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Wednesday, June 28, 2006

La vie en rose - Macarons à la rose de Pierre Hermé

[Life in pink - Pierre Hermé's Rose macarons]

I think one of the best secrets for incredible food is bright and eye-catching colours; at least in the patisserie realm.
You're not so sure?
Check Ladurée's religieuse, Fauchon's éclairs or Hermé's truffles. Don't they look yummy?

I do love black and white photos but I believe that colour photography enhances the deliciousness of food.
However some people can even make food look scrumptious in b&w.
But to tell the truth, when I look at black and white food pictures, my eyes do their best to retrieve the colours.
Though, it seems that simple objects (like vegetables or fruits) benefits from black and white; in contrast elaborated dishes can't go without colour (at least in my mind). I'm afraid to say that even if this quiche looks mouth-watering, a colour picture would have made it twice as good.

There is something I particularly fancy about colour in food: when the colour leads your senses somewhere the taste definitely isn't. Imagine a red religieuse. You think strawberry. I say tomato. Another good example is the crème brûlée I recently made. Green! You think Matcha. I say Guimauve.
Here are the consequences of the trendy cuisine.
But sometimes it can be a disappointment; the reality being far from what you expected.
That's why I have to admit I also like colours to be more classic: chocolate brown for chocolat or purple for violette.

I love to describe a colour tone by adding a food adjective (like pistache for pistachio green) because it shows how much food and colour are related.
One of the best example remains rose.
Rose is both a colour [pink] and a flower [rose].

You might have noticed I am a big pink lover: from life in general to food (one of my pictures was even said to have an Alice in Wonderland look).
So when I saw this recipe for Rose Macarons in my favourite Pâtisserie cookbook, I had to make it.

Macarons à la rose
Macarons are quite tricky. When making them you should really take care to the following few points:
1. Blitz in a food processor the almonds and icing sugar for a good minute.
2. Sieve the almond/icing sugar powder twice.
3. Bring the syrup (used for the Italian meringue) to at least 120°C.
4. Continue whisking the meringue until it's almost cold.
5. Watch the oven temperature – too hot and the macarons will crack (I recommend 160°C).
I followed all these steps and after two disasters, I finally came up with my almost perfect macarons.
You should have seen me, jumping, shouting and singing in the kitchen. Anyway it's been one of the best food moments of my life.

These macarons are luscious. I love the combination of almond and rose, filling the house and hearts with a delicious Mediterranean scent.

I didn't have any rose syrup and essence on hand so I used a 50g of
Confit de Rose instead.
A great add-on would be to sprinkle the ganache with bits of Rose Nougat.

Macarons à la rose

makes 500g

for la crème à la rose
100g couverture white chocolate, melted
100g double cream
10g rose syrup
1g rose essence

Bring the cream to the boil and mix in the melted white chocolate, rose syrup and essence.
Pour the mixture into an airtight tin and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

for le tant-pour-tant
125g almond powder
125g icing sugar

Blitz in a food processor and sieve.

for le macaron à la rose
125g caster sugar
31g water
47g "aged" egg whites
pink food colouring (fanny: I felt I was cheating here but I do so wanted to get the Alice in Wonderland look)
250g tant-pour-tant
43g fresh egg whites

Preheat the oven to 160°C.
In a sauce pan, put the sugar and water and bring to 120°C.
When the syrup reaches 114°C, start whisking the aged egg whites and when the syrup is ready (=120°C), pour it over the egg whites and continu whisking until cold.
The meringue should be thick and glossy.
Add the food colouring until it reaches the colour you want (fanny: I find that once baked, the macarons were paler, so if you want a brighter colour you should add a little extra food colouring).
Mix in the tant-pour-tant and the fresh egg whites.
The mixture should be still firm, but softer and very glossy.
Pipe the batter small rounds (2cm) onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes (oven door maintained open with a wooden spoon).
Let cool for 2 minutes then carefully detach the macarons from the baking mat and set aside.
Continue until there is no mixture left.

for le montage des macarons
Pair the macarons of the same size and pipe the ganache onto one the macarons.
Sandwich and refrigerate for at least 24h before eating.

Labels: macarons, pierre hermé, recipe inside

sweet link | posted by *fanny* at 15:41

1 sweets:

*fanny* said something sweet:: hpy said something sweet:
Ca a l'air délicieux, tout ça!
28 June, 2006 16:28

Fran said something sweet:
Beautiful! I love your comments on color.
28 June, 2006 16:45

geneve said something sweet:
One of the things that I love about visiting your blog is that you have an eye for color and it shows in your photography. Keep up the great work! ;)

Also, your pink little macaron is adorable.
28 June, 2006 18:42

AnneE said something sweet:
une vraie réussite, tu prevois quelques colis ?
28 June, 2006 18:45

Fabienne said something sweet:
Gorgeous ....
28 June, 2006 19:54

khala said something sweet:
je ne comprend pas grand chose en anglais ! c'est dommage !
pourquoi mets tu la recette en anglais alors que les titres sont en français ? je ne dois pas être à la page
28 June, 2006 21:41

Anne said something sweet:
Wow, it looks amazing. I've tried my hand at macarons a few times, but they haven't turned out anything like that. Yet.
28 June, 2006 22:12

mamina said something sweet:
Chez Hermé, c'est vrai que c'est gooood...
28 June, 2006 22:36

Anita said something sweet:
Fanny,
What a perfect little pink macaron! Seeing the rainbows of macarons inside patisseries was one of my favorite things about visiting Paris!
28 June, 2006 23:59

béa said something sweet:
c'est vrai que les couleurs sont magnifiques et que le tout a l'air encore plus appétissant !
29 June, 2006 00:41

L said something sweet:
Fanny - I agree... your pink macaroon and gorgeous nougat would not be the same in Black & White! I like the experimentation, but am happy that I don't have to do black & white food everyday!
29 June, 2006 03:45

Gamelle said something sweet:
So gorgeous!. I agree with you Fanny, I can't imagine food in black and white only..
29 June, 2006 04:04

ooishigal said something sweet:
Bravo il est ravissant!
Je comprends tellement ta joie, lorsque tu les a sortis du four!!
Bises
29 June, 2006 09:21

Lilo said something sweet:
Je découverte tout juste ton blog, magnifique. Tes recettes et photos sont extras, tu as du talent ;)
29 June, 2006 10:03

jenjen said something sweet:
Beautiful post, I agree about what you said about colours and food. No matter what anyone thinks I say they are an integral part of the food experience.
Your photography is so gorgeous, the colours are so consuming!
29 June, 2006 13:22

anna sarah said something sweet:
ouh la la ce petit macaron rose...
(et ces petits eclairs fauchon ;) )
29 June, 2006 15:21

Estelle said something sweet:
Great job, Fanny! It's funny you say you were jumpung up and down when you found out your macaroons turned out OK... Now I can tell you I thought I was going to cry when I took my first batch out of the oven!
29 June, 2006 19:17

bea at La Tartine Gourmande said something sweet:
Superbes fanny! Tu me donnes envie d'en faire! Je les vois partout donc c'est le karma ca!
29 June, 2006 20:19

Fanny said something sweet:
Hi there - thanx for all the nice comments. Not only i was glad with how my macaron turned out, but i am now glad with all your postive feedback.

Thanks to hpy, fran, geneve, fabienne, béa, mamina, oishi, lilo and jen.

Anne - non pas encore, bientot peu etre?

L - i truly think you are one of the rare people that can make food looks good in black and white!

Khala - je suis désolée que tu ne comprennes pas tout, maius si j'ai voulu ecrire en anglais c'est pour plusieurs raisons. La principale étant que j'arrive meiux a parler de cuisine en anglais!

Anne - i'm sure your macarons will be perfect in less time than you need to say 'MACARON'!

Anita - that's one of my greatest pleasure as well. I'm glad someone feels the same way i do about colours!

Anna-Sarah - je les ai gardé dans un coin de ma tete pour mieux les ressortir. Ouf, ils sont sublimes! Merci pour cette decouverte.

Estelle - OUF i'm not the only one then!

Bea - j'attends avec impatience (yum, je pietine dejà!!!)

xoxo
Fanny
29 June, 2006 22:33

keiko said something sweet:
They are so pretty, Fanny! I don't think I can choose one of them, I must have both :) Your pictures are beautiful.
30 June, 2006 12:33

Camille said something sweet:
Je viens souvent faire un petit tour chez toi et tout ce que tu présentes est somptueux. Bien entendu, ces sublimes macarons n'ont pas dérogé à la règle. Bravo !
30 June, 2006 23:49

Mercotte said something sweet:
Bravo ils sont superbes ! je ne monte le sirop qu'à 110° sur les conseils de l'Ecole Valrhona, je vais essayer la méthode Hermé pour voir la différecne! en tout cas bravo !
01 July, 2006 05:01

J said something sweet:
hi fanny, how beautiful! i love pink too...i know exactly what you mean about jumping for joy having had my fair share of macaron disasters...yours look simply perfect
01 July, 2006 13:02

gilly said something sweet:
Hi Fanny, I'm so intrigued by your macarons - they look so sweet and delicate! Though I've oogled pictures of Pierre Hermé's creations in the past, I've never actually tried a macaron! One of the many things that I will need to try!
03 July, 2006 04:19

Bron said something sweet:
Oh how perfect Fanny!
They look so precious I could stare at them forever, fantastic!
06 July, 2006 00:38

when honey meets mustard said something sweet:
what is aged eeg whites? how to age the egg whites? thanks!
09 July, 2006 18:41; 25 December, 2006 22:44