Thanksgiving is around the corner!!! Basically a holiday revolving around food- a foodie's favorite ;) You can find a lot of great Thanksgiving recipes here on the blog. I haven't gotten to a turkey yet, but I'm sure you'll find lots of great sides and desserts to feast upon.
It's been a while since I've made a macaron-dedicated post. I actually was supposed to bring these to a church Thanksgiving potluck, but too many of them didn't turn out nice- sometimes my oven gives me a really hard time (ugh). Still, I managed to get at least a couple pretty ones.. I had to share the recipe because the flavor is great!
A lot of my recipes come together when I look through my fridge and find things that I don't know if I would use in my day to day food adventures. This recipe came together when I had some leftover buttercream from Helen's baby shower and sweetened condensed milk. Sweetened condensed milk makes the best dulce de leche. It's not your typical caramel- it's got a much deeper, creamier flavor that kind of makes your heart melt. Not to mention, it's a great "put it in a pot and forget about it" kind of recipe.
Dulce de Leche Macarons (makes about 30)
Shells
100 g Almond Flour
120 g Confectioner's Sugar
50 g Granulated Sugar
70 g Egg Whites (2 large whites)
Orange, Green, and Red Gel Color
1. Pulse almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor until very finely ground. Be careful not to grind too long, because it will release all of the oils, ruining your final product.
2. Sift the powder with a medium-mesh sieve.
3. Place the particles that are too large to fit through the sieve back into the food processor, pulse, and sift again. Throw out the excess pieces.
4. In a grease-free bowl, place your egg whites and sugar. Allow to sit for a few minutes to begin to dissolve.
5. Use grease-free beaters on high speed to whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Add in the gel color. You want a very full color because the added almond flour and sugar will dull the color. You're looking for a light brown/caramel color.
6. Use a rubber spatula to fold the powdered sugar and almond flour into the meringue until the batter moves slowly, like lava. If you run your spatula through it, it should fall together after 5-7 seconds.
7. Put the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip (3/8 inch).
8. Pipe rounds that are about an inch apart onto a nonstick baking mat (silpat) that is placed onto a cookie sheet.
9. Do this by holding the bag straight up about half an inch above the silpat, applying pressure to the bag until about 3/4 inch in diameter, and then lessen the pressure as you drag backward. Once you reach the desired length, quickly move the bag in the opposite direction that you dragged it, to leave a smooth edge. Make sure there is enough space to spread.
10. Rap your cookie sheet/sheet pan on the table a few times to make sure there are no bumps on the macaron shells.
11. Let rest until dry to the touch (about 30-45 minutes, longer on rainy days). Sprinkle a small amount of flake sea salt on the dried shell.
12. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. If you have a convection oven, use convection.
13. Bake macaron shells on the second shelf of the oven for 14-17 minutes, until they do not wiggle when nudged.
14. Remove from oven and allow shells to cool completely before removing from the silpat.
Buttercream Filling
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Egg White
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Butter
1. Carefully place the can of sweetened condensed milk into a pot of gently boiling water- do not remove the condensed milk from the can. You will want to boil the can for about 2.5 hours. Make sure you put the can on its side, and keep adding water to cover the can.
2. Once the time has finished, remove the can from the water with a slotted spoon or tongs, and allow the condensed milk to cool to room temperature. Do not open the can until it is cooled.
3. Fill a pot with some water and begin to boil.
4. Place the egg white and sugar into a medium sized, heat proof, grease-free bowl. Place the bowl on top of the pot of boiling water.
5. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved (110 degrees F). Check by rubbing the mixture between your fingers to feel for sugar granules.
6. Mix on high speed to make a meringue.
7. When cool to the touch, add softened butter and mix until it comes together.
8. It will break apart and look like scrambled eggs. Continue to mix until it becomes a soft paste.
9. Once the dulce de leche is completely cool, fold about half into the buttercream. You may only need about half of the dulce de leche. Add more dulce de leche if you want more of the flavor.
Assembly
1. Pair the shells by size. You should have about 20 pairs of shells.
2. Put the buttercream into a piping bag with the same tip that you used to pipe the macarons.
3. Pipe the buttercream so that it is covering about 1/2 of the surface of the bottom of the shell.
4. Put the pairs together to create a "sandwich".
5. Place in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to develop.
This is a recipe that is sure to impress. the little bit of saltiness adds a perfect depth to the sweet cookie. If you don't have time to make the macarons, you can always use dulce de leche on toast, ice cream, milkshakes, cookies, brownies... really anything that you want to make even more delicious. It's unique, tasty, and simple!
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