This week is very relaxing for me. I just have one order to finish by the weekend. So I've not baked anything new so far, except for these macaron cookies. My boyfriend comes back to Cali this week for an important business, as well as visiting his friends, anh Hung's family. Therefore, I make these little French cookies as a gift for his friends. Coffee and Jasmine are my boyfriend's favorite flavors (compare to other macaron flavors that I've made so far), so I just make these 2 flavors as his request.

Because I have learned a lot from the 3 macaron orders last week, this batch of macaron is perfectly done(in my point of view ). The shells are not flat, the legs are long , and the surface of the cookies is also very smooth. I also increaseed the baking duration this time to attain the hard and crispy shells, instead of the shells that would be soften when they were completely cooled. To avoid the macaron shells from cracking, I let the batter sit longer at room temperature (more than 1 hour) before baking it, and adjusted the oven temperature to make sure that the baking temperature is always 300 degree F. (When closing the oven and bake for a certain time period, the oven temperature will increase.)





INGREDIENTS:
For the macarons:
110 gm blanched almond flour (I usually buy almond flour in Whole Food Market)
200 gm minus 1 1/2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee/espresso powder
100 gm egg whites (from about 3 eggs), aged in the fridge for up to 24 hours and then bring to room temparature
50 gm granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS
1. Sift the confectioners' sugar, almond flour and coffee powder for several times until blended.

2. In a clean large bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until a smooth, shiny meringue with stiff peaks forms.

3. Add the ground almond mixture to the meringue bowl all at once, then quickly but gently fold together using a wide rubber spatula until no streaks remain (fold for about 50 strokes). You want to achieve a
thick batter that ribbons or flows from the spatula when lifted. And when you draw a line in the batter by your stapula, the batter will come together after you count from 1 to 5.

4. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Transfer the batter to a
piping bag fitted with a plain wide round tip. Pipe into small rounds on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart. Let sit at room temperature for about an hour to develop a hard shell.

5. Preheat the oven to 300 degree F. Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on size, rotate pan half way through out the baking time. After finish baking, transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely before moving the cookies.



FOR THE COFFEE FILLING:

4 oz of coffee mascarpone cheese (the one used especially for tiramisu)
1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee powder
1 teaspoon caster sugar (optional)***

Let mascarpone cheese cool to room temperature. Then, mix the 3 ingredients together with a spoon until they totally combine into a smooth and homogenous mixture. Transfer the filling to a piping bag and pipe onto the macaron shells. Then sandwich the macaron with the other shells

FOR THE JASMINE FILLING:

4 oz of original mascarpone cheese
1/2 teaspoon green tea (matcha) powder
1 teaspoon of jasmine essence
1 tablespoon of caster sugar (optional)***

Do the same thing as the coffee filling (mix up everything into a homogenous mixture) and pipe onto the macaron shells

***Note: I said that the sugar is optional for the fillings because I feel the macaron shells are already too sweet for me, so I want to make unsweetened filling to offset the sugar amount when we eat these French cookies. But if you're totally like the sweet taste, don't hesitate to add some sugar for the fillings.

After the macaron shells are cooled and sandwiched with the fillings. Refrigerate the cookies overnight before eating. This will help the macarons mature and develop their textures, as well as the fillings will be absorbed into the shells and create the best taste.

Here is the macaron gift box that I packed for him

...with full of macaron cookies and madeleines (I put them in later).
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Good news....These macarons' photo is selected and posted on foodgawker.com with code #97760. Check it out here:
http://foodgawker.com/post/2011/03/31/97760/
...and here:
http://foodgawker.com/post/archive/tranglam/
My 18th photo selected so far...