{"id":4395,"date":"2016-03-13T22:29:20","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T05:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.therowdybaker.com\/?p=4395"},"modified":"2017-03-15T20:40:04","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T03:40:04","slug":"irish-coffee-macarons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.therowdybaker.com\/?p=4395","title":{"rendered":"Irish Coffee Macarons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IrishNothing says “Irish” like macarons, right?<\/p>\n

Yes, yes…of course they’re French\u00a0(or Italian, depending on who you believe). Whatever. They sure aren’t Irish, but the idea of green macarons with an Irish coffee filling was just irresistible, and perfect for St. Patrick’s Day.<\/p>\n

Dark chocolate, cream, butter, Irish Whiskey, Irish Cream, and coffee combine to make a silky truffle-like filling.\u00a0If you have any left over, you may want to try this; it was amazing!<\/p>\n

\"ganache

Heat leftover filling gently and use as a sauce for ice cream<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

A month ago I’d never even eaten a macaron, so baking them has been a real challenge for me. After scouring the Internet, I was determined that Italian macarons were the way to go. A little more work, since you have to boil the syrup to a certain temperature before pouring over the stiff egg whites, but more predictable.<\/p>\n

Huh.<\/p>\n

Five batches and five different results later (and that almond flour isn’t cheap) I caved in and tried the French method…which is my favorite by far. I measured everything to the gram, and tried several recipes, tweaking measurements to find\u00a0one that works well. I’m still searching for perfect, but…this is good.<\/p>\n

I even tried adding some grated chocolate to the batter just before piping, which made a cool chocolate chip mint shell. They seemed a tiny\u00a0bit flatter though, so I omitted that step in the next few batches. They’re great with a chocolate mint filling – maybe worth sacrificing loft?\"choc<\/p>\n

I reduced the sugar a little in the recipe I’m posting, but they’re still sweet – very, very sweet., and any less sugar would compromise the structure of the meringue. The coffee filling helps balance the sweetness\u00a0out, but if you don’t care for sugary\u00a0desserts, macarons may not be for you.<\/p>\n

As usual, I immerse myself in new projects, refusing to move along until I’m satisfied, so you’ll probably be seeing macarons in many different forms for a while. I’m sure we’ll all survive this current obsession – and that 3 pound bag of almond flour can’t last forever!<\/p>\n

I painted a few macarons, using gel color or petal dust thinned with vodka. I used a gold petal dust too, just for fun. I’m no artist, and I’m sure you can do better than I, so please shoot me a picture if you attempt this!\"Irish<\/p>\n

I resisted one step in making macarons, simply because\u00a0many\u00a0bakers\u00a0said it wasn’t necessary, and I wanted to take the path of least resistance. But…after many, many attempts, I have to admit that it’s better if you age your egg whites. I don’t do it for days, because the thought of leaving egg out at room temperature gives me the willies, but even 18-24 hours seems to help stabilize the mixture. This is just my opinion; you might not notice a difference.<\/p>\n

Tips:<\/p>\n