Cumin Macarons - Raspberry rosewater cardamom chocolate ganache

Cheers !!!! to all the people who never give up in spite of facing several failures :)

This is so apt for someone trying to make macarons :P

One day, I found these "glamorous" looking photos of a dessert on one of the food blogs, it was neither a cookie nor a cake. Something so different, that tempted me to give it a try (to make it !).

I say glamorous because, it looks so attractive with the colour combinations of the shell and the filling / ganache. It tempts you to just come and have a little bite...... I will melt away in you mouth it says.....hehe

The more and more I read about it, the more I was lured to making it. I have made it for 3 times till now. The first time I made it I had not read so much, I did not realise that I had to age the egg whites (very stupid of me indeed !!!!). I used the fresh ones and even thought the taste was fine, they were flat and it had a shell but the bottom were like spread and basically flat big feet !

My husband and myself had named it flop-a-rons :P (to get rid of the disappointment and have some fun).

I then did read quite a lot about macarons and how to prepare them from different blogs and websites. It was so very helpful to me. There is a whole lot of people out there making macarons and posting it every month at the mactweets. The blog was started by Jamie and Deeba. They come up with different themes every month for the macarons.

Here is my partially successful 3rd attempt at preparing macarons. I came up with my own proportions. With these proportions, it is not necessary for the macarons to dry for more than 10 mins it looked like. More than that and the macarons had big flat feet.

This is what I used,

Egg whites - from 2 large eggs, aged for 5 days in the refrigerator and 24 hours at room temperature - 76 gms

Almonds, peeled - 110 gms

Powdered sugar - 170 gms

Granulated sugar - 30 gms

1. Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl, till thick & frothy.

2. Gradually add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture turns into a thick glossy meringue (like a shaving foam).

3. Pulse together the powdered sugar and almonds. Sift thr powder to remove any lumps.

4. Fold in the powdered ingredients into the meringue in three parts. Fold till the mixture flattens after falling and till it flows back in thick ribbons.

5. Pipe out the macarons on the baking sheets and leave them to dry for around 15 - 20 mins till the top does not stick to your finger.

6. Preheat the oven at 140 degrees C and bake the macarons for 10 - 15 mins depending on their size.

Raspberry rosewater cardamom chocolate ganache

Looks like too many things in a one ganache, but I had an idea how it might taste at the end. It did taste like that (I knew that I will not exactly prefer having so many things in one ganache, But hey unless you try out how does one learn !)

You need,

White chocolate - 100 gms

Dark chocolate (80% cocoa) - 60 gms

Raspberries - 150 gms

(I know I used too much, the amount used can be reduced if you are daring to try this recipe :P )

Powdered sugar - 2 tbsps

Cardamom, powdered - 2
Rose water - 1 tbsp

Heavy cream (35% fat) - 5 tbsps

Sea salt - a pinch

1. In a pan pour the cream and heat it till you start seeing the vapours at this stage switch off the heat and add the cardamom powder. Stir well.

2. Remove the pan of the heat and add the chocolate, raspberries, powdered sugar and sea salt. Stir all  well, let the mixture cool. Refrigerate it overnight and use it the next day.

We did like the taste of the complete sandwiched macarons.

I still am on the quest to preparing the perfect macarons, Wish me Good Luck !

Thanks for visiting my bog :)