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Highwire Grapefruit Macarons | Patisserie Makes Perfect

Highwire Grapefruit Macarons

Patisserie Makes Perfect
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 3 hours
Servings 40 +

Ingredients
  

  • ***Pink Grapefruit Jelly***
  • 2 Pink Grapefruit halved and juiced
  • 120 ml Boiling Water
  • 1 sachet of Powdered Gelatine
  • 200 g Caster Sugar
  • Muslin
  • ***Highwire Grapefruit Ganache***
  • 225 g Milk Chocolate
  • 100 ml Highwire Grapefruit
  • 25 g Caster Sugar
  • ***Macaron Shells***
  • 200 g Ground Almonds
  • 200 g Icing Sugar
  • 50 ml Water
  • 175 g Granulated Sugar
  • 150 g Egg Whites about 3 eggs
  • Yellow food colouring
  • Orange food colouring

Instructions
 

  • Begin by making the grapefruit jelly, place the boiling water in a bowl, along with the sachet of gelatine, whisk briskly to dissolve the gelatine and stop it forming lumps.
  • Stir in 100g of the caster sugar until it dissolves.
  • Strain the grapefruit juice through a sieve into a bowl, then add the gelatine solution and stir in the remaining 100g of caster sugar.
  • Line a sieve with the muslin and pour the whole mixture through, squeezing the fabric into a ball if necessary and squeeze as much liquid through as you can.
  • Line a 20cm x 20cm tin with cling-film and pour the jelly into the tin in an even layer and allow to set in the fridge.
  • When the jelly has set, take a 1cm diameter piping nozzle and cut out circles of jelly. Place these on a board and let them firm up in the fridge.
  • Next make the ganache, put half the beer in a small saucepan with the sugar and warm until the sugar has dissolved. Then add the rest of the beer and just warm it enough to melt the chocolate, but don’t let it boil, as you will cook off all the alcohol.
  • Take the warmed alcohol and add it to the chocolate and stir to melt it evenly, put to one side and allow to set. Don’t place it in the fridge as you don’t want it to set too hard.
  • Finally make the macaron shells, preheat the oven to 170C Fan and line four baking trays with baking parchment that has 4cm circles drawn on them as a piping guide.
  • Grind the ground almonds and icing sugar together in a food processor and then sift them into a clean bowl. Add 75g of the egg whites to this mix and beat it, until it forms a paste. Divide this mixture evenly into two bowls.
  • Add the water and granulated sugar to a pan and stir over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
  • Put 75g of the egg whites into a stand mixer and whisk them on a medium speed until frothy.
  • Bring the syrup to a boil and heat until it reaches 118 degrees.
  • Pour the syrup in a slow steady stream into the egg whites as they are being whipped on a low speed. Increase the speed to high, keep whipping until the meringue forms a stiff peak, about 5mins.
  • Divide the meringue into two bowls and colour one yellow and one orange.
  • Add some of the meringue to one of the bowls of almond paste and beat it in thoroughly. Fold through the remaining meringue, ensure the ingredients are mixed thoroughly, but don’t overmix it.
  • Repeat again with the other bowl of coloured meringue and mix with the almond paste.
  • Place the macaron mix into two piping bags and pipe out the macarons using the size guide. You will probably need to pipe and and bake one colour at a time, unless you have lots of baking trays.
  • Tap the bottom of the tray to remove any bumps or air pockets, then put the macarons in the oven for 12-14 mins per tray. Turn the trays halfway through cooking to ensure an even bake.
  • Let the cooked macarons cool completely before trying to remove them from the tray.
  • Match up the macarons so that a yellow shell is paired with an orange shell and lay them out ready for filling.
  • Take the prepared grapefruit jelly from the fridge and place a circle on one half of a macaron, take the Highwire Grapefruit ganache and pipe a ring around the grapefruit jelly and then sandwich the other macaron on top.
  • Place them in the fridge to chill and firm up, so that the shells can soften up and absorb the flavours. They will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.

Notes

To make this recipe you will need some muslin and a piping nozzle or cookie cutter that is 1cm in diameter, disposable piping bags and some macaron templates that are 4cm in diameter.