School holidays have come and have brought with them plenty of macaron inspiration! I can't believe it's already Thursday and I'm only just getting my first batch of macarons up and running. Well, despite a slow start, I'm hoping to get right on track and try all sorts of baking experiments. First up: Turkish Delight Macarons.
To be perfectly honest, the main reason I wanted to try Turkish delight macarons was so I had a reason to buy pashmak, otherwise known as Persian Fairy Floss. Okay, I know, Perisan Fairy Floss and Turkish Delight are from two separate countries, but it's all kind of the same area, right? Anyway, I've always wanted to try pashmak, and Turkish delight macarons seemed like a good accompaniment. Pashmak isn't something you buy to eat on it's own, it's more of a garnish to add prettiness and excitement to desserts. My vision was to make some cute little pink macarons and finish them off with a swirl of pashmak on top.
Once that was done, it was time to tackle the Turkish delight. That's when things got a little crazy. In my head I wanted to make some sort of flat tray of Turkish delight and then cut out disc shapes with a cookie cutter to sandwich between the two shells. I googled some Turkish delight recipes and ended up trying not one, not two, but three different versions. Yes, you read correctly. I needed to try three different times, and still wasn't 100% satisfied. But here's what happened anyway...
My first attempt at making Turkish delight came from here and turned out like this:
Yeah...I know, right? It looked like a cross between vegemite and tree sap. Poor Brendan even stood over the stove for an hour stirring, and it STILL failed. Plus my beautiful Tupperware silicone spatula is now stained. Not to worry, I decided to give it another go, this time with a microwave recipe. Apparently this one wasn't technically Turkish delight, because it used gelatine to set rather than a starch. It ended up looking okay...
...but it didn't taste so good. It was alright at first, but I was left with a really floury aftertaste. I didn't want to ruin a perfectly good batch of macaron shells by filling them with sticky cornflour. Trying not to think about all the ingredients I had already wasted, I decided to give it one more try using this recipe. It wasn't too bad in the end.
Aside from the fact that I added a bit too much rosewater essence, the flavour was quite nice. It may have had a texture like Clag glue, which threw my cookie cutter idea out the window, but it wasn't so bad in the end as it meant I could pipe the mixture straight onto the macaron shells.
The finishing touch was the pashmak. I only put it on top of the white shells, but it actually enhanced the flavour and made them taste so much better, so I think it's worth serving with all the shells, not just the whites. The pashmak is so deliciously delicate and so stunning to look at on its own that when paired with macarons it brings the entire dish to a whole new level. It was exciting for me just to plate it up, let alone eat it!
I would definitely make these again, especially if I was going to some sort of Middle-Eastern-themed event, but I think next time I'll just buy the Turkish delight and either cut it or pipe it onto the shells. Although I was happy with the flavour of my third Turkish delight attempt, I still think the store-bought stuff tastes better (especially the one they sell at Kakulas Sister!!!) I'll be looking for other ways to incorporate pashmak into my cooking, too. It's hideously expensive ($15 a pack) but now that I have some, a little seems to go a long way. I still have most of the packet left, and it seems to last a while in an airtight container. Has anyone else had more success than me in making Turkish delight? Can you think of other ways to use pashmak?
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