Honeycomb Macarons

This experience has shown me, beyond the shadow of a doubt, just how important it is to age egg whites.  My last few batches of macarons have been made with egg whites that either haven't been aged at all, or have just been out overnight.  Sick of frantically trying to age egg whites in the microwave, I have begun to always have a bowl of egg whites on my bench ready for me to bake whenever I please.  The egg whites I used today had been out for 4 days and as soon as they went into the mixer I could see the difference.  They begun to foam up much quicker than normal, and after six minutes of whisking they were gloriously glossy, voluminous and airy.  The sheer volume of the egg white also meant my batter went further - I was able to fill 5½ trays with batter.  I've had as little as 3½ tray's worth with non-aged egg whites.  I don't know why it is (something to do with the proteins in the egg breaking down or something) but I am now completely convinced how important this step is in making macarons.

The inspiration for this flavour came from a friend at work.  And let's face it - who doesn't love honeycomb?  I wanted to create macarons that combined both chocolate and honeycomb flavours, but I was a little hesitant about attempting chocolate macaron shells again.  Zumbo may say it's okay in his book, but things just never work out for me when cocoa is involved.  Instead of risking another failed batch of macarons, I emailed Alexandre Lui-Van-Sheng who taught a macaron class I attended last year.  He replied by saying that this particular recipe for macarons just doesn't work when cocoa is added.  Maybe due to the oil content perhaps?  I'm not sure.  So even though it apparently works for Zumbo, it's just not going to happen for me.  

I was disappointed, as I had a picture in my mind of a deep, dark, brown chocolate shell filled with a bright yellow honeycomb filling.  I had a look in some kitchen stores to look for some brown food colouring, to no avail.  I wasn't brave enough to mix red, blue and yellow food dye - I didn't want to be left with some purpley-browny mess.  I was about to give up and just make yellow shells, when I discovered Parisian Browning Essence in Coles.  It says to use to to brown puddings, gravies, sauces and cakes, so why not macaron batter?  Apparently it's not Parisian at all, and it looked a little like soy sauce, but I decided to give it a go.  It didn't have that deep, dark, chocolatey-brown effect like I was hoping, but it is still a good alternative to using cocoa.  It absolutely stinks so I wasn't going to put too much in.  I used about 2 tablespoons which gave a light brown shell colour.  I could have added more, but didn't want to risk affecting the taste.

Even though they don't look as striking as I wanted, they still look quite rustic and pretty (rustic because the chunks of honeycomb in the buttercream make it impossible to pipe smoothly!)  They taste delicious, and look lovely with a bit of cocoa sifted on top (I'm not sure how the sprinked cocoa will go in the freezer though, so I would only do this just before you serve).  I'm sure the Arts Staff at school will love these!!!!

For the macaron shells:

Makes about 50 macarons

300g finely sifted almond meal (see note)

300g sifted pure icing sugar

110g aged egg whites

300g caster sugar

75g water

110g egg whites extra, at room temperature (don't have to be aged)

2 tbs Parisian Browning Essence (or a few drops of brown food colouring)

Note: I use my hands to press the almond meal through a splatter guard as I can't find a fine enough sieve.  Sift it first, and then weigh to see if you have enough.  You'll end up having to discard any almond meal that's too course for the sieve.

Line four trays with baking paper.  Combine the sifted almond meal and icing sugar in a large bowl.  Put the aged egg whites into a mixer bowl.  Combine caster sugar and water in a saucepan and carefully mix so all the sugar is wet.  Try not to leave too much sugar on the sides of the saucepan - use a spatula to push the sugar back down to the bottom.  This will prevent the sugar crystalising.  Heat up the sugar on low heat until it's dissolved (rub some water between your fingers.  If you can feel the granules, the sugar hasn't dissolved.)  Increase the heat to medium and bring to the boil.  Once the sugar reaches 100oC, turn the mixer onto low speed.  As the sugar is boiling, add the browning essence/food colouring.  Adding it here allows the water to evaporate out.  If you are using powdered colouring, mix it into the dry ingredients instead.  

Continue boiling the sugar until it reaches 118oC.  Pour the sugar into the mixer.  Pour it down the side of the bowl, rather than in the middle, to prevent spun sugar.  Increase the mixer to high speed and whisk for 7 minutes.  Meanwhile, use a spatula to combine the extra egg whites with the dry ingredients to create a thick paste.  When the egg whites are thick and glossy, mix a bit at a time into the almond paste.  Once all the egg white has been incorporated into the paste, continue working the mixture with a spatula.  Be careful not to overwork the batter - it's ready when you can lift the spatula out of the bowl and the batter slowly falls off. 

Using a piping bag with a 12mm nozzle, pipe 3cm circles of batter onto prepared trays (I like to use a template that I slide under the baking paper).  Turn on the oven to 135oC (I have a fan-forced oven so I only heat it up to 135oC.  All ovens are different, so you just have to figure out what works for you.  Wait 20 minutes and see if the batter has formed a skin (gently touch one of the macarons - if the mixture feels sticky, leave it for another ten minutes.)  Bake for 16 minutes.  I like to just bake one tray at a time because my oven is a bit dodgy, but other ovens may happily take more than one tray - you just have to experiment.

Remove trays from the oven and sit for 2 minutes.  Try removing a macaron with a spatula. If it is sticking to the paper, put the tray back in the oven for 2 minutes then try again.  Allow macarons to cool completely, then pair them together with shells of similar size.

For the Honeycomb Buttercream:

120g softened butter

200g sifted icing sugar

1 cup finely crushed chocolate coated honeycomb

Yellow food colouring

Cream butter in a mixer with the beater attachment.  Add icing sugar and mix on low speed until combined.  Increase speed to high and beat until pale and fluffy.  Add food colouring and mix until combined.  Fold honeycomb into the buttercream.

Assemble your macarons by piping the buttercream onto a shell, then sandwiching it with another shell.  Be careful with the size of your nozzle - you need to make sure the nozzle size is larger than the chunks of honeycomb in the buttercream.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.  Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.  Defrost in the fridge overnight.  Let the macarons sit at room temperature for a few hours before serving.  Dust with cocoa if desired.