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| Our Dulce de Fluffe Macaron with Homemade Dulce de Lece Salted Caramel |
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| The Dulce de Fluffe Macaron! |
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| The Dulce de Lece & butter being whipped together for the Dulce de Lece Buttercream...yummmmmm! |
OK.....first of all, make sure you have these things ready to go:
- Digital Food Scale (This recipe is in grams & ounces...use the scale...it's totally worth it!)
- Mixer
- Traditional Sifter (I use the crank kind from Williams Sonoma...worth EVERY PENNY)
- Nutribullet or Coffee Bean Grinder (not totally necessary)
- 12" Disposable Pastry Bags or Freezer Quart Sized Zip Locs
- 5/16" #12 Pastry Tips (Not totally necessary)
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheets
- Macaron Templates
- Ivory or Brown Food Coloring Gel
- 4-5 Organic Egg whites that have been sitting out overnight (NOT the boxed or powder kind...the REAL DEAL ONLY PLEASE :0).
- Almond Flour from blanched almonds (you can make your own or purchase it already made into flour. I use Bob's Red Mill & it ROCKS).
- Powdered Sugar
- Organic Sugar (Large crystals mimic salt on the outer shell)
- Caster Sugar (I make my own. This is a granule between regular sugar and powdered sugar. Again...think of your Nutribullet here).
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| Shells gone bad.....wwweahhweahhweahhweahhhhh..... |
Ready to run for the hills???? I know, I know...it's A-LOT of things to have even before you have turned on the oven.....but, I PROMISE it will go by so much more smoothly if you have these things lined up and ready to go when you need them. It runs like clockwork. You have my "Macarondome" Promise!
Have you just been dying to know what the heck Dulce de Fluffe is? Well, it is my own little concoction of all things wonderful in the world. Dulce de Lece caramel sauce (homemade of course), marshmallow fluff (I am learning how to make this), and macarons. The mixture of these ingredients is beyond heavenly and has very quickly become a cult favorite for all Bliss Bakers who have had the opportunity to try them. So...let's get "macaroning"!
DRY INGREDIENTS:
- First we are going to take our almond flour and powdered sugar and sift them together. This step is VERY important. If you try to skip this step, you will end up with lumpy macarons that are SOOOOOO NOT blissful!
- You will end up with little "nuggets" when you have sifted all of your ingredients. This is leftover almond that wasn't ground down enough when they made the flour. This is where my Nutribullet, or your coffee grinder would come in. I grind down these "nuggets" until I get the flour and sift that into my mixture.
- I STILL have nuggets left after this process. THROW THESE AWAY. You can't have them in your perfectly, pristinely, smoothly, glassy, ice reflectively, amazing macaron recipe.
- Once you have sifted in your dry ingredients, set them aside and begin work on your egg whites.
WET INGREDIENTS:
- Now we take our egg whites and begin to whip them in our mixer until we have reached a soft peak on high speed.
- As soon as you have started to see foamy goodness, begin to add your caster sugar and mix on high speed until STIFF PEAKS have formed.
- STIFF PEAKS are when you can take your whisk attachment out and the peak stays up and doesn't fall down or act "soggy".
- You can also take your mixer bowl and turn it UPSIDE DOWN and the egg white meringue will stay put. If it falls out on you...you didn't reach stiff peaks :0).
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| Take a look at our macaron packaging! |
WET + DRY = MACARONs:
Here is where things can get tricky. Undermix and your macarons don't get that "foot" or bottom to the macaron shell. Overmix, and you will have overdone shells that crack and are dry and ugly with feet that make no sense. So, take your time....focus...and take these steps one at a time and you will be VERY BLISSFULLY MACARONINGLY HAPPY.
- Take your food coloring gel and slowly fold the color into your egg whites.
- When the color is almost fully folded in, begin to fold about 1/3 of your dry ingredients into the wet, colored, mixture.
- Folding is a process unlike stirring that is a full circle stroke, followed by a stroke down the middle, then a circle stroke, down the middle...and so on. This delicate way of "folding" wet and dry together helps keep the air in the egg white and helps the macaron shells stay "afloat" and not one big, flat pancake of a mess.
- As soon as your mixture begins to look wet again, add the next 1/3 of your dry ingredients and continue to fold.
- Add your final 1/3 dry ingredients and fold until you have a ribbon of wet mixture that falls off the blade and settles and disappears into the wet mixture & doesn't leave a trail behind it. Does that make sense? In other words...you don't want to stir the mixture and be able to tell where you just stirred it.
- As soon as you have reached this ribbon like texture...STOP. Do NOT continue to mix until you get a runny mix. If you get there....you can't go back and you can't fix it and have to START OVER and nobody wants to have to do that after all this hard work. So, take it SLOW and focus on what is going on and you will be just fine.
PIPE IT, SET IT?!?, BAKE IT:
- Fill your pastry bags with your macaron mix and place the pastry tip right on the baking sheet and squeeze.
- Squeeze the pastry bag until you have made about a 1.5" circle and then repeat this leaving a 1" space between each circle.
- There are TONS of free templates available to help you pipe in a uniform manner. I LOVE using mine. It helps so much and just slides right under my parchment paper when I need it and slides right out when I am done with it!
- Sprinkle each shell with a tiny bit of natural cane sugar. This mimics salt on the outside of each salted caramel, Dulce de Fluffe macaron.
- This next step is UBER IMPORTANTE!!!
- RAP YOUR BAKING SHEET! Nonono...not the Vanilla Ice Rapping type...I mean...take the baking sheet and literally hit the bottom of it several times in all directions. This removes any unwanted air in the shell and creates a smooth underneath and study bottom that can handle the filling. Super, duper importante. Don't forget this step for sure.
- Now, some people insist and swear by the need for the macarons to sit for 15-20 minutes to develop a nice "skin" or shell to them so when they bake they will keep this shell to them. The recipe I use from Ann Reardon does NOT require this step. I can pipe my macarons and stick them right into the oven and they turn out perfectly every time. I don't know why exactly this is, but I have made at least 20 batches of these and every single one of these has turned out great without doing this step.
- Bake your macarons for 15-20 minutes.
- DO NOT TURN THEM OR OPEN THE OVEN TO CHECK ON THEM UNTIL 10 MINUTES HAS PASSED. This will affect the oven temp and affect your macarons more than anything else. I went through at least 30 batches of crumbling shells and miserable batches trying to check on them and turn them around and baby them. They don't like this and will let you know it every time!
- Leave them alone and when they are done, you can check them by wiggling them and they will be firm to the touch and pick up right off of the baking sheet without sticking. If they stick or won't lift off easily, stick them back in the oven for a few minutes until they do.
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| Here are perfectly baked Macaron shells. See the shine, feet and shape? |
FILLING:
- Now you have the shell....the easy part is here! Take your marshmallow fluff and put it into a piping bag and pipe it onto the inside of your macaron shells.
- Then, take your homemade dulce de lece and pipe a tiny bit of it straight onto the inside of the macaron shell.
- If you do not feel like sitting by your stove for an hour brushing down the sides of a pan with a pastry brush just to make dulce de lece....here is an UBER easy way to make dulce de lece!
- Place a can of sweetened condensed milk under 3 inches of water in a pan. Boil the water for 3 HOURS, making sure that the 3 inches is maintained above the can (don't ask me why 3 inches). After 3 hours, take the can out and let it cool. After it cools, open the can and WALAH! You will have the same kind of instant, delicious dulce de lece that is used in New Orleans for every single caramel dessert they serve! It is BEYOND easy and BEYOND deeelish!
Adding homemade Dulce. - Last, take 1/2 cup of the dulce de lece and mix it with a stick of butter and this creates a dulce de lece buttercream. Pipe this onto the shelle of your macarons and fit your macarons together.
Here is a good picture of the Dulce buttercream
being piped into the macaron.
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| This is Dulce de Lece made with Dulce from Sweetened Condensed Milk. |
TADAAAAAAA! You now have the BEST tasting macaron on the planet! Dulce de Fluffe! Yummmmmmmmmm Yummmmmmm Yummmmmm! Wrap the macarons tight and keep them in the fridge chillin' and waiting to be gobbled up!
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| A fully filled Dulce de Fluffe |
Dulce de Fluffe Macarons
Macaron shells – makes 40 1.5", more if making mini macarons
220g (7.76 ounces) powdered sugar
120g (4.23 ounces) almond flour
120 g (4.23 ounces) egg whites
80g (2.82 ounces) sugar caster sugar
raw sugar (optional, for sprinkling on top)
220g (7.76 ounces) powdered sugar
120g (4.23 ounces) almond flour
120 g (4.23 ounces) egg whites
80g (2.82 ounces) sugar caster sugar
raw sugar (optional, for sprinkling on top)
Salted caramel filling:
2 tablespoons dulce de leche warmed
additional 1/2 cup dulce de leche
1/2 cup butter
pinch of sea salt flakes
2 tablespoons dulce de leche warmed
additional 1/2 cup dulce de leche
1/2 cup butter
pinch of sea salt flakes
Marshmallow fluff filling:
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
Preheat oven to 150C (302 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sift together the powdered sugar and almond flour using a coarse sieve (if you use a fine sieve the almond meal will not go through). Discard any gritty bits of almond meal that do not go through.
Beat together the egg whites and caster sugar on high speed until they are stiff enough that you can turn the bowl upside down without them falling out. Beat for an additional 2 minutes. Add the almond icing sugar mixture and fold in using a rubber spatula. Keep gently folding until the mixture looks like lava, it should have some movement but not be runny. While you are folding periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl and the spatula to make sure everything is mixed uniformly. If you over mix or under mix it effects you macaroons, please read the macaron troubleshooting and FAQ post if you are unsure about this.
Spoon into a piping bag and pipe small circles of mixture onto NON-STICK baking paper. Slide onto a baking tray and bang on the bench firmly several times on each side, sprinkle with raw sugar.
Place in the oven (you do not need to leave them to sit on the bench with this recipe) and bake until a foot has formed and the shells are crisp. This takes roughly 20 minutes, watch the video to see what you’re looking for. Try not to open the oven during the cooking process as this will cause a drop in oven temp and may make your macarons hollow.
Cool and then gently peel off the baking paper and pair similar sized shells.
Warm two tablespoons of dulce de leche and spoon some into the centre of one half of the shells.
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| Picture Courtesy of "How to Cook That" with Ann Reardon |
Combine the dulce de leche with butter and sea salt and beat until smooth. Pipe a dollop onto each macaron and add the lid. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.
Enjoy Bliss Bakers!
Kristen
PS -
Here are a rolling list of resources I have used for Macaron Saving:
PS -
Here are a rolling list of resources I have used for Macaron Saving:
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