little miss sweetie: Macaron Hearts - Rose & Lychee, Coconut & Strawberry

Hope everyone has had a sweet, sweet Valentine's Day!

In accordance with this sweet occasion, I made some romantic little pink and white macarons....shaped like hearts, of course! The method is exactly like that of macarons I've made in the past using Italian meringue, the only difference is in the piping. (For a detailed macaron tutorial, please see this post.) Before baking, it is vital to draw up a template of hearts. This will ensure that all the heart are similar in shape and size! I used a small heart-shaped cookie cutter as a guide to draw up this template, then traced over with a black marker:

Since it's Valentine's Day, rose flavor (tinted pink, of course) was a given, complemented with a lychee Swiss meringue buttercream. I wanted to reverse the colors on the second macaron, so I made a coconut shell and filled with pink strawberry-flavored buttercream. To make my life easier, I made the buttercreams together, then divided it in half to tint and flavor individually.

Rose Macaron Hearts
makes about 40

For the macaron shells:
150g ground almonds
150g icing sugar
55g 'liquefied' egg whites
3g rose oil
1g pink food coloring gel
+
150g caster sugar
35g mineral water
55g 'liquefied' egg whites

Sift together the icing sugar and ground almonds into a large bowl. Discard larger chunks that did not pass through the sieve.

Stir the rose oil and food color into the first portion of liquefied egg whites and pour them over the mixture of icing sugar and ground almonds but do not stir.

Bring the water and sugar to boil at 118°C. When the syrup reaches 115°C, simultaneously start whisking the second portion of liquified egg whites to soft peaks.

When the sugar reaches 118°C, pour it over the egg whites (while continuously beating on low speed). Reduce the whisking speed to a medium speed and continue whisking the egg whites for about two minutes.

Wait until the meringue has cooled down to 50°C, then tip it out of the mixing bowl and into the almond-icing sugar mixture.

Using a spatula, stir it into the mixture of icing sugar and ground almonds, folding in the batter and stirring outwards from the middle to the sides, rotating the bowl in your hands as you stir.

Continue stirring from the middle of the batter out to the sides of the bowl and rotating the bowl as your do.

When the batter is starts to turn glossy and resemble a slightly runny cake batter, it is ready.

Transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. (I used Wilton No.2 1/2 inch round tip.)

Place the prepared template on a baking sheet, then place a silicon baking mat on top. Slowly pipe a small round at the top left rounded side of the heart template, immediately stop applying pressure and pull down to form the bottom tip of the heart. Lift up and start piping the top right rounded side of the heart, then stop applying pressure and pull down to join the bottom tip. Carefully pull out the paper template after piping.

Rap the baking trays on the work surface covered with a kitchen cloth, this will help smooth out the tops and let out any air bubbles. Leave the shells to stand for 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on humidity, until they form a skin. (When you touch the tops, the batter should not stick to your finger.)

Preheat the fan oven to 180°C then put the trays in the oven. Bake for 12 minutes quickly opening and shutting the oven door twice during the cooking time. (Once at the 8 minute mark and once at the 10 minute mark.) Out of the oven, slide the shells on to the work surface and let cool to room temperature.

Carefully peel away each shell once it has cooled.

Coconut Macaron Hearts

makes about 40

150g ground almonds
150g icing sugar
55g 'liquefied' egg whites
2g coconut extract
10g unsweetened desiccated coconut
+
150g caster sugar
35g mineral water
55g 'liquefied' egg whites

Prepare using same instructions as Rose Macaron Hearts above.

For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream filling

makes about 2 cups, enough to fill 80 macarons

3 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1 cup butter, softened at room temperature

1 teaspoon lychee-flavored extract

1 teaspoon strawberry-flavored extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine whites, sugar and salt. Set over a pot of simmering water. With a wire whisk, constantly whisk until sugar has dissolved and whites are hot to the touch.

Attach the bowl to the stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on low speed and gradually increase speed to medium-high. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and the bowl feels cool to the touch, about 10 minutes.

Switch to a paddle attachment and beat mixture on medium. Slowly add butter one tablespoon at time. Beat until smooth (about 3 minutes). The buttercream may curdle and appear separated when butter is added, but continue beating - it will become smooth.

Spoon half of the buttercream into a small bowl and set aside. Add the lychee extract to the buttercream remaining in the stand mixer bowl. Beat on medium until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Place flavored buttercream into a re-sealable plastic bag and set aside. Thoroughly clean mixing bowl, then place remaining buttercream with strawberry extract. Beat on medium until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Transfer into a re-sealable plastic bag.

When ready to pipe filling, snip off the corner of the plastic bag, pipe a small amount of filling on one shell, then sandwich it with a second shell of similar size.