Macaron Sanguine

Its blood orange season again! Around this time last year, I’d experimented with blood oranges, making a confiture out of the lot I bought. They tasted really fantastic, with very intense citrusy flavours and not to mention the alluring ruby red appearance! I’d been waiting for them to appear again this year and thankfully they did! More jam-making as usual since the marmalade taste really good and goes really well with scones, toast etc. Their versatility is also extended to making Macaron Satine, an orange-passionfruit and creamcheese concoction devised by none other than Pierre Herme. I had plans to use them in a macaron again of course, but this time round, its gonna be for something I made up., Macaron Sanguine. 🙂

I’d attended a two-day chocolate making class last week and one of the first things we’d gotta taste at the beginning of  the class (and subsequently learnt to make) was rum and orange chocolate truffles. It was simply delish! I started thinking about possibilities of incorporating the delicious orange ganache into other stuff which I could potentially make and that became the inspiration of Macaron Sanguine, two-tone macaron shells sandwiched with a dark chocolate-blood orange ganache laced with cointreau, topped with blood orange confiture. The truffle recipe we’d used called for trimoline, orange compound and rum. The rum and orange pairing is excellent. And orange compound helped to elevate the aroma and taste. But as orange compound is not available in my baking pantry, I’d decided to swop rum for cointreau instead. I love this orange liqueur, the aroma and taste it lends to the ganache is really amazing, though I think I could still have laced it with a bit of rum!

Blood-splattering effect, befitting of the name “sanguine” 🙂

Macaron Sanguine (for about a dozen 4 cm macarons)

For macaron shells

60g  almond powder

110g icing sugar

46g  egg white

3g  dry egg white

15g  granulated sugar

yellow food coloring

red food coloring

few drops of water

For blood orange-dark chocolate ganache

25g unsalted butter at room temperature

85g Valrhona Chocolate Caraibe ( 66% cocoa solid )

40g Valrhona Chocolate Jivara ( 40% cocoa solid )

70g blood orange juice (save the skin and remove rind by a fruit peeler to make confiture)

lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon

2 tbsp of granulated sugar

For blood orange confiture

refer here

PS: the aroma from the kitchen when the confiture is bubbling away is unbelievable!

Cointreau is my de facto choice since I don’t have orange compound at hand. Grand marnier should work well too but I prefer very much the former. And of course there’s always good o’ rum!

Method

Two days before baking,

separated egg whites and leave over kitchen counter to “age” at ambient temperature for 2 days until it “liquefies”.

Day before baking and assemblage, prepare blood orange-dark chocolate ganache

Cut butter into small pieces.

pouring blood orange juice, lemon juice, granulated sugar into a saucepan and heat to bring to a boil.

over a bain-marie, partially melt chopped chocolate mixture (66% caraibe + 40% Jivara).

When the juice mixture just begins to boil, remove from heat and gently stream in one-third of juice mixture over melted chocolate and mix to incorporate.

Repeat over two more successive additions of juice. Let the ganache cool down gradually, stirring slowly but continuously.

When the ganache cools down to 60^oC, add in pieces of chopped butter and incorporate thoroughly.

Cotinue to stir as the incorporated ganache cools to room temperature. Add in cointreau and give it a final stir to incorporate.

transfer ganache into a dish and cover the surface with clingfilm. refrigerate to allow ganache to firm and set overnight.

On the day of baking and assemblage,

Weigh out powdered almond and icing sugar, and pulse in food processor until combined. Divide into two portions.

Weigh out dry egg white and granulated sugar, use a small spoon to mesh together in a bowl. Divide into two portions.

Prepare pastry bag with 1 cm round tip. Fold in the ends to prevent batter from flowing out during filling.

Prepare baking tray by lining with baking sheet or silicon mat.

Divide aged egg whites into two portions.

Place the FIRST PORTION of aged egg white in a large bowl and break up the thick parts with whisk and beat. Use a handwhisk and turn the bowl when whisking until the egg whites begins to foam up. Add 2 drops of yellow food coloring.

Sprinkle HALF of FIRST PORTION of dry egg white and granulated sugar mixture when egg white looks sticky and does not flow when bowl is tilted.

Whisk egg white mixture to soft peaks, then add the other half of the sugar and dry egg white mixture, and continue to whisk further until it forms stiff peaks. The meringue should look firm and glossy.

Sift in half of FIRST PORTION of the icing sugar and powdered almond into the meringue bowl, fold and press with spatula until 50-60% mixed.

Add the other half of powdered almond mixture and continue to fold and press into batter, deflating meringue at the same time. Stop mixing when the batter becomes shiny and flows little.

Fill pastry bag with batter and pipe onto baking sheet. Hold vertically, about 1 cm above sheet and pipe into desired size.

Use a bamboo skewer/toothpick to burst any air bubbles if necessary.

Leave out to dry under air-con, until macarons do not stick to fingers (15- 20 min)

Meanwhile, repeat the procedure to make orange-colored shells with the SECOND PORTION of aged whites, almond mea-icing sugar mixture, and dry egg white-caster sugar mixture. Add one drop of yellow food coloring and one drop of red food coloring to get orange. Adjust quantity based on desired color intensity.

When the yellow-colored macarons begin to dry out and is no longer tacky to touch, add two drops of red food coloring into a small saucer together with 2 drops of tap water. Using a toothbrush, mix the food coloring and water evenly. Coat the bristles with food coloring and gently run your thumb over bristles with the toothbrush facing downwards and placed over yellow-colored shells. This creates the polka-dotted effect. Leave to dry out in air-con for another 10 min. By then, the orange-colored shells would have completely dried out as well.

Bake at the shells, one tray at a time, in a pre-heated convectional oven at 150 ^oC for 10 – 12 min, turning sheet after 5-6 min.

Check if macarons are done by gently clasping the macaron with thumb and index finger and move horizontally. It should be barely sliding. Top dome should be smooth and dry but when pressed down on bottom side, it should still be a little soft.

Remove from baking tray immediately and cool on rack. This is to prevent further cooking from residual heat from heated baking tray.

When the macaron shells have cooled thoroughly to room temperature, gently peel them away from baking sheet or silicon mat.

Pair the shells up according to size.

Fill pastry bag with 1 cm plain tip nozzle and fill it up with blood orange-dark chocolate ganache.

Pipe a generous mould of ganache onto the orange-colored shells.

Using a small teaspoon, add a small amount of blood orange confiture over the ganache.

Pipe another small dollop of ganache over the confiture to cover it.

Top with yellow with red polka-dotted shells.

Store the macarons for 24 hours in the fridge for them to mature and bring out to return to room temperature before serving.

Teeny dollops of blood orange confiture over the ganache. A small amount would do as the confiture was cooked with almost only orange juice and no water, so the flavours are really intense!

Slicing the macs to show the innards. Really dark and smooth ganache with rind from the blood orange confiture peeking through.

I absolutely love the taste of the flavours! Blood orange pairs really well with dark chocolate and the addition of cointreau is really the cherry on the cake. Veronica aka Quay Po, our dear friend in KL also whipped up a very similar concoction, using kumquat preserve, evident of the versatility of the variety of citrus fruits to be incorporated. Lemon, grapefruit, or even yuzu and buddha-hand citron for the exotic and adventurous should work really well. Raspberries is another probable choice and if one does it with passionfruit, you get Macaron Mogador!

I’m submitting this for Aspiring Bakers #17 – March Macaron Madness! (Mar 2012) hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies

Related posts:

Pierre Hermé’s Macaron Jardin Enchanté – a reconstruction

Pierre Hermé’s Macaron Mogador

Pierre Hermé’s Macaron Montebello

Pierre Hermé’s Tarte Ispahan

Pierre Hermé’s Macaron Satine and the PH Macaron Project

Pierre Herme’s Ispahan

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