D e l i s i o u c i t y

I’ve been dreaming of making macarons with pink peppercorns for ages. Here it is, married with a smooth, silky mascarpone filling that is just too simple to create that I wonder why I had not been using mascarpone for fillings all this time! (Oh wait a minute… I remember. They’re pretty useless as they don’t hold their shape in hot climates) :p These were made over the weekend and if you’re wondering what’s up with the sudden surge of posts and food extravaganza, I’ve got plenty of reason. A couple of projects in the pipeline and I’m just testing out recipes I’ve never done before. For now, it’s hush-hush!

Pink Peppercorn with Strawberry Mascarpone Macaron
By Nikki A. , www.delisioucity.com

110g almond powder
200g confectioner’s sugar
A handful of peppercorn, rubbed to obtain the pink shell
100g egg whites (aged for 24 to 48 hrs)
25g caster sugar
A pinch of salt
Some red food colouring

Sift the almond powder and confectioner’s sugar together, making sure you push the larger particles through the sifter using a rubber spatula. Set aside. In a mixer, beat the egg whites with salt until foamy. Add the caster sugar little by little and continue to beat the egg whites until it forms a soft peak when lifted with your finger. You may add the colouring during this process. Then combine the dry ingredients together with the whipped egg white, and fold the two together in a scooping motion. Scrape the sides of your bowl as you scoop and fold, making sure that you don’t over-macaronnage. Once your batter starts to form a ‘ribbon’ or have the consistency of flowing magma, stop folding. Prepare a piping bag with a round tip. Insert the batter in the piping bag, and start piping the batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle some of the peppercorn skin onto the macaron shells. Let the piped batter rest for about 20 minutes (or longer, depending on the humidity of the day), and once they form a ’skin’ or are dry when you touch them with your finger tip, you can pop them in a preheated oven. Bake at 175C for 15 minutes. Once done, leave them to cool before taking them off the parchment.

Strawberry Mascarpone filling

250gm mascarpone
A handful of fresh strawberries

Beat the mascarpone with a hand-held mixer. Chop the strawberries and add a little at a time to the mascarpone. Incorporate and ensure that the strawberries are pulverized. Fill in the centre of a macaron shell, and cover with another piece of shell. Refrigerate for 24 hours to enhance the taste of the macaron.

Just a word of wisdom about macaron textures: I believe that some people have been misled to think that macarons are these hardy, tough, crunchy things that are (god forbid!!) made of coconuts. Those are macaroons! Yes, yes of course some patisseries and patissiers insist on calling macarons macaroons, and that’s their prerogative (read here to know when a macaron really is a macaron). The point is not to mistaken these beautiful delicate things for the coconut cookie version ;p And worst still, there are macarons out there that have this awful chunky skin that crunches as you bite them and you’re left with a dry crumble that is absolutely traumatizing to the palate – especially for people who experience their first macarons. They’re not meant to be that way, I can assure you. And the insides should be a little bit cakey and semi-wet; not dry and unappetizing. It’s awful that some patisseries taunt their colourful macarons in their posh glass cabinet and you find that they’ve done it all wrong: from the shell to the filling. I am no expert but I know that it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that appearances alone just don’t cut it – no matter how smooth, and cute the tiny gerbets look.

Maybe I’m a tad too harsh here. After all, the Italian meringue technique does indeed yield a ‘tougher cookie’. It does yield a crunchier skin but not to the extent of utter dryness that you can here a snap when biting through. I used to adore the Italian meringue method, and whenever I made them, the shell was always a lot less moist (hence more robust and won’t crack as easy). But I have to confess that the French meringue method is simply a forte I have learned to claim – perhaps more than anything because of its simplicity, and secondly the resulting ’shine’ on the shell left by the sugar. Haha that’s a bit of a tongue twister. Anyway, I’m not one to kiss and tell; but the macaron on the left above is a raspberry mini mac that just won’t tear off upon biting that nothing but crummies fell into my mouth! It came from a renowned French pastry chef’s cafe et patisserie right here in Oxford. Enough said ^_^

Hands down, my favourite flavour to date.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that because I wasn’t brave enough, the taste of pink peppercorn in this macaron wasn’t overpowering in any sense. In fact I wish I had put in some of the crushed pepper in the mascarpone filling. Contrasts are wonderful when done right ^_^ (enter Pierre Herme!)

That’s it from me for now, see you again soon!
xoxo