Pierre Herme Lemon French Macaron

Pierre Herme: Violet Macaron with Lemon Filling

Pierre Herme Violet French MacaronLike you, I love Valentine’s Day.  Not because it’s the most romantic day of the year, but as a special day to enjoy those delicate and slightly chewy French Macarons.  This Valentine’s Day, my husband and a few special friends enjoyed some of my carefully baked Violet Lemon Macarons.

If you’ve read my previous posts, you know that I am big fan of celebrated pastry chef, Pierre Herme.  After investing countless hours, hundreds of dollars experimenting with other chef’s recipes, I found Pierre Herme’s to be the best.  That’s not to say, preparing his french macaron recipe isn’t finicky – it is.   But, I highly recommend you try his.  Soon, you’ll become a fan of baking french macarons, and you’ll want to include his book in your library of cookbooks: Pierre Herme MACARONS.

Pierre Herme’s  fabulous MACARONS cookbook has detailed recipes, resources and gorgeous photo.   To make perfect french macaron,  you’ll need a quality digital scale.  I use Yamato DKS – affordably priced and works perfectly.

My violet french macarons were filled with Pierre Herme’s “lemon cream.”

 

FOR THE MACARON SHELLS

(makes about 144 shells)
300g ground almonds
300g confectioner sugar
110g “liquefied” egg whites (Weigh the eggwhites, cover with plastic wrap, poke several holes and allow to sit in the refrigerator 3-5 days)

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330g sugar
75g water
110g “liquefied” eggwhites
gel food coloring – violet (I use Wilton’s)

shells-dryingSift together the confectioner sugar with the ground almonds (I use Bob’s ground almond flour).  Melt the cocoa in a bowl over barely simmering simmering water.  Stir the food coloring into the first portion of egg whites.  Add them to the mixture of confectioner sugar and almonds but do not stir.

Bring the water and sugar to a boil at 245 F.  When the syrup reaches about 200 degrees F, start whisking the second portion of egg whites to soft peaks.  Once you reach the 245 degrees F start carefully pouring the hot syrup into the egg whites.  Whisk and allow the meringue to cool down, then fold into the almond sugar mixture. 

Spoon the batter into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle.  Pipe rounds of batter about 3.5 cm in diameter, spacing them 2 cm apart on baking trays lined with baking parchment.  I sprinkled my shells with pink sanding sugar.

Rap the trays on the surface to remove air.  Leave shells to stand for at least 30 minutes until they form a skin.

Preheat the oven (I use Tru-Confection for baking at 300 F) 320 F, then put the trays in the oven.  Bake for 15 minutes. Out of the oven, slide the shells on to the work surface.

Pierre Herme Lemon Cream:

  • 225 grams while fresh eggs
  • 240 grams granulated sugar
  • 8 grams lemon zest
  • 160 grams fresh lemon juice
  • 350 grams ‘La Viette’ butter at room temperature (I use Irish Butter)
  • 100 grams ground almonds
IMG_1124The day before, make the lemon cream.  Zest the lemons. Rub the zest and sugar together between your fingers.
In a bowl, mix together the lemon juice, the lemon and sugar mixture and the eggs.  Tip this into a bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Beat until the mixture reaches 84 degrees Celsius. (You can google to convert to Fahrenheit).
Allow to cool to 60 degrees Celsius, then add the butter cut into pieces. Whisk until the cream is smooth then use a hand blender to blend for 10 minutes.
Pour the lemon cream into a gratin dish.  Press clingfilm over the surface of the cream.  Refrigerate overnight.
When you are ready to fill your french macaron shells with the lemon cream:  stir together the lemon cream and ground almonds (almond flour).  Spoon the cream into a piping bag with a plain nozzle.  Pipe a generous mound of cream on to half of the shells and top with remaining shells.
Store the macarons in the refrigerator for 24 hours and bring them back out 2 hours before serving. IMG_1172