whites (about 90 gram)
40 gram granulated sugar
200 gram powdered sugar
110 gram almond meal
a few drop of violet coloring

1 tsp Vanilla Fleur De Sel
Some nutella for filling


1. For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature in a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to foam; gradually add the sugar and coloring until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not over beat your meringue or it will be too dry.
3. Combine the almonds, powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Pass through a sieve. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon.
4. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flatten on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.
5. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (I used Wilton tip 12) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. Sprinkle some Vanilla Fleur De sel on top of the macarons. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit.
6. Preheat the oven to 300 degree F and bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool completely before sandwich it with some nutella.


Am submitting this to the Aspiring Bakers Challenge #17 - March Macaron Madness (March 2012 ) hosted by Alan from Travelling Foodies

32 comments:

Shereen said...

Clap!clap!clap!Bravo to you for plodding along till you get the near perfect Mac!Looks good and I am sure tastes fabulous.Love the colour:)

ann low said...

WOW! I love the colour, so sweet looking and I saw feet on your macarons :)♥

Thalia said...

Oooh they look so pretty and delicious! Well done! :)

ijayuji said...

hi gert!! ic, itu rupa garam susah nak spelling tu ya? mcm garam dicampur ngan lada hitam hihihi... btw, cantikkkkkkk ur macaron ;-) lama dah tak makan mac :D

Awayofmind Bakery House said...

lovely macarons, I like the colour contrast and who can resist nutella!!

Swee San @ the Sweet Spot said...

yay! it looks beautiful :) Good job Gert

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Your macarons still turned out well..I think i have running out of time to participate this month event..hehehe..

Elizabeth said...

Such a unique combination! I bet they were delicious.

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Great work Gert! I know how hard it is to gauge with a new oven...especially to bake something this delicate. Glad that your second batch still turn out lovely! ;)

eileen@hundred eighty degrees said...

I can see feet! I bought nutella but have yet bake macarons, hopefully I will find time to bake for this month's event...yours are well done!

QembarDelites said...

Beautiful macarons and I know what you meant about every batch is different!

Alan (travellingfoodies) said...

yipee! you finally did it! and just in time too! :) I love fleur de sel... though its freaking expensive!

Alice said...

beautiful macarons!
nutella filling will only make it taste even better :)

i never try fleur de sel, but i know that its really expensive
there's this caramel sauce recipe i really want to make but its yet to be made cos i need to use this expensive salt :P

Peggy a.k.a JUJU said...

Looks fantastic!! I love your directions and the pictures. =] xoxo

Rosita Vargas said...

Hermoso color lucen absolutamente gourmet son adorables,me llevo la receta,abrazos y abrazos.

Lisa @ Snappy Gourmet said...

You had me at Nutella, yum!

WendyinKK said...

Oh yes, the last time I saw some Fluer de sel in KL, My eyes wanted to drop out. So expensive. I'm usre it's 3x the price in US. It was 3 figure for a small bottle Crazy.

I love love love love love ur feet. Unfortunately the italian method can't seem to get frilly feets.

lena said...

i love the pale violet colour of the macarons, so lovely. i manage dto get some fleurde sel during my last trip to aust, must be stingy when i use that!!

CaThY said...

Awesome macs,Gert! :)

Linda Ong said...

Wow, Macarons! I love it,,tried a few times,,failed! Yours look good n yum! I had given up.... No more tries. My daughter told me "mum no feets, it's fine, I draw the hands for u!" :(

Joyce @ Chunky Cooky said...

Your macs look perfect... and a very creative idea of combining sweet and saltiness on macs ! I am so curious to try them out !

Janine said...

i too have a love hate relationship, but your macs truly look beautiful!

ICook4Fun said...

Shereen, thank you, thank you. This was not an easy batch to make after the failure :)

Ann, thank you.

Thalia, thanks.

Ijayuji, ha ha garam ni dah di campur vanilla so baunya memang best.

Ah Tze, thank you. Everything taste good with Nutella :)

Swee San, thank you.

ICook4Fun said...

Sonia, me too. I just made it on time to participate. Next month theme will be another tough one too.

Elizabeth, thanks.

Bee bee, oh yea. I am still learning about this oven.

Eileen, looking forward to see your macarons posting.

Jeannie, thank you. Yea macaron is very temperamental :)

Alan, phewww...I just made it on time to participate. Yea it is expensive but a little goes a long way so it is not so bad.

Alice, thank you. I thought of trying out caramel sauce with the fleur de sel too.

ICook4Fun said...

Juju, thank you.

Rosita, Gracias. Abrazo y besos para ti también.

Lisa, :)

Wendy, I actually prefer the look of your macarons. It is much taller. This one is kind of flat. Yea the salt is pretty expensive but like I told Alan a little goes a long way. So it is not so bad.

Lena, thank you. ha ha can't use too much. Too expensive.

Cathy, thank you.

Linda, try again. Don't give up and you will get it one day. Your daughter is so cute. You are too far away if not I mail some to you. Never mind if you come here I bake some for you :)

Joyce, yes it is a great combi :)

Janine, ha ha not an easy cookie to make.

mycookinghut said...

Wow they look great!!

suituapui said...

Ooooo...macarons!!! Drool! Drool!

Quay Po Cooks said...

Love the color and those feet looks great. Will have to bring some Fluer de sel back from US on my trip there.

lyly said...

Gert, I love the color and those feet. Great Job !!! you should make more.

hanushi said...

Lovely. Your macs have a nice shade and very pretty.

Anonymous said...

May I know where you got your salt from?

ICook4Fun said...

Anon, I bought the Vanilla Fleur de Sel online. http://www.beanilla.com/