It was my birthday this past weekend, and in lieu of a cake, I decided to make some macarons. Little did I know that this venture would ruin me forever in unexpected ways. You might have heard me whinge a few times about my vague disgust for frosting and its slithery, tooth-aching texture. Well, I guess the day of regret was bound to come sooner or later…because as of last weekend, I’m definitely eating those words.

The devilry behind all this arrived in a little batch of something called Espresso-Caramel Frosting. It was a recipe from Tish Boyle’s The Cake Book, and one that I’d had bookmarked for a while now. Let me just cut to the chase and tell you right now: this frosting is Dangerous, with a capital D, in a way I had no idea frosting could be. Perilous in the “I need to get it out of the house immediately before I eat the entire bowl right this second” kind of way. And even though there are a few choice things (hello there romesco sauce) that drive me to superlatives, I’m not a particularly excitable sort of person, if you know what I mean. My socks aren’t easily knocked off.

And yet…just imagine the smooth flavor of brown-sugar caramel embraced by a shot of great espresso and delivered in the smoothest, creamiest, and lightest-tasting vehicle ever. A phenomenon, if you will, that has caused me to leave behind my frosting-hating self forever…at least as long as this stuff is in the room. If you have even the remotest interest in caramel or coffee, you have got to make this stuff as soon as possible. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The original recipe makes a pretty vast quantity - somewhere over 5 cups, and suited for a full-size cake - but I was able to easily divide everything by 4, which makes enough to fill two batches of cardamom-scented macarons, adapted from David Lebovitz’s great recipe. The result was something like a caramelly Arabic coffee in macaron form. Honestly, who needs birthday cake, anyway?

Cardamom-Scented Macarons with Caramel-Espresso Buttercream

Caramel-Espresso Buttercream
Adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle

In (small text) are the measurements I used for 1/4 of the buttercream recipe, which will be plenty to fill two batches of the above macaron recipe

1 1/4 cups (5 tablespoons) firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cups (300ml) (5 tablespoons, 75 ml) heavy cream
1/4 cup (1 tablespoon) light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon (small pinch) salt
4 (1) large eggs
1 pound (4 sticks) (one stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons (1/2 teaspoon) pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (1/2 teaspoon) espresso powder, dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, heavy cream, corn syrup and salt to cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring and increase the heat to high.

Meanwhile in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with te whisk attachment, begin beating the eggs at medium speed. When the sugar syrup reaches 225ºF on a candy thermometer, increase the speed of the mixer to high. Continue to cook the sugar syrup until it reaches 238ºF.

Remove the pan from the heat and with the mixer off, immediately pour about 1/4 cup of the hot syrup over the beaten eggs. Beat at high speed until blended, about 10 seconds. Turn the mixer off and add another 1/4 cup syrup. Beat at high speed for another 10 seconds. Repeat until all the syrup is used. With a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat at medium high speed until the egg mixture is cool, about 5 minutes. When you touch the mixing bowl, it should not be warm at all.

Reduce the mixer to medium speed and beat in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add the vanilla and coffee, then increase the speed to medium high and beat the buttercream until it is smooth and thick, about 4 minutes.

The buttercream can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator; bring to room temperature before using.

Cardamom-Scented Chocolate Macarons
Adapted from David Lebovitz

1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces , 50 gr, sliced almonds, pulverized)
3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375ºF (180ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2cm) ready.

In a food processor, grind together the powdered sugar with the almond meal, cardamom, and cocoa.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites on high speed until they begin to rise and hold their shape. With the mixer still running, gradually add the granulated sugar and beat until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.

Gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg white mixture in two batches, using a rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, spoon the batter into a pastry bag, filling halfway.

Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1- to 1 1/2-inch circles, spaced about an inch apart. Fill the pastry bag with any remaining batter and repeat.

Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the countertop to flatten the macarons, then let them set about 20 minutes to harden their shells a bit. Place the macarons in the oven, and immediately reduce the heat to 350ºF (175ºC). Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

Posted by the cookworm on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 9:57 pm.