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These were made last fall but never posted purely out of feet phobia. For French macarons, they are a bit on the funky frilly side and admittedly I was afraid of showing their feet in public.
However, sometimes doubtful posts sit in one’s draft file long enough and they start to look good again. Especially when one (ahem, me) has not had the time to make the planned Halloween treat.
I do remember they tasted wonderful. The anise and chocolate flavors were smoothed out by the sweetness of the macaron. I brought them to a party and they were ohhed and ahhed over and consumed and complimented. So if they were worth sharing with party guests, they are worth sharing with you.
Star Anise Macarons with Dark Chocolate Ganache Filling
For the Star Anise Macaron Shells:
I used the Tartelette’s basic recipe. Use a kitchen scale for precise measurements.
Ingredients:
- 3 egg whites – aged at least 2 days. Let them sit out on the counter uncovered.
- 25 grams of fine granulated sugar
- 200 grams of powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons star anise powder
- 110 Grams of almond flour*
*You can buy almond flour that has been ground with or without the skin. I use the blanched. The former looks fine if you are not coloring the shells. You can also grind your own almond flour by putting whole or sliced almonds in a food processor or blender. If you do, make sure you throw a little of the powdered sugar in to prevent the almonds from forming a paste.
Directions:
- Sift the powdered sugar, star anise powder and almond flour together or pulse them together briefly in a food processor. Make sure there are no large pieces and set aside.
- Whip the egg whites. When they start to get foamy, slowly add the sugar. Continue whipping until you can turn the bowl upside down and nothing slides out. (I also add a pinch each of salt and cream of tartar)
- Add the powdered sugar/almond/star anise powder mixture to the egg white mixture and fold, using quick strokes at first then slow down. No more than 50 strokes all together. The batter should have a “flowing like lava” consistency.
- Fill a Pastry bag and pipe circles onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or on a Silpat.
- Let the macarons dry for about one hour until they harden.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
- Bake for 18-20 minutes.
- I keep the oven door propped open with a dish towel or wooden spoon. Try to refrain from obsessive peeping to see if they get feet.
- Let cool completely and then match up the shells into pairs according to size and fill with the dark chocolate ganache.
For the chocolate Rum ganache:
I used this recipe from joy of baking using bittersweet dark chocolate.
3 comments
Those are lovely feet as far as I'm concerned. I'm a sucker for spiced macarons. Haven't done star anise. I did do a 5 spice ganache once. mmmm… thinking macarons over the holidays.
I LOVE your Tiffany cupcakes below (do they come with a diamond something/anything in them?) and that kooky Halloween oreo bark is adorable! BUT, once again you've blown me away with your macaron creativity and skills. These are gorgeous! Are you selling them yet? I hope you do soon..and I'll definitely be a customer!
There really was no reason to keep these hidden for so long. So glad to brought them out of hiding! I love the speckled look of these macs.