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Macarons – Using the French Method

Last week we made Macarons using the French Method.  I’ve been making macs for about 3 years now, and I’ve been grateful that they have always turned out well.  A girl can only get so far on a wing and a prayer though, so I headed over to Sur la Table late in June for a real, live, macaron class.

To say the class was life-changing would be an exaggeration, but man, it was definitely nice to be able to actually see and feel the consistencies of the merengue and batter live and in person.  I love baking and decorating classes and this one was no exception!

I also went LIVE on Facebook last week to demonstrate, and it was an early Saturday/Sunday morning kind of thing – that means I was rushing to go live for my small band of dedicated followers and therefore am resplendent in all of my no-makeup glory.  The macarons are what matter though, right?   RIGHT?!

Regardless of your perceived skill, regardless of whether you have make-up on, you should definitely give Macarons a try.  They are such glorious little rounds of deliciousness!

Before I get to the videos, if you want to try some of the Amoretti Blood Orange, just click the link to head over to their site and pick some up!  I don’t get paid by Amoretti, I just love this stuff 😉

Here’s a video how the batter should look

Yeah, that video is HUGE in size – hah!  Well, at least you can see exactly what I’m talking about!

Making the Macaron Shells

Filling the Macarons

Print Recipe
 Macarons - French Method
Delicious Macarons
Prep Time 15 Minutes
Cook Time 14 Minutes
Passive Time 1.5 Hours
Servings
Macarons
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
  • 7 Oz Powdered Sugar
  • 4 Oz Almond Flour Ground Fine
  • 4 Oz Egg Whites Aged (by weight)
  • 1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar
  • 3.5 Oz Granulated Sugar
Blood Orange Ganache
  • 4 oz Dark Chocolate Good Quality, Finely Chopped
  • 4 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
  • 1 tbsp Blood Orange Paste Amoreti Brand
Prep Time 15 Minutes
Cook Time 14 Minutes
Passive Time 1.5 Hours
Servings
Macarons
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
  • 7 Oz Powdered Sugar
  • 4 Oz Almond Flour Ground Fine
  • 4 Oz Egg Whites Aged (by weight)
  • 1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar
  • 3.5 Oz Granulated Sugar
Blood Orange Ganache
  • 4 oz Dark Chocolate Good Quality, Finely Chopped
  • 4 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
  • 1 tbsp Blood Orange Paste Amoreti Brand
Delicious Macarons
Instructions
  1. Pulse almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor to remove any lumps. Set aside.
  2. Put egg whites and cream of tartar in stand mixer and whip on #4 until frothy.
  3. Rain the sugar in a slow steady stream while continuing to whip, change speed to 6 after all sugar is added.
  4. Sift flour and almond mixture 3 times to ensure that all lumps are removed.
  5. When merengue is at the stiff peak stage, turn off mixer and remove bowl. Clean off whisk to get all of the merengue into the bowl.
  6. Add one half of the dry ingredients to the merengue and fold until combined.
  7. Add remaining dry ingredients to the mixture and fold gently until the mixture reaches a lava-like consistency. What you're looking for is a mixture where the batter will fall back in on itself when drizzled from a spatula.
  8. Pipe the macarons onto a cookie sheet covered with a silicon mat or parchment. I use a #12 tip for this.
  9. Tap the cookie sheets on the counter several times until the tops of the macarons are smooth and there are no air bubbles.
  10. Rest the macarons until the tops get a thin skin on them and they are no longer shiny (this can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on your humidity)
  11. Place the Macarons (only 1 sheet at at time!) in a pre-heated 300 degree oven on the middle rack.
  12. Back for about 14 minutes, turning the macs halfway through. Note, this time can vary depending on your oven temp, humidity and all kinds of factors - you may need to experiment!
  13. Cool on the cookie sheets - if the Macarons are baked properly, they should pop right off the sheets when they are cool.
  14. Fill each pair of shells with your choice of filling.
Blood Orange Ganache
  1. Finely chop the dark chocolate and place in a bowl.
  2. Heat the cream to just before boiling (it should be steaming) and pour over the chocolate. Let sit for about 2 minutes.
  3. Whisk the chocolate and cream until melted and smooth.
  4. Add the butter and whisk to combine.
  5. Add blood orange paste and whisk to combine.
  6. Let the ganache set until it has reached a piping consistency. Similar to buttercream.
Recipe Notes
  1. This is simply one method of making Macarons.  There are 3 more methods that we'll be trying in coming weeks - Swiss, Italian, and Broma.
  2. Getting your batter to the correct consistency takes practice!  I've been making these on and off for about 3 years, and I finally believe I've gotten it right -
  3. Macarons are finicky.  If they're not right the very first time you make them, don't despair!  Chances are they'll still taste good, so eat them!  Once you're totally buzzed on the sugar, try again 🙂
  4. If you want colored macarons, add the coloring (gel or powder only) to the egg whites when they're at soft peak stage.
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Beautiful and Refreshing Pink Lemonade Cake

Join Ana and me as we walk you through making this beautiful and refreshing Pink Lemonade cake!  In May, our month of lemony goodness, I knew that I wanted to attempt a pink lemonade cake.  I’d seen recipes for them before, but they all required frozen pink lemonade concentrate.  If you’ve been following us the last couple of months, you know how I feel about that!  Not good.  That’s how I feel about that, not good!  I just knew that there had to be a way to get that tart lemony flavor that is perfect offset by another, as yet unidentified, fresh fruit.  I also knew that that I would have to figure it out.  Challenge Accepted!

I began my research into pink lemonade with my dear friend Google Search.  Perhaps you’ve heard of her.  She’s actually kind of my best friend, but we don’t talk about that out loud.  Anyway, I simply started looking for homemade pink lemonade recipes and my pal returned more results than you could shake a stick at!  Seriously, I tried shaking a stick – not a dent.

There are two schools of thought on pink lemonade, and these are either the addition of fresh strawberry or the addition of fresh raspberry.  I read a little further, browsed a few more articles and recipes and decided that the raspberry seemed to be the most authentic.

A plan was born!  A plan was tested, and a plan failed.  Brainstorming continued…  more tests were run, and a winner emerged!  To describe how proud of myself I was would be impossible.  This was one of my first attempts ever at making modifications to a recipe and delivering something completely different.

Pink Lemonade Cake Recipe and Tutorial - Bake with Rho

Isn’t she gorgeous?

This definitely won’t be the last!  I’m in love with this cake and am eager to keep pushing my own boundaries and if the experiments work out, you can bet I’ll be sharing them here – If you want to see experiments that don’t work out, well, those are on our Facebook LIVE broadcasts!  You could try the nut butter episode as a great example of me modifying a recipe to a spectacular failure!  But I digress – you’re here for a Beautiful and Refreshing Pink Lemonade Cake, and a pink lemonade cake you shall have!

As a bonus, we’re also posting the video on how to make the oh-so-pretty tri-color rosettes that cover the cake.

To get started, there are a few things you’ll need:

Making the Pink Lemonade Cake

Frosting the Cake

 

 

Print Recipe
 Beautiful and Refreshing Pink Lemonade Cake
Pink Lemonade Cake Recipe and Tutorial - Bake with Rho
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings
ounces
Ingredients
  • 375 grams Cake Flour
  • 375 grams Granulated Sugar
  • 1 tbsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 6 large Egg Whites Room Temp
  • 1/2 cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
  • 1/2 cup Raspberry Simple Syrup
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 cup Butter Room Temp
  • 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
  • 3 drops Pink Food Color Use Gel Color
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings
ounces
Ingredients
  • 375 grams Cake Flour
  • 375 grams Granulated Sugar
  • 1 tbsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 6 large Egg Whites Room Temp
  • 1/2 cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
  • 1/2 cup Raspberry Simple Syrup
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 cup Butter Room Temp
  • 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
  • 3 drops Pink Food Color Use Gel Color
Pink Lemonade Cake Recipe and Tutorial - Bake with Rho
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare your 8" cake pans.
  2. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl of your stand mixer (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt).
  3. Add the softened butter.
  4. Turn the mixer (with the paddle attachment) on to stir speed.
  5. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients (egg whites, lemon juice, raspberry simple syrup, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and pink food color.
  6. Add 1/3 of the mixture to the dry ingredients.
  7. Turn the mixer on stir, easing up to 4 (on a KitchenAid) and beat for about 30 seconds on 4. (scrape the bowl when finished)
  8. Add half of the remaining liquid ingredients and whip on 4 for another 30 seconds. (scrape the bowl when finished)
  9. Add the remaining liquid ingredients and beat on 4 for another 30 seconds. Once the mixture has come together and is starting to look like you'd expect cake batter to look, stop and scrape the sides of the bowl and the paddle attachment.
  10. Mix at speed 8 for about 15-20 seconds.
  11. Divide batter evenly between your prepared pans.
  12. Turn the temperature of the oven down to 325 degrees F and quickly put the batter filled pans in.
  13. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Make sure you test this cake with a toothpick to make sure it's done in the middle! If the cake needs more than 45 minutes to cook completely, check it every 2 minutes until it's done.
Recipe Notes
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Light & Fluffy Swiss Merengue Buttercream

How do I love thee, Swiss Merengue Buttercream?  Swiss Merengue Buttercream (SMBC) is one of my absolute favorite coverings for a cake.  I’ve never been a frosting girl, it’s too sweet to me, and I’m more into salty snacks (hence my undying love and desire for salted caramel, but I digress).

Ana and I whip up some Swiss Merengue Buttercream in the video below, and hopefully show how easy and un-intimidating it is to get this light, silky, not-too-sweet confection to your home kitchens!  Honestly, once most people experience it, they don’t want anything else!  (Which is unfortunate, because American Buttercream has it’s uses, and we’ll explore those later!)

I have some very specific tools and ingredients that I use when making SMBC, and for your convenience, I’m going to link them here:

  1. A great flavoring, like Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Bean Paste.  Granted, in this video, I used Pure Almond Extract, but those gorgeous vanilla beans are just amazing to behold!
  2. A good whisk (This one by Oxo is my favorite, and I have a LOT of whisks)
  3. A high-quality instant-read thermometer (an old-school candy thermometer is also useful, of course I have both!)

Take a look at the video below and give SMBC a try!  If it’s your first time, it’s life-changing!  Be sure to post your questions either here or on Facebook – Share your creations with us, we want to see what you’re doing!

 

Print Recipe
 Swiss Merengue Buttercream
Light and Fluffy Swiss Merengue Buttercream - Bake with Rho
Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 8 ea. Egg Whites Room Temp!
  • 3 Cup Unsalted Butter Room Temp, cut into chunks
  • 1 Cup Powdered Sugar Sifted
  • 2 TBSP Vanilla Any flavoring works - I used Pure Almond in the video
Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 8 ea. Egg Whites Room Temp!
  • 3 Cup Unsalted Butter Room Temp, cut into chunks
  • 1 Cup Powdered Sugar Sifted
  • 2 TBSP Vanilla Any flavoring works - I used Pure Almond in the video
Light and Fluffy Swiss Merengue Buttercream - Bake with Rho
Instructions
  1. Start the water for the double boiler - you want it simmering when you've combined the eggs and sugar.
  2. Separate 8 eggs - Make sure that there are absolutely no yolks in the whites or they won't whip properly.
  3. Add the eggs and the 1 cup of granulated sugar to a heat-proof bowl. Typically, I just use the bowl from my stand mixer. Whisk to combine.
  4. Place over the simmering water, creating a double boiler, and whisk constantly until the temperature of the mixture reaches 160 degrees.
  5. Remove from heat. Put the bowl back on the stand mixer, or pour the mixture into the bowl of the stand mixer, and whip (using the whisk attachment) on high for 7 to 10 minutes. The mixture should be cooled completely and should be at stiff peak consistency. Feel the bowl, if it has any heat at all, it's not done.
    This is how a stiff peak looks!
  6. Switch out the whisk for a paddle attachment and begin to add the butter, one chunk at a time. Keep the mixer on medium speed for this (about #4 on KitchenAid). Remember, this will start looking really ugly. Be patient! it will all come together and start looking more like you would expect after about 2/3 of the butter is added. Scrape down the sides occasionally, but especially at the end!
  7. After all the butter has been added, slowly drizzle in the flavoring. If you get spatter, turn the mixer down to stir. Once the flavoring appears to be incorporated scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  8. Add the powdered sugar and stir until it is mostly incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and slowly begin increasing the speed of the mixer until you're back at medium-high to high (8-10 on a KitchenAid)
  9. I typically beat the frosting on high for about 5 minutes after it's all put together.
Recipe Notes
    • You can save your egg yolks for other things like custards and curds.  I don't make those things enough to make it worth it, but you may!
    • Make sure your butter is truly room temperature - Not too soft!  if it squishes easily then it's probably too warm.  Take a look at the image below.  It should be soft enough to easily leave an impression but not "melty".

This is what room temperature butter should look like!

This is what room temperature butter should look like!

  • This is just enough for a 4 layer, 8" cake if you are covering only in Buttercream and if you use a different filling, such as fruit.  I prefer to make a 1.5 or a double batch.  If I have extra, I freeze it for cake pops or cupcakes later.  Nothing panics me more than the thought of running out of buttercream while frosting a cake!