Bananas Foster-rita Macarons

Name: Bananas Foster-rita Macarons
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Ingredients: 120 g blanched almonds; 230 g powdered sugar; 145 g egg whites, room temperature; 75 g granulated sugar; 1/2 teaspoon banana extract; 1 teaspoon vanilla paste; 1 stick margarine or butter; 1/2 cup dulce de leche; 2 tablespoon tequila; 4 cup powdered sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla paste

May 15, 2013

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The shells have banana flavor and the filling have the salty tequila margarita with a caramel buttercream filling. Bananas Foster-rita Macaron pay hommage to New Orleans and it’s famous dessert.
YAY! I’m so excited! It’s reveal day for…

And challenge it was! HOLY COW I had no idea these little cookies were such finicky B’s. Seriously. I read a few blogs, watched a few vids. Figured, I got this! No. I don’t.

Granted this was Sunday when I had little to NO motivation. That might have had something to do with it. I bought an oven thermometer so I could see what the ACTUAL temperature of the oven is. It’s off. It’s a new oven! How in the… Anyone know how to calibrate an electric oven?

So I set the oven, checked the temp, reset the oven, checked the temp again. Made a sauce recipe. Cleaned the kitchen. Processed the nuts, sifted, processed the nuts with the powdered sugar, sifted. Whipped the meringue. Added the nuts to the meringue. Piped the cookies and let them set.

Needless to say, I took my time.

I’ve learned a lot more since then, and will be trying these little buggers again, and probably this weekend.

Preheat oven to 300, making sure to check the temperature with an oven thermometer. Grind the almonds together with 230g powdered sugar until fine.

Sift the mixture into a medium mixing bowl. Add any large bits back to the processor and grind and sift again. Discard any remaining large bits. Sift the almond mixture again removing any large pieces. Set aside.

Add egg whites and 75g of granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat eggs at medium power for 3 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Increase the speed to high and beat 3 minutes.

Add the banana extract and vanilla paste and beat on high an additional minute. The meringue should be stiff and dry. Add the flour mixture to the meringue and fold them together. This is the most crucial part of the process. Counting your turns, closely examine the mixture after 25. The mixture needs to be thick enough to hold up on it’s own when dropped from the spatula, but soft enough that it will melt back into the batter after about 20 seconds. Continue folding until your batter reaches this stiffness. (I failed to take a photo of it.)

Place the mixture in a piping back fitted with a 1/2 inch plain tip and pipe circles approximately 1 to 1 1/2 inches on baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a silpat baking mat.

Yes, I drew circles on aluminum foil and placed that under my baking mat. This may or may have contributed to the demise of the first batch? But that doesn’t explain the second batch. *shrugs*

After filling the tray, quickly and sharply rap the baking sheet on the counter twice, then turn the sheet and rap it three more times.

Allow the cookies to set 20 to 30 minutes before baking. Once set, bake at 300 for 18 minutes. Test the macarons after 18 minutes by attempting to peel them off the paper. If they peel cleanly off, they are done. If not, give them 1 or 2 more minutes and try again.

Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.

While the maracons are cooking, combine the margarine, dulce de leche, and tequila in a large mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer fitted with the whisk attachments until combined.

Add the vanilla paste an stir to combine.

Slowly add the 4 cups of powdered sugar until you have reached the desired consistency.

Once the cookies have cooled, remove from the pans and pipe a quarter sized circle of butter cream onto the center of one cookie and top with another; making sure to match size and shape of pairs. Attempt to resist the temptation to eat the entire batch a few cookies if possible and store in a airtight container to allow the macaron to age perfectly before serving.

Meh. They’re not perfect. This is the second batch and they had tiny little baby feet. You should have heard me!! It was funny!

When I say I took my time, I even let the cookies set for a day before I made the butter cream to put between them. I didn’t get my tequila until Monday….when we went for coffee.

Me: Going for coffee, but have to stop at the liquor store first.
Boss and 3 co-workers: Okay!
*stop in liquor store*
Boss: OH! You were seriously about the liquor store?
Me: Yup! I have to cook with tequila this week. I have recipes due Thursday at the latest.

Now bossman knows I usually do my best work under pressure. *snort*

Bananas Foster-rita Macarons

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

The shells have banana flavor and the filling have the salty tequila margarita with a caramel buttercream filling. Bananas Foster-rita Macaron pay hommage to New Orleans and it's famous dessert.

Ingredients

120 g blanched almonds
230 g powdered sugar
145 g egg whites, room temperature
75 g granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon banana extract
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 stick margarine or butter
1/2 cup dulce de leche
2 tablespoon tequila
4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla paste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300, making sure to check the temperature with an oven thermometer.
Grind the almonds together with 230g powdered sugar until fine. Sift the mixture into a medium mixing bowl. Add any large bits back to the processor and grind and sift again. Discard any remaining large bits. Sift the almond mixture again removing any large pieces. Set aside.
Add egg whites and 75g of granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat eggs at medium power for 3 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Increase the speed to high and beat 3 minutes.
Add the banana extract and vanilla paste and beat on high an additional minute. The meringue should be stiff and dry.
Add the flour mixture to the meringue and fold them together. This is the most crucial part of the process. Counting your turns, closely examine the mixture after 25. The mixture needs to be thick enough to hold up on its own when dropped from the spatula, but soft enough that it will melt back into the batter after about 20 seconds.
Place the mixture in a piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch plain tip and pipe circles approximately 1 to 1 1/2 inches on baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a silpat baking mat.
After filling the tray, quickly and sharply rap the baking sheet on the counter twice, then turn the sheet and rap it three more times.
Allow the cookies to set 20 to 30 minutes before baking. Once set, bake at 300 for 18 minutes. Test the macarons after 18 minutes by attempting to peel them off the paper. If they peel cleanly off, they are done. If not, give them 1 or 2 more minutes and try again.
Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.
While the maracons are cooking, combine the margarine, dulce de leche, and tequila in a large mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer fitted with the whisk attachments until combined.
Add the vanilla paste and stir to combine.
Slowly add the 4 cups of powdered sugar until you have reached the desired consistency.
Once the cookies have cooled, remove from the pans and pipe a quarter sized circle of buttercream onto the center of one cookie and top with another; making sure to match size and shape of pairs.
Attempt to resist the temptation to eat the entire batch a few cookies if possible and store in a airtight container to allow the macaron to age perfectly before serving.