The Bride's Guide Blog

April 22, 2010

Pink Plus Week: Cannelle Et Vanille

Posted by Shira Savada

Our third installment in our "pink plus" week combines pinks and coppers in a soft, subtle manner. Aran Goyoaga of Cannelle Et Vanille took inspiration from nature, specifically cherry blossoms -- before she even saw our story in the spring issue!

Aran's love of food began growing up in her grandparents’ pastry shop. Originally from Bilbao in the Basque region of Spain, Aran Goyoaga has been living in the US for 11 years, where she works as a freelance food stylist, photographer, and writer. She studied business and economics, but left that field to pursue a career in pastry. After working in professional kitchens for years, she focused on writing, styling, and photography through her award-winning blog Cannelle Et Vanille (that's "Cinnamon and Vanilla" in French, to hint at the scents that remind Aran of her childhood). She is the mother of a 3-year-old boy and a 5-month old girl and works out of her South Florida home studio.

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Is your mouth watering? Thankfully, Aran wrote up the recipe so you can make these beauties yourself!

Makes about 4 dozen small macarons

Note: Make three batches of this recipe, and color each with a different shade. Use bright pink, pale pink, and copper colors.

MACARON SHELLS

180 grams almond flour
240 grams powdered sugar
140 grams egg whites
3 grams egg white powder
2 grams of finely ground sea salt
80 grams granulated sugar
Few drops of food coloring

In a large bowl, sift together the almond flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the egg white and the egg white powder. Whip on medium speed until egg whites start to increase in volume.

When the egg whites are almost fully whipped and very fluffy, slowly start sprinkling in the sugar. After all the sugar is incorporated, whip the meringue on high speed until stiff peaks have formed. Then add the food coloring.

Add the dry ingredients to the meringue and, with a spatula, fold the meringue into the dry ingredients. This is called “macaroner.” It is better to fold slowly and test a couple of macarons because it is possible to over fold this mixture. You want a shiny mass. For this amount of ingredients, I would say that it will only take about 10 to 15 strokes. But again, it is better to check for consistency. You are looking for a mass that spreads a little but not too much, otherwise the macarons will be flat.

Pipe the mass onto half sheet pans lined with silpats. Let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes to dry. You want the tops not to stick to your finger when you touch them. This will ensure a crack-free macaron.

Have your oven preheated at 350 degrees. Bake one sheet pan at a time positioning it in a middle rack. Turn oven to 300 degrees. Bake for about 8 minutes and rotate sheet pan to ensure even baking. It should take about 14 minutes, but that depends on the oven. You want to be able to pick up the macaroon without it falling apart, but you don’t want to over bake it either. It is better to bake it slowly so no browning occurs.

Remove them from the oven and slide the silpat onto a cold surface. Let them cool on the silpat.

BUTTERCREAM FILLING

Note: Flavor the buttercream for the pink macarons with cherry blossom extract and the copper ones with cocoa powder.

100 grams of egg whites
200 grams of granulated sugar
300 grams of room temperature unsalted butter
flavoring (cherry blossom extract and sifted cocoa powder)

In the bowl of an electric mixer, lightly whisk together egg whites and sugar. Place over a water bath until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch, shiny, and very fluffy. Bring bowl to the electric mixer and whip, adding a tablespoon of butter at a time, until stiff peaks form. Make sure the meringue has cooled to room temperature. Then add the flavoring and mix until incorporated.

Pipe a teaspoon of the buttercream on a macaron and top with another one that is similar size.

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Posted by Shira Savada on April 22, 2010 in Cakes & Confections, Color Palettes

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