I finaaalllllyyyy got around to making giant macarons, yay! I decided to fill my macarons with fresh raspberries and whipped Chantilly cream, to make them nice and summery and light 🙂 Oh, and of course – they had to be pink.
The process for making a giant macaron is exactly the same as if you were to make normal (and now seemingly small) macarons. All thats different is piping a bigger shell, and baking for a few extra moments.
As always I used the classic Indulge with Mimi macaron shell recipe, as it is the best!
This recipe is so versatile – feel free to substitute/ add any different berries or fillings etc. 🙂 And do feel free to ask any questions or queries below, as I know how daunting macarons can seem.
HAPPY BAKING! Sofia ❤
Ingredients: (This recipe makes 12 normal macarons – so I doubled up!)
- 65g ground almonds
- 65g icing sugar
- 45g caster sugar
- 50g aged egg whites, ideally left in the fridge over night
- pinch of salt
- pink food gel
- 300g fresh raspberries
- 300ml double cream
- 1 tbsp. icing sugar
Method:
- Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
- Sift together your ground almonds and icing sugar together into a bowl, discarding large lumps and replace with some more ground almond! I also like to give my ground almonds and icing sugar a whizz in the food processor – so the consistency is super fine.
- In a clean glass bowl, whisk your egg whites until foamy and frothy. Add you salt and continue to whisk until ‘soft peaks’ – this is when the egg whites are starting to get thicker, but don’t yet retain their shape. This is when I add in a few toothpicks worth of food gel.
- Add your caster sugar in 3 stages and continue to whisk until you get a nice glossy meringue – I would say for another 2 or 3 minutes.
- Add 1/3 of the almond mix into the egg whites and fold with a spatula. With your spatula make figures of 8 patterns, scooping the ground almond mix around and down in the meringue. You don’t have to be too delicate at this stage!
- Add the rest of the almond mix and continue to fold gently. This stage is called ‘Macaronage’, and is so critical!
- Stop folding when your macaronage has a ‘lava-like’ or honey consistency – this consistency is thinner than I had ever been achieving before I started using Mimi’s recipe. Another great tip is to draw out a figure of 8 into the macaronage with your spatula – if the trails of the macaronage mix stay in place then it is ready (see pic below). Check this if you’re at all worried! 🙂
- Next, fill up your piping bag, and pipe the macaron mixture into giant circles:
- Take your piping bag, and pipe the mixture in a swirling motion, around the first central point, until you have your desired diameter – I did roughly 3 ‘swirls’ (check out my pictures for visuals if you’re at all confused 🙂 )
- After piping, bang your tray on top of your work surface… by tap I mean actually hit your baking tray down onto the surface with quite a force. This is to get rid of any air bubbles in your shells which cause cracking when baking. I tap my tray about 3 or 4 times, but try not to get carried away..!
- If there are any visible air bubbles on the surface of your macarons, pop them with a toothpick.
- Next, turn on your oven to 160°C.
- Leave your macaron shells to rest on a work surface for around 30 mins. This is so your shell’s develop a ‘skin’, which allows little macaron ‘feet’ to form when baking. I have always rested my macarons, although some cookery books will miss out this step. You’re looking for the appearance of your shells to become matte and not shiny at all, this could take 15 mins, or even 45!
- Place one baking tray into the oven at a time, and bake for 12-14mins. Your macarons should have little feet forming, and turn a very pale golden colour 🙂
- Gently remove the shells from your baking parchment, and leave to cool.
- Now it’s time to make the Chantilly cream. Place the icing sugar and double cream in a large mixing bowl, and add a dash of vanilla. Whisk using an electric whisk, until soft peaks are achieved.
- Place your Chantilly into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle, and it’s time to assemble!
- Pair up your macaron shells into shells of similar size.
- Pipe alternate dollops of Chantilly cream to fresh raspberries within the middle of your macarons.
- Eat and enjoy 🙂 ❤
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