Ria's Collection: ALMOND MACARONS with SALTED CARAMEL GANACHE #23

Monday, May 10, 2010

ALMOND MACARONS with SALTED CARAMEL GANACHE #23


It was in Dec '95 that she and her family came to our house to spend their X'mas vacation with us. My dad and I were promtly at the railway station to recieve them. And I waited to see that face which I have heard a lot about from my Grandmother. I waited patiently as the train pulled in to the station.I could feel my eyes moving in all directions to see who could she be? Then I felt a soft tug on my hand, my dad was tugging me to stop dreaming and go with him to the AC sleeper compartment.

She jumped out of the train, wearing a cute white salwar kameez with some sort of pink print on it. She even had a dupatta on! I envied her so much, because I was never allowed to wear one then! It was only for big girls, so was she bigger than me? No, we were of the same age, 10. And she even had a traveller's pouch on her waist! I must admit I was shy to wear them, but still, I envied her for that as well! After all the introductions, we headed home.

During their stay with us, we grew closer and after our delicious lunch everyday, she used to go to her room and lie on the bed and read! She finished a book , cover to cover, in a days time. I was AMAZED! Me and books , were opposite poles till then. So finally, I asked her about what the story was and who are those people on the cover etc. She patiently explained everything to me in detail and gave me one of her books to read. And that's it...I was hooked onto Enid Blyton!

She was a step ahead than me, she was reading Nancy Drew Files. Nevertheless, I went ahead with the book she gave me...there was no looking back since then!

My Dad had a tough time once, because of me and Famous Five/Secret Seven. Remember , this was back in 90's and no ginger-ale was ever heard in India then. And I used to give him a list which consisted of food items like Ginger-Ale, Sardine sandwiches etc, whenever he went to Bangalore. My cousin sister in Bangalore used to help my Dad in hunting for those stuff :) We still laugh over it!

I must admit, I am still at the Enid Blyton's stage. I have not grown out of it, rather I don't want to! The immensely delicious food items they mention in it...like thickly buttered bread, lemonade, sardine sandwiches,scone,pastries and what not! Ooooh! I want to go camping like them on the moors!

When we were moving from Virginia to Minneapolis, we drove down all the way! And we passed by through many many countrysides and I spotted so many dairy farms and farmhouses! And everytime I saw them, I told Jobin that I wanted to spend a day or two in such a bed and breakfast inn/farmhouse and feel what I felt and I still feel when I read Famous Five. And yes, I am hoping for an adventure to happen too!

I usually draw out the images/houses/landscape that I like when I read a book. I promise you , I can draw out a Kirrin Cottage if you want me to! Gosh! I am still so hooked onto it! I have even started watching the Famous Five serials on the web! :) I am ADDICTED!

OK! So you must be wondering what's with Ria and Famous Five? It's MAC Tell Me a Story at Mac Tweet's this month!  So we get to re-create our memories of our fave books with a Macaron! How exciting is that! 

ALMOND MACARONS with SALTED CARAMEL GANACHE
Recipe source for the macs : Ottolenghi Cookbook  via Meeta's blog
Recipe source for the filling: Aran's blog

Ingredients:
For the shells:
Icing sugar-110g
Almond meal -60g
Egg whites -60g (I aged them for 48 hours on counter top)
Castor sugar-40g
Coloured sugar -for sprinkling

Method:
Please refer to her blog for the detailed instructions.




For the filling:
Ingredients:
60g sugar
110 g cream
165 g bittersweet chocolate
15g salted butter
a pinch of salt 

Method:
  • Make a dry caramel with the sugar. In the meantime, heat the cream and when the caramel is starting to turn fairly dark, deglaze it with the cream.
  • Have the  chocolate chopped in a separate bowl. Strain the caramel mixture over the chocolate. Let it sit untouched for a minute. The caramel will start to slowly melt the chocolate. Whisk gently until all the chocolate is dissolved and the ganache has formed an emulsion. When it has coioled a bit, which will happen quickly since it's a small batch, add the soft butter and mix keeping the emulsion. Add the salt.
  • Let the ganache sit at room temperature until it hardens enough to be pipeable. Place in a pastry bag and pipe in between almond macarons.
 Verdict:

This is my 3 trial and my 3rd successful batch of making macs and I must say I liked this one the best! They tasted better than the others that I have tried. Jobin loved them and I gave a bag-full to our friends and they loved it too! So I guess, this is a winner! The salted caramel ganache was too good to be true! Will be using it more often.


And for all those who have been wondering , who that 'she' was...it's my cousin Roshini :) We are good friends since those hols. We lived far away from each other , so we were pen friends for a while . I was a good pen friend, sending her letters every now and then, but she was a lazy one! :) Nevermind, we are very close friends now! Thank you Roshini, for taking me into a dreamworld, in which I still am!

21 Comments:

Unknown said...

Haha I remember lusting over all the foods mentioned in the Enid Blyton books too. I always used to go to Mom, to explain what each food was! The macarons look great, congratulations on making them :)

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Beautiful beautiful beautiful...looks too good loved all the picture and awesome...combination which I always love..

Pavithra
www.dishesfrommykitchen.com

Magdalena said...

Although I live in France and I often try French macarons, I' never tried salted caramel ganache. However, salted caramel is one of my favorite tastes in pastries; so I presume that I would love salted ganache, too. Have a good day.

Divya Kudua said...

Lovely post Ria..and even lovelier pictures,I esp love the pic of the whisk:).Macs look so pretty..I am not even thinking of venturing into mac-direction..lol:)

Deeba PAB said...

NICE! Great to see you find feet Ria. Those are some PRETTY macarons! Thank you for joining Jamie and me at MacTweets!

Shabs.. said...

lOved teh pics da!And you know what, that whisk.....i almost licked it....ente sthiram swabhaavam aanu, licking the whisk after whisking the chocolate or ever the batter...eeeee.....looks as if it was left their for me to lick.....very good one!....loved others as well...and loved the read....we have been on a farm house quite a qwhile back...it was turned into a hotel like thing and it was quite good...the people there gave us fresh eggs and milk from the farm in the mornings and it was so cool....thats an experience:)...
i HAVE BEEN TEMPTED TO MAKE MACAROON EVER SINCE IT HAS BEEN APPEARING IN BLOGS ONE AFTER THE OTHER...wanna know, does it taste like meringue?...cos i am not a fan of meringue...its a bit too sweet for me...

RMM said...

Hi Ria ..loved readin thro the post...i was a big book addict and used to do the same when i used to go for vacations...am wonderin if my cousins thought this way ...my school frnds still remmebr me by the amt of story books i used to read....It was lovely readin it and goin by memory's lane...and the macaroons look awesome...Reny.

RMM said...

Hi Ria ..loved readin thro the post...i was a big book addict and used to do the same when i used to go for vacations...am wonderin if my cousins thought this way ...my school frnds still remmebr me by the amt of story books i used to read....It was lovely readin it and goin by memory's lane...and the macaroons look awesome...Reny.

Mary Bergfeld said...

Ria, these are just gorgeous. As a matter of fact your entire blog is gorgeous. I am a first time visitor and had planned only to say hello, but I was lured by your earlier posts and stayed around a while to read. I'll be back as often as I can. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

Swapna said...

Well written post Ria! PIcs are awasome as always!!

Swapna said...

Well written post Ria! PIcs are awasome as always!!

Ria Mathew said...

Thank you all so much!

Shabs- Nope, it is not as sweet as meringue cookies. These are perfect.

Darius T. Williams said...

WHEW! did someone say 'salted caramel?!?!' It's the small things in life that make me happy...this, my dear, makes me happy.

Darius T. Williams said...

WHEW! did someone say 'salted caramel?!?!' It's the small things in life that make me happy...this, my dear, makes me happy.

Priya dharshini said...

Hey..Got married and hooked to baking..hmm..good..great clicks..I know how eggs do major role in macarons..luks perfect..

VeggieWiz said...

Those look almost too pretty to eat!!! Lovely!

Eni said...

What a great bunch of recipes. they remind us of Enid Blyton's books, including The Famous Five and The Secret Seven which you mention. In fact, I have a subitlted article, "Food in Blytonian Literature" in my book on Enid Blyton, titled, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage (www.bbotw.com).
Stephen Isabirye

Eni said...

What a great bunch of recipes. they remind us of Enid Blyton's books, including The Famous Five and The Secret Seven which you mention. In fact, I have a subitlted article, "Food in Blytonian Literature" in my book on Enid Blyton, titled, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage (www.bbotw.com).
Stephen Isabirye

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

Ur Macs and perfect and the stori cute!!!

Cheers and super day!!!

Bonnie said...

What happy-looking photos of your macarons. The filling sounds delicious and is one I have yet to make although I love the Laduree salted caramel macarons. I will have to try this filling soon.

Meeta K. Wolff said...

lovely macs! ottolenghi never fails! love the flavor combination ria!

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