Peppermint Candy Cane Baby Macarons
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Macarons are best made 2 days ahead of time to give them time to soften
Makes a lot of macarons (depending on size, I got 60 baby macarons out of this)
Preparation time: 35 minutes plus time for the skin to form (15 minutes to 3 hours depending on temperature)
Cooking time: 20 minutes per tray (makes 4 trays)
- 300g/10.6ozs. Tant Pour Tant (150g/5.3ozs almond meal mixed with 150g/5.3ozs. icing or powdered sugar)
- 60g/2ozs. egg whites
- 150g/5.3ozs. caster or superfine sugar
- 40g/1.4ozs. water
- Red food colouring
- 60g/2ozs. egg whites
Buttercream Filling
- 250g/8.8oz butter, at room temperature
- 125g/4ozs. caster or superfine sugar
- 75ml/2.7ozs. room temperature water
- Peppermint flavouring
- 4 candy canes, crushed into smithereens
Step 1 - Sift the tant pour tant through a fine sieve. Honestly this is the most annoying bit about making macarons for me. Place in a large bowl and mix with the first lot of the egg whites until it forms a smooth paste. Place the caster sugar, water and colouring in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil.
Step 2 - While it is boiling, start whipping the second lot of egg whites in an electric mixer until you get soft peaks. Wait until the caramel reaches 118C/244F and then pour it into the soft peaked egg whites. Start whipping again and use a spatula to make sure that there is no caramel caught at the bottom. Whisk until it reaches 50C/122F. Add the meringue mixture with the TPT mixture making sure to mix it very well.
Step 3 - Line four baking trays with silpats. To make baby macarons, use a #9 plain nozzle fitted into a large piping bag. Pipe little circles about an inch apart as they will spread slightly. Then allow the macarons to dry at room temperature. The amount of time depends on the weather conditions. In dry conditions it can take as little as 15 minutes but it can take as long as 3 hours. You will know when they are ready when they develop a "skin" on them and you can touch them without the mixture sticking to your finger.
Step 4 - Preheat oven to 130C/266F. Bake the macarons for 15-20 minutes. I also find the time it takes really depends on weather and raw ingredients. Check it after 15 minutes and if you can lift off a macaron it is ready. Otherwise return it to the oven and bake for 5 minutes intervals until they can be lifted. Cool completely and lift them off with an angled spatula. Match them for size.
Step 5 - To make buttercream use a beater attachment with your mixer. Beat the butter for 5 minutes on a low speed (a third of the maximum speed eg. 3 out of 10). Then add sugar, water and peppermint essence and beat for another 5 minutes until the sugar no longer feels gritty between your fingers. Place into a piping bag fitted with a #867 piping tip and pipe on one half of the macaron. Sprinkle with candy canes and place the second half on top. Sprinkle with edible glitter. Store in the fridge. They are usually not ready to eat straight away but in a day or two the shells will soften.