So Very Cordial…Cherry Cordial, that is
cor-dial /ˈkawr juhl –adjective
- courteous and gracious; friendly; warm: a cordial reception.
- invigorating the heart; stimulating.
Last week I decided to use the egg whites that were sitting in my fridge. Every time there are egg whites in there, I think macarons!…and only macarons. It’s never a question, really, other than “what flavor”?
as luck would have it, I recently picked up some Cherry Flavoring from LorAnn, and I was eager to use it. Therefore, Cherry Macs were to be the order of the day. I Tweeted that I was about to get baking, and wouldn’t you know who joined me in the Macaron Making Extravaganza??
Helen. Mrs. Tartelette herself. The queen of all that is Macaron. it was Helen’s tutorial that taught me to make a no fail (or at least a rarely fail) macaron. If not for her, I would have never attempted them in the first place last year. So it was a pleasure sharing the day with her, even if it was only via Twitter.
I have come a long way since my first macaron baking, making up my own ways to flavor them, pushing the envelope a bit when it comes to method. This cherry flavoring wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but it was new to me, and I got to make my first pink macs. Love the color. So girlie, so pink, so sweet!
What you really need to know about making macarons is to be careful with your added moisture. If you are adding liquid food coloring and your flavor is also liquid, you need to be not only sparing, but preventative. For me, the way to counteract the moistness is to add a couple tablespoons of meringue powder, and it seems to do the trick.
My best piece of advice, and I’ve said it before…is put an empty pan in the bottom of your oven. I have found that my oven gets too much heat from the bottom, and this pan diffuses the heat just enough that I get perfect macs with no split tops, no burned bottoms, and the cutest little feet you’ve ever seen.
Once I had my pretty little shells, I needed something gorgeous to fill them with. Luckily, I had a bag of Cherry Cordial Kisses. I was a little timid about melting them down – what would happen? Would they gunk up? Would they even melt? But I went with it. I unwrapped about 8 of them, melted them down with a half cup of Bittersweet chips and a little bit of whipping cream and voila – the perfect Cherry Cordial filling for the perfect pink Macarons. Give them a try, won’t you?
Cherry Cordial Macarons
- 2 ounces almonds
- 1 cup Confectioners Sugar
- 2 Egg Whites, Room Temperature
- 5 Tbsp. Superfine Sugar
- 1/3 tsp. Cherry Flavoring
- 1 Tbsp. Meringue Powder
- Rose/Red/Pink Food Coloring Gel
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/4 to 1/2-inch) ready. Grind together the powdered sugar and almonds in a food processor until finely chopped. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, add in the granulated sugar a little at a time, until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes. If you can turn the bowl upside down and the meringue stays put, you’ve got it. Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. Before dumping in the second half of the dry ingredients, add your food coloring, meringue powder and extract. Stir quickly and gently, then add remaining dry ingredients. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you’re alone). Pipe the batter on the prepared baking sheets in 1-inch circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch or more (3 cm) apart. Rap the baking sheet a few times on the counter to flatten the macarons. Place an empty baking sheet on the lower oven rack, then place the macarons in the upper third of the oven. Bake them for 14-16 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet. Macarons that are not being baked (waiting their turn on the counter) are fine, and can be left out unbaked for a half hour or more.
Fill with your Cherry Cordial Chocolate Ganache or your favorite filling and enjoy!
Do they invigorate the heart? Are they Stimulating?
You bet your butt.
