Ispahan Macarons

Almond Mixture
  160 g Almond meal

  160 g Powdered sugar

  60 g Egg whites

  0.50 g Red food coloring

Italian Meringue
  60 g Egg whites, room temp

  1 g Cream of tartar, or lemon juice (stabilizer)

  150 g Sugar

  40 g Water

Buttercream Filling (Creme Anglaise)

  120 g Milk

  15 g Sugar

  2 g Vanilla bean (seeds), or paste

  80 g Egg yolks

  30 g Sugar
  225 g Butter, room temp

  15 g Rose water, or 2.5g rose essence

  80 g Italian meringue (optional)

Montage
  500 g Fresh raspberries

  400 g Lychees, drained

  20 g Rose petals (optional)

Before Your Start

1 There are 3 different methods to creating a proper meringue for macarons: the French,
Italian and Swiss. The French macarons (Lenôtre/Paris) is the most used in macaron
recipes, because it results in the correct texture and taste for the French macaron. The
Italian method macarons (Ladurée/Paris) is said to produce a more stable meringue
because it uses a hot sugar syrup in place of dry sugar, but the downside is that it
results in macarons that are sweeter and more challenging to bake. The Swiss meringue
offers an interesting compromise; meanwhile whisking and heating egg whites and
sugar together to 60ºC. Some claim to be the easiest but more challenging to execute
into large batches.
Cracking is an unfortunate and undesirable side effect in a macaron shell. Cracking
seems to be caused by multiple issues, including oily or wet almond meal, whipping the
egg whites for too long or not enough (French method), over-folding the dry ingredients
into the meringue during the 'macaronage' step. Excessive moisture in the air and batter
and skipping the drying step before baking; this allows cookie to form a skin allowing
the moisture to escape from the bottom while baking forming the macaron foot (pied);
foamy base. A little known fact is that macarons withstand freezing very well. Chill
macarons upward with or without filling in an airtight container for up to one week, or for
up to 3 months in the freezer.

Almond Mixture
2 In a food processor, turn sugar and almond meal into fine powdered and sieve. Add egg
white and food coloring.

Italian Meringue

3 Yield 9 large cookies / 18 large macaron shells ~ 3-inch/7.5cm diameter.

To find macaron silicone mat click here

 Beat egg whites with cream of tartar on medium speed to foamy stage. In a small
saucepan cook water and sugar to 245ºF/118ºC. Increase mixer speed to high and pour
syrup in thin stream. Mix until stiff peaks until steam is out. Fold meringue into the
almond mixture and start the macaronage. Macaronage is the stage in preparing
macaron shells where the batter is worked until smooth, shiny and flowing. Fill a piping
bag fitted with an 15mm/1.5cm nozzle with your mixture and pipe out into even sized
pieces on silicone mat. Gently tap the tray on the counter to smooth out the surface of
your macaron shells. Leave to crust for 15 minutes or until the shells are not sticky to
the touch.

Baking
4 Professional ovens tend to bake macarons much faster. A pizza stone is recommended.

To find pizza stone click here

If using a conventional oven preheat oven to 325ºF/160ºC and bake for about 18
minutes. If using a convection oven preheat oven to 300ºF/150ºC and bake for about 14
minutes. Bake one sheet at a time.

Buttercream Filling (Creme Anglaise )

5 In a small saucepan, warm up milk with sugar and vanilla. At 120ºF/45ºC, add yolks and
blend with an immersion blender. Cook on medium heat to 185ºF/85ºC. Sieve over
mixing bowl and beat with the whisk attachment. At 90ºF/35ºC, throw in softened butter
and beat on high until smooth. If the mixture separates, chill 15 min and beat again. If
too cold, warm up mixing bowl over the stove. Add 80g Italian meringue to the
buttercream if desired. Add flavoring.

Montage

6 Flip half of the macaron shells and pipe out a dollop of filling in the center of each shell.
Surround with fresh raspberries (halves or whole). Top filling with a couple of lychees
and sandwich with macaron shell. Decorate with rose petal is desired. Chill for up to 4
days. Avoid freezer because fresh fruits are in used. Enjoy!