makes
16
prep
40 minutes
cook
20 minutes
difficulty
Ace
makes
16
serves
preparation
40
minutes
cooking
20
minutes
difficulty
Ace
level
Ingredients
Vanilla gold ganache
- 200 g white chocolate, cut into small pieces
- 120 ml cream
- seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
- 65 g unsalted butter, chopped
- 2 sheets 23-carat edible gold
Macaron shells
- 95 g eggwhites
- 40 ml water
- 125 g caster sugar
- 270 g TPT (see note)
- 2 tbsp edible gold powder
- edible metallic gold dust, to decorate
Drying time: 30 minutes
Instructions
To make the ganache, place the chocolate in a stainless steel bowl. Set the bowl aside. In a saucepan, mix your cream and vanilla over medium heat. Bring to the boil.
Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and wait 20 seconds, allowing the heat of the cream to melt the chocolate. Stir the mixture with a whisk until a glossy ganache forms. When the chocolate has completely melted, add the butter.
Stir the butter through and mix well. Gently break up the gold leaf and fold it in. When you begin to see little gold flecks, the ganache is done. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, making sure it touches the surface of the mixture. Then put the bowl in the fridge.
To make the shells, put 50 g of eggwhites in one bowl and 45 g in another. Pour the water into a small saucepan. Add the sugar and gently stir. Place the mixture on the stove and, using a cooking thermometer, stir until the temperature reaches 118°C.
Meanwhile, put the TPT mixture in another bowl. Make a well in the centre of the TPT and place 45 g of egg whites in the well. The eggwhites should just sit in the nest. Set that bowl aside.
Place the remaining batch of eggwhites into the clean, dry bowl of a food processor. On medium speed, slowly run the hot sugar mixture down the side of the bowl so it blends in with the eggwhites. After 3-5 minutes, it should form a firm, glossy meringue mixture. Take the bowl with the TPT mixture and gently fold through the meringue mix. Then lastly, add the gold powder.
Fit a piping bag with a 9 mm tube. Fill the bag halfway, and pack the mixture down tight so there are no air bubbles. Line a tray with baking paper. Pipe each shell about the size of a 20-cent piece. Pipe the shells in alternate rows so the air flow on the tray is nice and even. When finished, pick up the tray and lightly tap the base. That will get rid of any excess air. Preheat oven to 135°C.
Set the tray aside for about 30 minutes or until a skin forms on the top of the shells. Once they’re touch-dry, put the shells in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. When the shells are cool, flip them out and match them up in pairs.
To assemble, take the vanilla-gold ganache out of the fridge and load up the piping bag using a 7 mm tube. Pipe a ball of ganache, roughly the size of a 20-cent piece, onto half of the shells. Then top with the remaining shells to make a beautiful golden sandwich.
For the finishing touch, take a dry brush and skim a little metallic gold dust on top of each macaron, then turn the macaron over and repeat on the other side. Put them on a baking tray, cover them with plastic wrap, then leave in the fridge overnight.
Note
This is a mix of half blanched ground almond meal and half pure icing sugar. To make it yourself, put 135 g whole blanched almonds and 135 g icing sugar in a food processor.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
