It was either a great baking day or this recipe for macarons is the cat’s pajamas! I’ve failed at making macarons SO MANY TIMES. Yes, they’re finicky cookies to make and all the details have to be just so for them to turn out nicely. Everything from the weather, humidity, type of pan, your macronage, and egg whites will affect how a macaron bakes. I love these cookies but they’re the diva of the cookie world.
I’ve tried recipes from all different sites with varying results. I finally tried a recipe from Broma Bakery that I was eyeing suspiciously for months. The reasons why I was skeptical about Broma Bakery's macaron technique and recipe:
Uses a Swiss meringue technique for the egg whites
Uses the stand mixer to do the macronage step rather than by hand
No need to air dry to form the top skin before baking
While this technique is not the traditional way of making macarons, it TOTALLY WORKED! My macarons got feet and they baked properly! Color me pleasantly surprised. I did freak out and finished the last part of the macaronage by hand because I didn’t want to fuck up and over mix the batter. I could have done a few more turns before putting the batter into the piping bag. But overall, SOLID RECIPE.
5 Things to Know When Making Macarons:
Humidity matters and will affect your bake.
The type of pan you’re baking them on will affect how and when the cookies are fully baked.
Perfect macronage is key to getting the right cookie shape and texture.
Baking a little longer is better than under-baked so the cookie bakes completely and doesn't stick.
They taste best the day after when the buttercream has a chance to soak the cookie.
What is Black Velvet?
I used black food coloring instead of red food coloring, so Black Velvet instead of Red Velvet. I also added some white food coloring to the frosting to help with color contrast in the entire cookie. The resulting Black Velvet macaron with cocoa notes and cream cheese frosting are just LUSCIOUS. I love the way they look and taste with the hint of cocoa and cream cheese buttercream.
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Black Velvet Macarons with Cream Cheese Frosting
A dark and luscious cocoa and cream cheese buttercream macaron cookie. Like red velvet, but in black and white. Made using a Swiss Meringue technique. Adapted from Broma Bakery’s Red Velvet Macarons
Time to Prepare: 1 hour
Makes 24 macarons
INGREDIENTS
Macarons:
100g egg whites (about 3 eggs)
100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
100g (1 cup) fine ground almond flour
100g (slightly less than 1 cup) powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1–2 teaspoons black food coloring
pinch salt
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Optional: a few drops white food coloring
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Using a macaron baking mat or printout with the circles makes it easier to pipe even sized cookies.
2. Boil a small pot of water filled ⅓ full over medium heat. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine egg whites and granulated sugar. Place bowl on top of the boiling water pot, creating a double boiler.
3. Whisk egg whites and sugar until sugar melts completely and egg whites become white and frothy, 1 to 1.5 minutes. Remove from heat and place bowl back onto standing mixer.
4. Fit the stand mixer with whisk attachment and whisk on high speed for 2-3 minutes, until stiff peaks form. This is Swiss Meringue!
5. Sift together almond flour, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder, then gently shake into meringue bowl. Add in black food coloring and salt.
6. Macaronage: Place bowl onto stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Turn mixer to medium-low speed and whisk for 10 seconds. Stop mixer and use a spatula to scoop up some of the batter. Drizzle the batter off the spatula and try to drizzle a figure-eight with the batter without the batter breaking. Stop when you can draw the figure-eight. The consistency should be like slow-moving lava. You can continue using the mixer, but I like stop here and fold the macaronage by hand to the right consistency so I don’t accidentally overmix the batter.
7. Once your batter is the right consistency, scoop it into a large pastry bag fitted with a 1-inch tip. Pipe silver dollar-sized circles onto prepared baking sheets, keeping about 1.5 inches between each meringue. Bang baking sheet on counter to remove any air bubbles.
8. In Broma Bakery’s recipe she says, “Here’s the fun part: you don’t need to let them air dry. Just pop them into the prepared oven.” Traditionally you have to let them air dry for at least 30 minutes to an hour or longer to dry it out to get the perfect skin on top. I let it sit out to dry a little while the oven preheats.
9. Preheat oven to 300°F. Bake for 13-15 minutes, turning the pan around halfway through to bake evenly. Cool completely before removing from baking sheets.
10. Make Cream Cheese Frosting: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter, and 1 tablespoon milk.
11. Scoop frosting into a piping bag fitted with a ½ inch tip, and set aside until macarons are cool and ready to be piped. Pipe the frosting onto a macaron and sandwich with another macaron. Repeat with all macarons.
12. Rejoice, because you now get to EAT macarons!
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