The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.
Imagine my joy when I read those words.
As many of you know, I adore French macarons. I have experimented with countless flavours and tweaked my own recipe to the point of almost being foolproof. As I am promoting caramel month, there was no question what flavour I would make. The challenge for me, however, was trialing a new French macaron recipe.
I hesitated for a while. Then quickly decided it was ‘acceptable’, as Gramercy Tavern was the location of the first dinner Mr Mélanger and I enjoyed during our visit to New York last year.
I am sentimental like that.
{ French Macarons } from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern
* Ingredients *
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)
* Directions *
1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavourings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t over fold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly coloured.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.
{ Caramel Fleur de sel }
* Ingredients *
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 vanilla pod
200g cream
Big pinch fleur de sel
125g or 1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
* Directions *
Place the sugar in a saucepan with the water. Without stirring, cook the sugar to 160C or 320F until it takes on a light, golden colour. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Add in the cream being careful as you poor into the hot sugar. Add in the Fleur de sel. Allow the mixture to cool to around 40C or 105F then add the butter. Blend until you have a glossy paste. Chill until required.
October 27, 2009 at 12:24 am
Wow those look sooo good! Where does one buy fleur de sel?
October 27, 2009 at 7:26 am
I purchased mine from a little gourmet food store here in Brisbane. Or you could try a well stocked deli? Do you have a good store near you?
October 27, 2009 at 1:38 am
Amazing! I too adore these wonderful french treats and I have been trying to master them. I haven’t tried your recipes yet, but I’ve been meaning to. These look great. I’m going to try them out this week!
October 27, 2009 at 1:47 am
Thanks for this! Of the mac flavors I’ve tried, salted caramel has been my fav. Followed by vanilla. T
October 27, 2009 at 2:54 am
I think salt and caramel are really good. Perfect macaroons 🙂
October 27, 2009 at 2:54 am
Visit my blog at http://maltesebakes.blogspot.com/
October 27, 2009 at 4:55 am
YUM! Those look fantastic!
October 27, 2009 at 5:08 am
You are good at everything:)
October 27, 2009 at 5:25 am
your macarons look so pretty and delicious! I love that choice of flavorings!
My post will be up tomorrow…
Cheers,
Rosa
October 27, 2009 at 5:55 am
they look great, and i love how you incorporated your theme for the month!
October 27, 2009 at 6:06 am
they look great! How did they compare to your usual recipe?
October 27, 2009 at 7:26 am
It was okay, but I prefer the Italian meringue. Much easier. Much more stable. Next time, back to that one!
October 27, 2009 at 6:28 am
Great job Julia! I think salted caramel and macarons make a perfect combination. Your macarons are beautiful.
October 27, 2009 at 7:24 am
Divine!! I feel like you would have had to do a salted caramel macaron this month no matter what – this is just too perfect! Talk about a sweet finale here for sure! Or wait, is there more for caramel month… ?!
Your macarons look absolutely impeccable above – even better than I’ve seen in French patisserie windows! Did you sprinkle the actual macaron (and not just the caramel) with fleur de sel before baking, to get that crackly top? It’s beautiful. And please tell us more about that cute little guy holding your macarons above, love him!
October 27, 2009 at 7:30 am
Yes, I sprinked fleur de sel on the top of the piped macaron before baking. I wanted to accentuate the salt.
The donkey? It’s a VERY old piece of ceramic that was my Grandmother’s. I have no clue of its origin (she has no passed away so I can’t ask her), but all I know it has – in very European style writing – “Foreign 5493 / 23” written on the bottom. He normally lives with all my travel books on my shelves. But I felt like he should join me for the photos. He seemed to carry the caramel theme well, literally! 🙂
October 27, 2009 at 7:39 am
Thanks for the fast reply. Love that little donkey of your Grandmother’s – a special piece for sure. Glad he made an appearance – and yes “carried” the theme perfectly!
October 27, 2009 at 7:43 am
Mmm how delicious those macarons must be! And the donkey, why he’s just too cute for words, how jealous I am of his booty!
October 27, 2009 at 8:04 am
These look just wonderful – caramel and macarons combined into one tasty treat wins my heart.
October 27, 2009 at 8:08 am
Wow. I’m so impressed you got that recipe to work, it was a disaster for me! I tried your method and that was so much more reliable 🙂 I need to get my hands on some fleur de sel, I have a serious weakness for salted caramel. Gorgeous macarons as per usual!
October 31, 2009 at 8:54 am
I had to ‘tweak’ in a few places to get it to work. But never again. The Italian version for me!
October 27, 2009 at 8:12 am
Yours look fantastic! Nice job with this recipe (as you know, mine didn’t work 😦 ). I love that you did salted caramel + your photography is gorgeous!
October 27, 2009 at 8:23 am
Oh! The donkey! How gorgeous 🙂
Well done for trying a new mac recipe out – I was so daunted by the prospect of straying away from the tried and true… but it worked! And you have a wonderfully theme-friendly product to show for it! These sound oh-so delicious!
October 27, 2009 at 8:57 am
What a darling lil donkey you have! So cute! Beautiful macarons. I wish I liked eating them as much as I like looking at them! Gorgeous!
October 27, 2009 at 8:57 am
salted caramel is always a favourite, hands down! I am impressed with your creation using another recipe that you are not familiar with and still came out perfect!
October 27, 2009 at 9:26 am
Love the sweet and salty combination. Very very nicely done.
October 27, 2009 at 10:50 am
So adorable – and I love salted caramel, so I’m all about that flavor 🙂 Sorry I’ve been a bit absent, but thanks for noticing my wedding blog – I’m attempting to document some of it, and keep it out of my baking blog.
October 27, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Wonderful flavours and gorgeous macarons Julia – you have lovely feet (I couldn’t get feet with this recipe). Before the photo loaded completely I thought you’d made a donkey shaped macaron!
October 27, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Yay! The perfect recipe to use the fleur de sel I bought on the weekend.
Thank you. They look great!
October 27, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Fabulous. Absolutely phenomenal!
Just a question: How many minutes did these last?
October 27, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Julia these look divine. Love your choice of flavors! I have caramel on my mind too!
October 27, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Forget vanilla! Salted caramel should be the new default flavour of anything! 🙂
October 27, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Mmmmm…I LOVE salted caramel!
October 27, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Utterly fabulous as always. Salted caramel is wonderful isn’t it.
October 27, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Great stuff Julia! Sounds absolutely gorgeous 🙂 I have a whole canister of Fleur de Sel that I need to do something with 😀
October 27, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I adore Salted Caramel. The last salted macaron I had was at the french patisserie at The Rocks. I always go back for more but they always run out. I just recently started making macarons I will definately try your salted caramel as a filling
October 27, 2009 at 10:34 pm
How fantastic looking. I’m making some macarons with salted caramel today. Everyone almost always order them.
October 27, 2009 at 11:26 pm
What a perfect canvas for you to work your caramel magic on, Julia! Lovely result as always. I really gotta get on the macaron train, as I’ve been smitten with the taste since my trip to Paris this Feb.
October 28, 2009 at 1:20 am
I have been looking forward to your post!!! I wanted to see what you’d make with the caramel theme.. these are simply gorgeous and the fleur de sel on top look like jewels!! beautiful!
October 28, 2009 at 4:16 am
I looked through your posts about your wedding macs while prepping for this challenge. They were all so pretty. I’m curious how you liked this recipe in relation to the one you usually use? I love Claudia Fleming’s book and have had success with many of it’s recipes, but I couldn’t make this one work. I ended up using Helen of Tartlette’s recipe instead.
October 31, 2009 at 8:55 am
I did have to *adjust* a things to make it work for me. It didn’t seem quite right – and some of the ingredients were vague (e.g. 5 eggs – but what weight!). Glad everyone had success with Helen’s recipe. May have to give that one a go myself, too!
October 28, 2009 at 6:29 am
The macs look amazing, as always =D. I love the flavours you chose. The salt on top is a perfect finish!
October 28, 2009 at 6:34 am
I love your site sooo much!
I’m featuring you on my blog about all things home made. My latest post is about my discovery of Macaron and your blog is such an inspiration to me. Have a look.
http://casarecce.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-heart-macaron.html
October 28, 2009 at 7:46 am
I come here with big expectation that you’ll have the best macarons. And I am not disappointed at all. Gorgeous!
October 28, 2009 at 9:06 am
Wow! These are stunning! I have a huge passion for salted caramel after I had a rich chocolate mousse with a pool of salted caramel hidden underneath at a French restaurant recently. I may have to try my hand at a salted caramel cupcake!
October 28, 2009 at 11:24 am
I love salted caramel! We used to make a sinful caramel sauce to which we added lots of salt at the last restaurant where I worked.
I love Claudia Fleming, but one of her recipes in the book is seriously wrong, and vague. The macarons came out too dry, and really ugly.
I will stick to my recipe. I will have to try yours just for comparison.
October 28, 2009 at 11:40 am
Would you believe that I have never ever had a macaron? They look so delightful that I am nearing the point where I am not sure that I will ever try them, because I fear that they won’t live up to my expectations … Sad, really.
These ones look amazing. YUM. The flavor combination is one of my favs too.
October 28, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Wow your macarons look awesome, one wouldn’t know by looking at your pictures that this wasn’t your usual recipe that you use.. I am looking forward to trying a french macaron recipe again and hopefully with better luck. Your caramel flavor sounds wonderful!
October 28, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Hi I will love to do something other than chocolate ganache. But I’m afraid caramel will make the whole cookie too sweet. Do you find it so?
October 28, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Hi Julia!
It was truly lovely to meet you last night at Bar Barossa! What a wonderful experience that was. But even more wonderful is your website! Your photos are gorgeous! I think I may need to ask you a few questions! (first of all… do you use natural light, and if not, what sort of lights do you use?)
Thanks! and hopefully we will meet again soon!
x
Sarah
October 28, 2009 at 3:53 pm
I love that this recipe actually worked for someone! Your macarons look DELICIOUS and beautiful! I’m going to miss this caramel month when it’s over.
October 28, 2009 at 4:44 pm
i keep meaning to ask you whether or not you have a flickr account? please, PLEASE say that you do? your photos are just so beautiful, Julia, but there are only ever enough to whet my appetite, i want MORE!
October 28, 2009 at 5:51 pm
I can see that the new macaron recipe works out well for you—they look fabulous!! And lucky you for having been to Gramercy Tavern!!
October 28, 2009 at 6:36 pm
beautiful and of course love the flavor!
October 28, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Just gorgeous Julia. Love the flavour combination. I think salted caramel is just the thing they need! FABULOUS!!
October 28, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Yum..fleur de sel caramel, love your new style of photography 😉
October 28, 2009 at 8:49 pm
You are sooo talented! They are works of art..I want one!
October 28, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Lovely photos! And your caramel macaroons look divine.
I started using fleur de sel last year after I had seen someone on the Food Network making caramels and she sprinkled it on top. Now we use it on lots of things- it matches well with chocolate desserts too.
(Love Gramercy Tavern!)
October 28, 2009 at 10:15 pm
impressed that you got the challenge recipe to work so well. excellent.
October 28, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Aw, love that there is sentimental value attached to these! Beautiful as always Julia! 🙂
October 29, 2009 at 1:00 am
So clever and pretty! I love Mr Donkey too 🙂
October 29, 2009 at 9:02 am
Salted ones? Never had those…must taste nice…not too sweet. Love the pictures 🙂
October 30, 2009 at 5:46 am
Julia, they are beautiful and irresistable and that filling sounds divine!
Gorgeous pictures as always.
October 30, 2009 at 11:18 am
Simply beautiful! Your macarons are gorgeous and so are your pictures.
Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go
October 30, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Julia, salted caramel macarons are probably THE best mac flavor in my opinion, and yours are (as always) stunning, absolutely stunning! I’m amazed you were able to tweak Claudia’s recipe to get such beautiful macs..but I’m also not amazed, since your skill and talent is so incredible. Beautifully done as always, and exquisite photos 🙂
October 30, 2009 at 11:07 pm
I love your results on this challenge since I know you love the Italian method so much. And the caramel macarons look lovely a stunning result using the BD recipe. Bravo. Beautful photos as always. Cheers from Audax.
October 31, 2009 at 3:53 am
Lovely! I wish I could get my macarons to look like yours! One of my favorite flavors . . . I am so loving the caramel series . . .
October 31, 2009 at 9:17 am
Julia these Macs are so impressive! What about that fleur de sel! Superb! Love em, love em, love em!!!
November 1, 2009 at 9:44 am
Julia, as always, your macarons look divine. Like youself, I much prefer the Italian method and will also stick to it in the future.
November 1, 2009 at 6:35 pm
another crazy of the caramel and fleur de sel. I did the same macaron and ganache (almost!)…it is just super good but the only problem is that the ganache is leaking out of the shell. Anyway they are just a great sucess!
November 9, 2009 at 6:04 pm
I’m very late here, but had to come all the same. I knew your macarons would be just great, especially as you’ve had loads of practise with them. 🙂