Hola! I am back, tho I am still very busy at home cleaning, unpacking and MORE cleaninng; I have a little bit of internet access in the office lol to update some stuffs. Please take note again, as I am not able to reply to your emails immediately.

So here, the macaron-making fever is still high. Been using the same recipe and tweaking and adding different flavours like tea / coffee / nuts and using different filling. I did one of coffee shell, with salted caramel banana buttercream. The buttercream was SO SO yummy but the coffee however was slightly too strong, so I was gonna remake it again and perfect the recipe. Oh wait, what am I talking!! This post is suppose to be about the roasted tea macaron.

The story of this was from Chatime’s roasted milk tea. It’s possibly the only drink I always get from them. I don’t quite get the other drinks from them after trying afew. So since I’m in the mid of experimenting, I thought of incorporating the roasted tea into a little thing called macaron.

So I got a small packet of roasted brown rice green tea from the grocer, and I had this idea of brewing the tea, then reduce it to the desired measurement to create the sugar syrup for the macaron shell. But the amount needed was so so little, it’s ridiculous to even have any flavour out of it. So I decided to blend the tea and roasted rice and added into the tant pour tant. The smell was still very mild, but then again it was probably because of the red bean filling I had used. What’s the best way to extract tea flavour into the shells then? As It can’t take that much liquid. I found that with this shell, the innard was more wet, as I had accidentally used twice the amount of water needed.But I’m not complaining, it’s more ‘full’; and this batch had no air pockets! *Happy!*

Then I had also used french buttercream instead. It’s a little richer then the Italian, well, due to the amount of yolks used. But I kinda prefer the French as its richer and silkier.

Roasted Tea Macaron with Red Bean French Buttercream

(Makes abt 16 macarons)

Roasted Tea Macaron

100g Almond meal
100g icing sugar
15g roasted rice green tea, blended

36g fresh egg whites (about 1 egg white)
pinch of salt

100g caster sugar
50g brewed tea (100ml water, brew with some tea leaves, then reduced to 50ml)

36g aged egg whites (about 1 egg whites)
1g egg white powder (can be omitted if don’t have this at hand)

(step by step from earl grey macaron)

1. Sift almond meal, icing sugar and blended roasted tea in a wide bowl. Add in the egg white and salt and mix well. Do this only when you’re ready to cook the sugar, otherwise it gets hard. (Picture 1st row, left & right)

2. In a medium sized pot, pour in caster sugar and tea. Bring to a boil and to 118 C. Which means that yes you need a candy thermometer. When the sugar syrup reaches 110 C, in a mixing bowl, whisk egg whites and egg white powder (I’ve tried without it, it’s alright) It should be somewhat medium peaks when the sugar syrup reaches 118 C.

3. While the mixer is still whisking (about medium speed), gradually pour in the sugar syrup. (To wash the pot, add in water and bring to a boil, it’s easier to wash) Then turn up the speed of the mixer for about 2 minutes till it turns glossy. Reduce the speed to medium and let it whisk till it’s stiffer. It should be somewhat stiff, but not so stiff. (Picture on row 3, left)

4. Now, add in 1/4 of the meringue into the almond mixture from step no.1. Whack it till it’s well incorporated. At this first step, I usually literally do it un-TLC-ly just to get some air out from the meringue and to lighten the almond mix.

5. With the remaining 3/4 of meringue, add into the almond mix and fold it in. This time, a little more TLC until it becomes lava like.

6. I’m using a 10mm nozzle. Fit into a piping bag and scoop the batter into the bag. Pipe onto a tray lined with parchment paper or silpat. Lightly tap the tray on a table top. Let it rest for about 5 minutes then bake at 150 C for 14 minutes.

7. When it’s cooked, remove from the oven and let it cool on a rack. Once it’s completely cool, it should be able to peel off easily.

8. Pair the right sizes and arrange them on a tray. If the macarons turn out right for you, then proceed to make the filling and fill in between the macarons.

Red Bean French Buttercream

(fills about 50 macarons)

3 yolks
90g caster sugar
60ml water
225g butter
180g red bean (cooked and slightly mashed; I bought mine ready from Daiso)
pinch of salt

Method:

1. To make the French Buttercream, first cut butter into knob sizes and let it chill in the fridge until ready to use.

3. In a pot, add in caster sugar and water. Bring to a temperature of 118 C. When the temperature reaches 110 C, whisk the egg yolks in a mixer. By the time the sugar reaches 118 C, the egg yolks should be somewhat lighter in colour and slightly foamy. Gradually stream in the sugar syrup while the mixer is still on medium speed whisk. It will look slightly soupy at this stage.

4. Whisk till it’s somewhat glossy and that the bowl is not so hot, remove the butter from fridge. Add in a knob into the mixer (while the whisk is still running) one at a time. If you add the butter when the yolk micture is still very hot, it turns watery. If you add int he butter when the meringue is cold, you get a split buttercream. After all the butter has been added, whisk for another further 2-3 minutes. If it’s still warm, chill in the fridge for 5 minutes before you whisk it up again.

5. The buttercream should be glossy and buttery. Now, add in the red bean paste.

 

 

Anyways, here is a little peep of my kitchen, oh, the table top hasn’t arrive yet, hence it’s still like a piece of plywood at the point of me taking this picture.  😉 and it is not so messy now at the point of me writing this post. Hopefully I’ll be able to do a post about the kitchen soon 😉