Milo Macarons
An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella adapted from Jean Michel Raynaud
Preparation time: 1 hour plus resting time of 30 minutes to 3 hours
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Macarons need to be made 3 days in advance of serving
- 300g/10.6ozs. tant pour tant (150g almond meal sieved with 150g icing sugar)
- 60g/2.12ozs. egg whites
- 150g/5.3ozs. caster sugar
- 38g/1.34ozs. water
- 60g/2.12ozs. egg whites
- Brown food colouring gel
- 125g/4/41ozs. butter, at room temperaure
- 200g/7.06ozs. icing sugar, sifted
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 cup Milo (you can also use Ovaltine or grated chocolate if outside the US although apparently it is stocked at Walmart!)
Step 1 - Get someone to sift the tant pour tant. I hate sifting at the best of times but sifting this much is an awful task. I'm not being melodramatic here. I got Mr NQN to do it.
Step 2 - Mix the tant pour tant with the first lot of 60g/2.12ozs. egg whites to create a smooth paste. Set aside. Place the second lot of 60g egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
Step 3 - Place the 150g caster sugar and 38g water in a heavy bottomed saucepan along with about 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon brown colouring gel and melt the sugar on low heat. Brush down any stray sugar crystals on the the sides with a wet brush. Heat until it reaches 100C. Once it reaches that temperature, commence whisking the egg whites. They will hopefully become soft peaks when the sugar mixture reaches 118C.
Step 4 - Pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites and whisk on maximum speed for 1 minute and then on medium speed until it reaches 50C.
Step 5 - Incorporate meringue into the tant pour tant - you don't have to be delicate here, you can slap it on the sides of the bowl. You may feel the urge to if you've done the sifting.
Step 6 - Line four baking trays with silpats (you can also use parchment but silpats are better as they don't stick whereas parchment sticks a little).
Step 7 - Fill a piping bag with a large plain tip or just cut the end and pipe macarons onto the silpats. I do them free form but mine don't need to be a particular size. You can also use a size guide underneath the silpat if you want to.
Step 8 - Set them aside to create skins on the macarons. Skins are when you can touch the surface of the macaron and it isn't sticky. This can take anything from 30 minutes to 3 hours. As luck would have it ours were ready just as we had to leave for dinner so I baked them once I got home and they were fine.
Step 9 - Bake at 130C/266F for 15-20 minutes (depending on size, really small ones are 15 minutes). Allow to cool completely on the tray and using an angled spatula to remove them.
Step 10 - Fit the mixer with a paddle attachment and beat the butter until smooth on high speed. Knock back the speed to low and add the sifted icing sugar and milk and mix, then increase speed once the icing sugar is all mixed in (or you'll end up in a cloud of sugar, I've done it more than once!). Add the Milo and beat until smooth and chocolatey.
Step 11 - Match macaron shells of the same size. Fill a piping bag with the Milo buttercream and a star tip and pipe swirls on one half and add the other half. Place in the refrigerator for 3 days until the shell starts to soften.
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