Tim Tam Macarons (kind of)

I'm starting to feel a little bored with the more "traditional" macaron flavours. I've sussed out how to make the standard flavours you see everywhere - vanilla, pistachio, rosewater, lemon, etc, but of the things I LOVE about macarons is that the flavour options are endless!  (Some of Adriano Zumbo's macaron craziness includes vegemite macarons, lemon and olive oil, and even cheeseburger!)  Yesterday I decided I would take a break from the traditional and start experimenting with the most marvelous and exciting flavour combinations I could think of.  In true teacher-style, I started a brainstorm, listing all the wonderful flavours I want to experiment with.  Some of the flavour combinations on my "to try" list include: Malteaser, gingerbread, bacon and maple syrup, champagne, brie and cranberry, peanut butter and honey, raspberry cheesecake and caramelised onion.  I'm not sure how long it will take me to get to all of them (if ever), but I made a start today by trying Tim Tam Macarons.

And that's where things started to go wrong.

I've always had trouble with chocolate macarons.  Right from when I began my macaron obsession I could never figure out why things always went wrong when cocoa was involved.  I was already off to a bad start when I realised I forgotten to compensate for the extra dry ingredients that come from adding cocoa.  Usually I’d combine 300g of almond meal with 300g icing sugar, but chocolate macarons need 60g cocoa, which means you only mix 270g of both almond meal and icing sugar.  Fortunately I realised in time and removed 60g of my almond/icing sugar mix and added in the cocoa, but even still, my batter was lumpy and grainy.  I worked the batter for an extra long time to make it as runny and smooth as I could without over-working it, and things were looking good when I piped it onto the trays.  I think the cocoa must affect the way the dry ingredients absorb and mix in with the wet, because after I’d piped the batter the onto the trays and left them to rest, the macarons needed way less time to form their skin than they usually do.  This is possibly another reason as to why they went wrong.

Anyhoo, things weren’t looking too bad until I put the trays in the oven.  The macarons still rose and had lovely feet, but the tops weren’t smooth at all.  The colour went all blotchy and, although none of them cracked, the tops were wrinkled and ugly.  The shells were also far too soft.  I kept them in the oven for another few minutes, but even so, they just weren’t cooking properly.  I was left with a batch of blotchy, deflated, wrinkly, soft macarons that can do one of two things: they can either crush all your hopes and desires to ever make macarons again, or they can inspire and empower you to try, try, try again until you get it right.

I defaulted to the first option.  I went through the seven stages of grieving over a failed baking attempt, and then managed to gain some perspective and decided that, hey, they still taste good, they’re more than salvageable, and I’m still dying to try out my idea for Tim Tam Buttercream.  So, with high spirits, I went on to making the filling.

And SUCCESS!  The filling was a-ma-zing!  B was eating it by the spoonful.  It was my first attempt at making Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and I can see why so many people are choosing to use it over regular buttercream.  It’s much more silky, smooth, and not as sickly-sweet as traditional buttercream.  I flavoured it by adding finely ground Tim Tams, and also added some roughly chopped Tim Tams for added texture.  This buttercream is the saving grace for my failed macaron shells.  It looks and tastes lovely, and the flavour of the Tim Tams comes through beautifully – not too intense, but it’s undeniably there.

I scrutinised the batch to find the most picture-worthy macarons to photograph, and these were the best I could come up with.  I also photographed the steps I took to make them, so maybe someone can spot where it all went wrong!

Hopefully you will have more luck with them than I did!

To make chocolate macaron shells:

Makes about 50 macarons

270g sifted almond meal*

270g sifted pure icing sugar

60g sifted cocoa powder

110g aged egg whites (egg whites left on the bench for a few days)                    

110g extra egg whites, at room temperature

300g caster sugar

75g water

*Almond meal must be sifted through a very fine sieve.  I use a splatter guard placed over a bowl, and rub the almond meal with my hands until I have sifted enough.  Weigh the almond meal after you have sifted it, not before, as you will end up throwing out the grains that are too coarse to fit through the sieve.

Line 4 baking trays with baking paper.  Combine sifted almond meal, icing sugar and cocoa powder in a large bowl.  Place aged eggwhites in the bowl of your mixer (making sure the bowl is very clean and has the whisk attachment in place).  Combine caster sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat.  Gently stir until the sugar dissolves (to check if the sugar is ready, rub some between your fingers.  If you can feel the granules, it’s not dissolved yet.)  While the sugar is dissolving, turn the mixer on low speed to break up the egg whites.  Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat and bring to the boil and increase the mixer speed to medium.  Allow the sugar-water to boil until mixture reaches 118^oC.  Carefully pour the sugar mixture into the mixer bowl as the eggwhites are being whisked.  Pour down the side of the bowl rather than over the whisk to prevent spun sugar.  Increase the speed to high and whisk for about 8 minutes.  In the meantime, use a spatula to combine the other eggwhites and the dry mixture.  Keep mixing until a paste forms.  When the eggwhites are thick and glossy, add them to the almond paste a bit at a time.  

Once all the eggwhite has been combined with the almond paste, fold the mixture with a spatula until it is a wobbly, hommus-like texture (try lifting the spatula out of the batter – if the batter slowly falls off the spatula, it’s the right texture).  Attach a 12mm nozzle to a piping bag and pipe circles of the batter.  I like to use a template under my baking paper.  The best way to pipe is to hold the piping bag perpendicular to the tray, about 2cm above the surface.  Pipe until the batter fills the template, then quickly move the nozzle to the top of the circle, then do a little swirly motion to bring the nozzle down to the bottom of the circle.  This prevents your macarons from have pointy tops and keeps them nice and smooth.  Once all your batter has been piped, turn the oven on to 130^oC and leave your trays somewhere to rest.  After about 20 minutes, check to see whether a skin has formed on the macarons (gently touch one of the macarons – if you can caress it without the batter going onto your fingers, then they’re ready for the oven).  Bake for 16 minutes.  I like to bake one tray at a time, because my oven is a bit dodgy, but all ovens are different so you just have to experiment and see what works with your oven.  After 16 minutes, remove the trays from the oven.  Let them sit for two minutes, then try removing a macaron from the tray using a spatula.  If it comes off easily, your macarons are done!  If not, put them back in the oven for 2 minutes then try again.  Allow macarons to cool completely before piping.

To make Tim Tam Buttercream:

2 egg whites

½ cup caster sugar

150g unsalted butter, cubed and softened

8 Tim Tams finely ground in a food processor

3 Tim Tams, chopped

Place the egg whites and caster sugar in a heat-proof bowl and whisk together.  Place the bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and continue to whisk until the mixture reaches 60^oC.  Place the eggwhites and sugar into a mixer and whisk on high speed for 5 minutes.  Add the butter to the mixture, a few cubes at a time.  Wait for the butter to incorporate into the mixture before adding the next lot.  If the buttercream becomes soft and runny, put it in the fridge for 10 minutes before adding the remainder of the butter.  Once all the butter has incorporated into the icing, fold in the ground and chopped Tim Tam.  Use a piping bag to fill the macaron shells before sandwiching them together.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge, taking them out half an hour before they’re needed.  Alternatively, store them in the freezer for up to 3 or 4 months.