Powdered-Sugar-Free Flavored Macarons - egg whites

Method

• Mix the powders with the almond flour.
• Finely grind up the freeze dried strawberries or black tea leaves (using a food processor or a mortar and pestle).
• Sift the almond flour.
• (It's easier to sift if you put it in the freezer about 15 minutes before sifting, and sift just before using it.)
• Put the egg whites and sugar in a bowl, and beat over a hot water bath that's about 70 C. When the hot water is about 70C, it should just have fine bubbles around the bottom and sides of the pan.
• Beat the egg whites and sugar very well, until it's stiff enough that it clings to the bowl when inverted.
• The meringue should be snowy white, very finely textured, shiny, and a little sticky.
• (It will also be warm.)
• Take the bowl of meringue off the hot water bath.
• Sift the almond powder from Step 1 again as you add it to the meringue.
• (The almond powder should be sifted 2 times in total.)
• Mix the ingredient(s) of your choice into the bowl.
• Fold the meringue and almond flour together, then mix well until the batter forms a thick, heavy ribbon when dropped from the spatula.
• If you want to dry the macarons out, go to Step 10.
• If you want to skip the drying step, see"Macarons with no drying needed".
• Put the batter from Step 8 into a piping bag, and pipe it onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper in 2-3 cm circles (leave 2-3 cm between each one).
• To test-bake the batter, it's a good idea to cut small pieces of parchment paper to bake on.
• (Use to test how much to dry the batter and to adjust the oven temperature.)
• Leave the piped out batter it has completely dried on the surface.
• (It should not stick to your fingers when you touch them, and they should feel rubbery.)
• On a warm day with low humidity, the macarons will dry out in about 30 minutes.
• They will take some time on a cold day.
• It's most difficult to dry them out on humid days.
• Preheat the oven to 160C, and bake the dried batter from Step 12.
• Lower the oven temperature to 130C, and bake for 15 to 16 minutes.
• (Adjust the time and temperature depending on your oven.)
• Try doing a test-bake of the dried macaron batter using the small pieces of paper from Step 11.
• If the test macarons turn out, you can bake the rest.
• Let the baked macarons cool down completely before peeling them off the parchment paper.
• If it's hard to peel them off, put them in the freezer on the paper for a few minutes, and they should come off easily.
• They are baked just right when they stick to the paper and can't be peeled off easily.
• If they come off easily, it is likely that they are a bit overbaked, and may be hollow in the middle.
• Sandwich two macarons with a cream filling of your choice in between, and the macarons are done.
• They are tastiest from the following day onwards after they have become moist.
• Macarons that are baked just right do not have hollow centers, and give a moist and airy sensation.
• (The one in the photo is a black tea flavored macaron filled with berry paste.)
• Store the macarons in the refrigerator, and consume them within a week.
• You can also wrap them individually and freeze them.
• (Defrost them in the refrigerator.)
• For details on the reasons why things can go wrong, see"Helpful Hints for Foolproof Macarons".
• To make chocolate ganache, put chocolate and whipped cream in a piping bag, and suspend it over 60C warm water to melt the chocolate.
• Squeeze the bag to mix.
• To make matcha tea- or coffee-flavored ganache, use white chocolate and melt it before adding the powder.
• Squeeze the piping bag well to mix.
• When it has been chilled and has stiffened to the right consistency, the ganache is done.
• If you add instant coffee to the (brown) chocolate, you'll have a cafe-mocha flavored ganache.
• From left to right: matcha, black tea, coffee, mlik, cocoa, and strawberry (I crushed some freeze dried strawberries into a powder and mixed it in).
• I have another recipe for more flavored macaron varieties like kabocha squash , azuki beans, purple sweet potatoes, almonds, kinako, pistachios.
• Try using strawberry powder for pretty pink macarons, cherry blossom shaped macarons).
• I decorated these macarons with chocolate (dark, white, matcha tea flavored, coffee flavored).
• Macarons sandwiched with homemade guimauves like French marshmallowsare elegant, too.
• For easy marbled macarons: Prepare the plain macaron batter up to the step before the macaronage.
• Divide the batter in half inside the bowl.
• Mix flavorings into one half of the plain macaron batter.
• Fold the two batters together, and it will easily turn into a marbled pattern.
• Freeze the leftover egg yolks with 5 g of sugar mixed in per yolk.
• This way, the texture of the yolk will not deteriorate when frozen.
• Defrost the yolks in the refrigerator before use.