EARL GREY MACARONS WITH BLUEBERRY COMPOTE BUTTERCREAM (french method)

Ingredients :
(Recipe adapted from here) I made half the recipe

yields approximately 50 cookies (I made half the recipe)
5g dehydrated egg white powder
28g granulated sugar
225g confectioners (powdered) sugar
125g almond meal
100g aged egg whites
2 bags of shifted Earl Grey tea leaves (I added this)

1. Prepare two half sheet pans with parchment or silicone baking mats. Pre-heat your oven to somewhere between 290-300°F. (I preheat to 160C)

2. Start by weighing out your sugar and egg white powder into a small bowl. Mix with a fork until uniform and set aside. Sift together your almond meal and powdered sugar.(Add in the 2 pkts of Earl Grey tea leaves)

3. Weigh out your egg whites and begin beating them on low speed until foamy. Begin slowly sprinkling in the powdered egg white and sugar mixture as you beat. Then increase the speed to medium and beat until a firm meringue forms.

4. You want firm, glossy peaks in your meringue, you don't want to beat all the way to stiff peaks. So hold yourself back.

5. Beat in food coloring gel now and then add 1/3 of the almond mixture. Folding it in gently. Once combined, add another third of the almond mixture, and so on. For visual reference on how to combine and fold, see this video by Chef Nini.

6. Add your batter to a piping bag with a round tip (any size bit under 1cm works fine) and pipe rows of macarons. 

7. Pick up the pan with both hands, and holding it level, tap it firmly onto the counter several times. This will bring up any air bubbles in the cookies. Pop the bubbles with a toothpick if they don't break while tapping.

8. These cookies NEED to rest on the counter. Between 30-60 minutes depending on the humidity.

9. Bake the cookies for roughly 15 minutes. One sheet at a time.

10. Once the cookies lift easily from the parchment or silicone baking mat they're probably done. To be sure, pop a cookie off with an offset spatula and break it open. The insides should be set and not overly moist (wet uncooked meringue is no good). If it is too moist the cookies will collapse when they cool.

11. To avoid hollows: aim for slightly overcooking the cookies, rather than under cooking them. Yes, this means your cookies might cool a little crisper than you like your macarons. 

Blueberry Compote Italian Buttercream

(Recipe adapted from here)

(fills 50 macarons)

100g blueberries
1 tbsp caster sugar
lemon juice (to taste)

36g egg white (1 egg white)
70g caster sugar
15ml water
120g butter
pinch of salt

Method:

1. Place blueberries, sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice into a pot. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Taste. Let it cool.

2. To make the Italian Buttercream, first cut butter into knob sizes and let it chill in the fridge until ready to use.

3. In a pot, add in caster sugar and water. Bring to a temperature of 118 C. When the temperature reaches 110 C, whisk the egg whites in a mixer. By the time the sugar reaches 118 C, the egg white should be in medium peaks. Gradually stream in the sugar syrup while the mixer is still on medium speed whisk.

4. Whisk till it’s somewhat glossy and that the bowl is not so hot, remove the butter from fridge. Add in a knob into the mixer (while the whisk is still running) one at a time. If you add the butter when the meringue is still very hot, it turns soupy. If you add int he butter when the meringue is cold, you get a split buttercream. After all the butter has been added, whisk for another further 2-3 minutes. If it’s still warm, chill in the fridge for 5 minutes before you whisk it up again.

5. The buttercream should be glossy and buttery. Now, add in the blueberry compote.