Thursday, July 8, 2010

Matcha Macarons with Adzuki Bean Filling

Whenever I'm at home in Fresno, I'm in the kitchen more than sitting in front of my laptop. It seems that when I have a kitchen and stand mixer at my disposal, my blogging suffers.

Within the past month I think I've made different flavored macarons at least 10 times, ironically failed at lemon bars twice, finally succeeded at strawberry lemon bars, found my love for almond meal in flour-less chocolate tortes, lemon ricotta cupcakes, caramelized chocolate almonds candies, earl grey and lemon madeleines...

Needless to say, I've got pictures and recipes of everything I've made. Sadly, I just haven't had the time to put anything up. Do I blog about the macarons I just made? Or do I jump back in the kitchen to start on those madeleines? I'd been choosing the kitchen.

However, I am now in Taipei--kitchen-less and without my trusty stand mixer. I'm sure a lot more of my time here will be spent eating out and blogging. Of course I'll soon be blogging about all the amazing meals I'm having here in Taipei, but first, I want to share some of my own creations.

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These matcha (green tea) macarons are something I'm particularly proud of. I love the beautiful green color the matcha powder gives to the macaron shells. Although I still followed the basic macaron recipe I've alway used, the slightly bitter matcha powder actually helped to tone down the sweetness a little.

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For the filling, I first made an adzuki (red bean) buttercream frosting. I added canned adzuki bean paste to a recipe of swiss meringue buttercream, which was delicious, but a little too sweet for my taste. Thus, for my second batch, I made an adzuki cream cheese filling instead. This was much better balanced--with the slightly tart flavor of cream cheese mellowing out the cloying sweetness of the red bean paste. Finally, a successful combination!

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Matcha Macarons with Adzuki Bean Filling
macaron shell recipe adapted from Tartlette

matcha macaron shells
200 g powdered sugar
110 g blanched, slivered almonds
1 tbsp high-quality matcha powder
90 g aged egg whites (about three eggs)
30 g fine granulated sugar

adzuki bean filling
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 can adzuki bean paste (can be found at Japanese grocery stores, i.c. Nijiya Market)

for the filling

1. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream softened butter and cream cheese for at least 3 minutes until light and fluffy

2. Slowly add in sifted powdered sugar, mixing well between each addition

3. Fold the can of adzuki bean paste into the cream cheese mixture

4. The filling is now ready to be piped on to the cooled macaron shells

for the macaron shells

1. weigh out the blanched almonds, matcha powder, and powdered sugar

2. grind together in food processor in batches and sift into a bowl--regrind any of the larger pieces left behind until you have a very fine powder

3. weigh out aged egg whites and granulated sugar

4. place egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and begin whisking on high, gradually adding the granulated sugar little by little until you form a stiff meringue

5. fold the dry ingredients into the meringue in two installments. Fold until the ingredients are just mixed in, and you can no longer distinguish meringue from dry ingredients--until there are no noticeable streaks of white or green

6. place batter into a piping bag (large ziploc bag) fitted with a 1/2 inch tip

7. pipe batter onto silicon lined baking sheets in 1 1/2 inch rounds, giving them plenty of space to spread

8. let sit for 20 minutes

9. bake in 300F convection oven for about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven

10. let cool on baking sheets and once cooled, fill with adzuki filling and refrigerate


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Couldn't resist--had to take a bite :)


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Macarons from the second batch with adzuki cream cheese filling


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Valrhona chocolate macarons and matcha macarons

25 comments:

  1. Those look gorgeous. When can I expect to get mine?

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  2. These macarons look absolutely perfect! I'm still struggling to master them, and you have given me something to aspire to!

    - Lisa, www.pocketfulofchocolate.com

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  3. o M G.. if I had a schlong, I'd marry you!!

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  4. @Epicuryan: once I've mastered my oven in LA :)

    @Lisa: thanks--they're not perfect yet but I'm getting there. It just takes a lot of trial and error. You'll get there too!

    @Cookie Chomper: I'd accept ;) hahaha

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  5. Digging the new angles you're working with. And that rose was a very cute touch!

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  6. it's cute how you stage your macarons. they look so yummy! who's been eating all your baked goods and are they really fat by now? :)

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  7. *drooling* already! looks really good =)

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  8. Wow - these really look terrific!

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  9. they are spectacular!! (I hope you don't mind, but I blogged them too!)

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  10. What brand of matcha powder do you use? Your macarons are a gorgeous green. When I bake matcha things, they come out a pale green brown. I tried making these last night and the batter was gorgeous green when I started, but not after I baked them. Thanks for the recipe.

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  11. those look amazing!!!!! it's too bad you don't have an oven in taipei! you'd make a killing! :)

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  12. @Andrew: I tried to be creative lol not my strong point

    @weezermonkey: thanks :)

    @bagnatic: mainly my mom...and ironically, she's skinnier than me

    @Wei's: thank you!

    @Darin: thanks!

    @deb: don't mind at all :)

    @kirbie: I'm currently out of the country and not in my kitchen so I can't look at the can of matcha powder I use. Once I'm home, I'll find out and let you know. I was surprised at the color of my matcha macarons too. I've seen a lot of green tea macarons that were less than green...

    @joan: I do have an oven here in Taipei but it sucks and I don't think macarons would like being in it haha

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  13. I noticed you said your home is "Fresno"....I am from Fresno and can't seem to find Matcha anywhere! Do you know anywhere is town that sells it?

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  14. @Tiffany: sadly I was never able to find matcha powder in Fresno either...I get mine from Japanese grocery stores in L.A.

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  15. i love it i'm japanese!!!!!!i like it very much!!

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  16. What lovely green macaroons! Great photographs!

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  17. Oh I see the recipes now! Sorry for the last comment. They look so delicious, I can't wait to make these!

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  18. I have to try this. Beautiful picture and the deep green color is amazing. I let out an audible moan at the picture of the macaroon with the bite taken out of it. Looks like heaven.

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  19. What brand of matcha powder do you use? The green is so vibrant!

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  20. Hi there, can you tell me what kind of green you used, such as Wilton color gel? There are several shades of green dye (Kelly green, green, etc), so not sure what color it was.

    Thanks

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  21. Excuse me, but do you think a 13 year old girl like me will be able to make this? I love how your macarons turned out, and I hope I can make a batch as good as yours! This will be my first time and I would like to make this for Easter (and also because I love matcha). To make sure I can have at least an edible batch for me and my family, do you have any other tips you can share? I also use a portable oven. And oh yeah, is there a way to convert to standard units? :( I don't have the instrument to measure mass. Only cups and spoons lol. Thank you very much!

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  22. Can you convert the Grams into cups?

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