Macarons with olive oil and vanilla ganache
I finally got a chance to do an entry for Macattack the monthly challenge sponsored by Deeba and Jamie over at Mactweets blog where macaron-obsessed folks gather, cheer, whine and gain tremendous support in a united quest to overcome the finickiest confection ever created on this planet. The theme for this round is to “do something or add something you’ve never done before but wanted to try.”
I’ve always wanted to try olive oil in a ganache ever since I’ve seen this interesting combination in Pierre Hermé’s (PH) “Macaron" book. Fortunately, we made it in our class too (well, another team made this) and the instructor cautioned us repeatedly that olive oil and cocoa butter do not mix easily, you need to heat the olive oil to a certain temperature so the cocoa butter in the white chocolate ganache does not seize. As long as you keep this in mind, the ganache is fairly easy to make ... and extremely delicious. The “Hungry” Hubby rates this as his second favorite flavor with passion fruit milk chocolate still ranking as number one.
The way ganaches are made at PH is more meticulous than what baking books will have you do. With PH method, you add cream or any liquid to your partly (or wholly) melted chocolate slowly just like making mayonnaise. The reason is, the emulsion is better and you end up with a smooth and creamy ganache that feels absolutely sexy in your mouth.
Though French Meringue macarons are still the best in flavor, I do enjoy the challenge of Italian Meringue - PH way - and believe me I have sampled plenty of Italian meringue macarons made by many shops that are just so, so wrong and this is sad because this gives macarons a bad reputation. PH does not add any sugar to the whipped egg whites, all his sugar is in the syrup. What this does is lessen the meringue-like texture that most Italian Meringue macarons tend to have. After adding the sugar syrup to the whipped egg whites you use it almost immediately so the heat of your meringue will melt the confectioner’s sugar in your tant pour tant. I believe this reduces the sweetness problem in macaron shells. And you need to work fast otherwise your meringue will get too cool to melt the confectioner’s sugar.
And luckily, HH came home in time to take pictures just as I was mixing the whole macaron batter. This differs from the way I do my French meringue, so for now this applies only to the Italian Meringue.
It is best to use a bowl scraper. Have enough leverage. I had to stand on a 4-inch stool (I'm 5'4") to be able to beat this stiff meringue down without wearing out my shoulders.
Start at 3 'clock, sweeping the scraper under
continue sweeping clockwise
when you reach 9 o'clock bring up the scraper to form a small wave
At this point, immediately give the bowl a quarter turn counter-clockwise with your free hand and resume at 3 o'clock. Continue to do these motions until you feel you are reaching the desired consistency. The point when your batter reaches this is called "macaronage" although I heard my instructor say "the macaron". To do this you want to dig your scraper further below and do a big wave like this:
Testing "macaronage" with the big wave
The height of the wave should slowly flatten back into the batter and it might even leave a peak, but that should disappear once you tap the bowl on the countertop.
Macaron a l’Huile d’ Olive et Vanille
an original recipe by Pierre Hermé
Olive Oil Ganache
60 grams whipping cream
1/4 vanilla pod
90 grams olive oil Disisa
135 grams Ivoire couvertureMelt the couverture and bring the cream to a boil with the split and scraped vanilla pod. Remove the pod and pour the cream gradually into the chocolate. Emulsify with a rubber spatula and pour the olive oil at 35/40C - 95/104F. Leave to crystallise at room temperature. Set aside at 12 C- 54F.
Almond Sugar Mix for Macaron
200 grams whole white almonds
200 grams confectioner’s sugarProcess the whole white almond in a food processor, add the icing sugar and process once more. Sieve.
Green Macaron Mix
1)
400 grams almond-sugar mix
75 grams fresh egg whites
1 gram green food coloring
2)
200 grams caster sugar
50 grams water
75 grams old egg whites
1.5 grams egg white powderCombine all ingredients together from list 1) ( do this only right before you begin your sugar syrup, otherwise you will end up with an unblendable mass). cook the water and caster sugar to 118 C- 245F. When the syrup reaches 108 C- 226F start whipping on medium speed the eggwhites with the egg white powder to stiff peaks. Pour slowly the cooked syrup in a trickle over the meringue. Leave to cool down to 50C-122F, take the bowl out and fold the meringue progressively into the first mixture. Add a third of the meringue to lighten the mixture and then beat in the rest of the meringue. Be aware of required flow of the batter.
Piping and baking the macarons
With a piping bag fitted with a no. 11 plain round nozzle, pipe macarons on tray lined with parchment paper. Bake in a convection oven, vent opened, at 160C- 320F for about 14/15 minutes. Once aked, slide the macarons on cooling rack to cool.
When the shells have cooled and when the ganache has reached pipable consistency, fill one shell with a nice dollop of ganache, top with another macaron, making sure to assemble 2 shells of the same size.
Store in refrigerator for at least 24 hours before consuming. Take out of refrigerator, 2 hours before consumption.
A perfectly creamy olive oil ganache
Cooking Notes
The shells are almost the right thinness I wanted them to be and they were not sweet at all. It's amazing how mixing the batter makes all the difference. To mature the macarons, they need to be on a wire grate and be stored in a refrigerator with a 70% to 80% humidity for 24 to 36 hours.This might be difficult to achieve in a home refrigerator but this can be done by leaving a bowl of hot water inside for 10 minutes (I do not recommend this if you have other stuff in the fridge that might be sensitive to humidity).
Macaron "innards" after maturation
I was very pleased how the macaron shell allowed the flavor of the olive oil ganache to take center stage. This is why maturing the macarons is very important. Newly filled shells taste horrible because the filling has not had time to moisten the interior with its own essence. Ganaches take 24 to 36 hours and buttercream takes about 48 hours for the transformation to take place.
In choosing olive oil for this recipe make sure that it is first-press olive oil that is floral in scent, not the heavier variety with grassier notes.
The original recipe included three strips of green olives to put on top of the ganache but I had none available. Enjoy these macarons with Ceylon tea or coffee!
Making macaroons is really a work of art and patience and persistence. You have three and you’re so good at it. Thanks for sharing your experience and recipe. As if I’m going to make it.
I’ll leave that to the experts.
These are absolutely awesome! The olive taste explodes in your mouth… a definite success!
You are a Macaron Goddess Veron. What art and what passion you have!! These are too beautiful to eat. I loved reading the details in your post. It is an absolute pleasure to have you MacTweet with us! Glad HH is a happy HH!!
BTW, I find the olive oil ganache & PH chemistry behind it intriguing beyond words!
xo
Gosh, they’re gorgeous! Some day, some day, I shall make some like these (I hope).
The “innards” are very impressive. I’ve never had olive oil in a dessert but it sounds great. Thanks for all of the wonderful tips.
Wow looks gorgeous! Thanks for the tuitorial! & Recipe!
They are beautiful! Love the flavors!
Cheers,
Rosa
Wow! They are truly beautiful. I wish I can be there to watch you whip that up in person. Your hub is a very lucky man.
Fascinating! The color is gorgeous. I really didn’t understand the variety of flavors in olive oil until I did some tastings, so it makes sense that a floral flavor would work best.
Thank you for this post Veron! Olive oil macs were one of my favourites at Pierre Herme – I even bought his book so that I could translate and make them… you just saved me the trouble! They look super yum!
MMMMMMMMM,…they look wonderful & your pictures are so fabulous & so inviting too!
Stunning. Stunning. Stunning. Accept no more words. Pack them up in a box and mail to me….NOW. Thank you very much
Hi Veron,
BEAUTIFUL WORK! Can’t thank you enough for all your posts especially the Pierre Herme’s recipes as they are very hard if not impossible to find on the net(professional recipes). i have just made the olive oil ganache and macaron now i just have to wait for it to mature. Thanks again Veron!
perfect! look at that thin shell and moist interior. perfect macaron.
I love the colour!! I really need to get myself into making macarons now!
Hello
This Macarons with olive oil and vanilla ganache looks really delicious and green.I will definitely taste this.This looks so yummy.Thank you very much for this nea and different recipe.
Geez, if all that mixing results in “creamy ganache that feels absolutely sexy in your mouth”, then it must indeed be worth it! The innards look awesome.
Thanks everyone!
Great Post! I’ve noticed that there always seems to be a detail (or several) missing from the recipe instructions in many books. I didn’t see the instructions to warm the olive oil to the correct temperature before combining with the white chocolate in PHs Macaron book. I guess that allows for the same recipe to be given out without exactly leading to the same finished product unless you have some extra knowledge. Cheers!
Whoa! Looks really great, A work of art indeed..
Once again your tenacity is to be congratulated, Veron. You are an artist and your Macarons are stunning.
Thanks for sharing…
Awesome! Thanks for sharing and for all your tips and thoughts. I’ve got a chronic fear of making macaroons so I usually just read your blog and stare in awe! Maybe I should really try my hand at making them. Thanks sooo much!
Gorgeous. I love all your macaron posts. And by the way, am also a huge fan of olive oil in sweets
what a labour of love, Veron. this really is your true passion, as you say. this is so beautiful. best wishes, shayma
(sigh) Who would think … olive oil in a macaroon … and then who would have the patience and passion for perfection … PH & Veron.
One day I want to try this one.
These look devine Veron! I can only imagine what they’d taste like – but I am happy to dream …
Babe this is awesomely gorgeous! I just look drooling at it! you are just incredible, let’s celebrate, let’s open a bottle of champange!
Those look sexy indeed!
Thanks everyone! Having some internet connection problems, so if there are questions it may take me a while to answer them.
It is really hard to make macaroons. It is like a labor of love! And the results are fantastic!
Gorgeous photos and divine looking macarons Veron! As always
You are truly a macaron queen 
The olive oil ganache sounds so interesting!
Looks delicious. Thanks 4 sharing.
They sound delicious and they look so exquisite…I think it is all the layers that make it look so good. Just the treat to leave on the kitchen counter (casually, of course) when guests happen by.
They sound delicious and they look so exquisite
Dear Veron, thank you very much for your post! Like a lot of pple, I caught the macaron bugs!!! I have been trying to bake macarons since 3 months ago, each batch are getting better one after another, however, there r still some issues that bothers me. Please help if you have any advice. Concern #1: my macaron using the FM turns out denser than IM, and the shells are thinner. Are they supposed to be dense? I haven’t tasted real macarons before I have no idea. Concern #2: with the FM, the macarons baked well and looks very beautiful in the oven and just out of the oven, however, as they cool, the shells becomes a bit translucent, kinda looks a lil oily and the surface becomes uneven. Concern #3: with the IM method, sometimes I get nice-looking smooth shells but with a small gap between the shell and the innards. I have tried adding more TPT and this kinda solves the problem of “air pocket” however the macaron becomes more cake-y in texture and the shells are very thin, and because there’s no gap between the shells and the innards, the shells becomes uneven. How do I prevent these issues? Last but not least, I’m veryyyy desperate to try how a REAL macaron tastes like. I read from your website that your patisserie is closed until May 2010. Will you consider making me some if I order a dozen from you? This may be too much to ask, but if you do, can you send me some with IM and some with FM method? I really wanna know the difference in taste and the difference in look of the macarons. I have looked at hundreds of pictures online, all seems sooo perfect. Looking forward to hear from you! =) Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for your help!
That’s beautiful! Anyone who makes macaroons amazes me. Great job!
Love the color… love the pictures… your posts are always engaging til the end. I will be dreaming of these macaroons tonight!
I just made these for the second time. The first try was a disaster, and this time yielded perfect shells. The first time, I wound up with a cookie rather than a macaron shell. My mistake was not mixing the almond flour with the egg whites thoroughly enough. The second attempt was amazing – glossy shells and perfect feet. Thank you!
The look perfect. Absolutely perfect and delicious. I love the mixing in action shot- very helpful. I hope you’re having a good trip!
Amazing. Just amazing. I first found your blog when I was looking for a Nazook recipe. It was fabulous. After that I became a regular, but somehow in the last few months I lost touch. I kept coming by and watching you perfect your Macarons. I see that you’re a master now
I’m so glad I remembered to visit “you” again.
I’m definitely going to make you a habit once more.
Natalie
these macaroons look so divine, you really are an artist on the subject, keep up the good work! amazing! cheers from london
Wow, what a great recipe!
Those macarons are to die for!! Great post
Oh! Your macarons look absolutely gorgeous…I still haven’t had the courage to try to make them…one of this day…nice pictures and thank you for the step-by-step picture
Will reply to questions in a week as I have very limited internet access!
Hi,
I like to use the above method to make some macaroon. Can I use the above recipe to do chocolate macaroons and what amount of cocoa powder to add and during which step should I add In. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Wow these look great! The color is beautiful too!
Saturday Surfing : Baking Delights - Baking Tips and Recipes Feb 20, 2010 at 5:45 pm
[...] Macarons with Olive Oil and Vanilla Ganache [...]
I have only really made the most basic of macarons before so my challenge will to be branch out a little. I am thinking of trying to use pistachios instead of almonds.
These are absolutely beautiful! I will have to try them. They sound wonderful!
Wow. That is really impressive. You are inspiring me to take a leap and macaron-making a decent go.