Jasmine + Pandan Macarons

About a year ago I was transformed into a macaron making machine. Macaron after macaron, request after request, I was churning these mothers out like a, ahhh… like something that prepares a lot of macarons (you can find some evidence in my old kitchen porfolio). Unfortunately this lead to a great macaron meltdown. I had grown so tired of these adorable, French biscuits I began to despise the process and thus began my temporary retirement. It was an epic rage quit inspired by sugar and ground almonds. Months later (last night) however and due to popular demand (a friend) I managed to pull myself out of my rut and make a great macaron comeback.

The first time I ever tasted pandan was in cake form accompanied by a cup of jasmine tea; a seemingly apt combination for a macaron. If you have reservations about opening an entire can of coconut milk for only 2 tbs I completely understand and suggest you use regular milk. However, like salt to lemon, coconut and pandan compliment each other so wonderfully it really is a shame to tear them apart.

Apologies as mine are a little on the thick side; my excuse being I was adjusting to a brand new piping nib… and I’m out of practice.

 

JASMINE + PANDAN MACARONS

(an original recipe)

For the shells

1 teabag (or 1 heaped tsp) jasmine tea leaves

100 g almond meal

200 g pure icing sugar

100 g aged eggwhites, room temperature

30 g caster sugar

1 tsp powdered egg whites

 

For the pandan buttercream

100 g butter, room temperature

2 cups icing sugar mixture

3/4 tsp pandan paste

2 tbs coconut milk

1. Preheat your oven 150°C.

2. Sift pure icing sugar and almond meal and place into a bowl with your jasmine tea leaves and give it a quick stir.

3. Beat eggwhites and eggwhite powder in a separate bowl until soft peaks form. Slowly add the caster sugar, beating well between each addition, until eggwhites are stiff and glossy. This process should take around 10 minutes.

4. Pour half of your dry ingredients into the bowl of beaten eggwhites and combine with a flat utensil, like a spatula, using “cutting strokes”. Once incorporated repeat with the remaining icing sugar/almong meal/jasmine tea mixture. This is where things begin to get a little tricky as under-mixing or over-mixing will ruin your macarons as they attempt to rise and “grow feet” in the oven. Experts say to stir the mixture until it becomes the consistency of lava. The mixture will be sticky but you’ll know it’s ready when, upon holding your spatula above the bowl, it will begin just begin to flow freely back into the bowl. If it’s too watery then you may have mixed too much!

5. Prepare a piping bag with the appropriate tip (around 1 cm or less), a baking tray with baking paper, and pipe rounds. If there are any small lumps left from your piping tip wet your finger and gently press them down (unlike cake batter, macaron mixture does not flatten out when in the oven! Also, ensure you don’t leave drops of water on your macarons or they will balloon whilst baking). Allow tray to rest for 30 minutes.

6. Place baking tray in the oven and allow to bake for around 15 minutes (this time will depend entirely on your oven, so keep an eye on them). Within 5 minutes or so they will begin to grow feet.

7. Once ready, remove from oven, and after 5-10 minutes transfer to cooling racks.

8. Whilst your shells are cooling place butter and icing sugar into a bowl and beat until fluffy. Add pandan paste and beat further. Slowly add coconut milk until the buttercream reaches desired consistency.

9. Prepare another piping bag with a large tip and neatly pipe rounds of buttercream into half of the shells. To close, gently place it’s partner shell on top of the buttercream and twist shut, taking care to prevent buttercream spilling over the edges.

Making macarons is no easy task. This process takes time, patience and most of all PRACTICE. There are too many things that can so wrong so if they haven’t turned out as well you’d like don’t give up! Try, try, try again. It’s a tremendous feeling getting these right. But once you make them…

… they won’t last long.

PS. Have you said hello on Facebook yet?

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  1. excusemewaiter’s avatar

    your macarons look lovely! i love the pop of green that the pandan gives – definitely want to try making these myself =)

    Reply

  2. Amanda’s avatar

    love that second picture! and jasmine macarons? yes please! i’ve made osmanthus macarons before, but never jasmine. what a great idea! perhaps i will use some of my jasmine infused sugar(recipe on my blog) for these macarons!

    Amanda
    softandstiffpeaks.blogspot.com

    Reply

  3. Lady J’s avatar

    The combo sounds heavenly! I’m thinking of using pandan in my macarons too but haven quite figured out the combination of flavours. But this post came in timely and might have just given me the much needed inspiration! ;)

    Reply

  4. Ali’s avatar

    This looks promising, what a perfect combination. I bet you enjoyed eating the macaron… looks really delicious

    Reply

  5. Zo @ Two Spoons’s avatar

    Wow, what a wonderful east-meets-west flavour combo! Awesome :)

    Reply

  6. Jennifer’s avatar

    Coming from southeast Asia, Philippines, highly appreciate anything with pandan. The flavor it renders is simply out of this world! I am new to your blog and a novice to baking or making macarons. I enjoyed looking at all your creations. I hope I’ll be able to be as successful as you are in this endevour. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  7. Valentina’s avatar

    This recipe is beautiful! I love every opportunity to use my tiny bottle of Pandan. I love the flavor and totally agree that it pairs perfectly with coconut!

    Reply

  8. Barbara @ Barbara Bakes’s avatar

    Looks like you still have your mac magic. Such a fun color combination too.

    Reply

  9. Joanne’s avatar

    I love these asian-inspired macarons! The white on green is gorgeous.

    Reply

  10. Bec’s avatar

    Hey – great recipe…Can I use Pandan Essence, instead of paste? Cheers!

    Reply

    1. alana’s avatar

      hey bec, thanks very much! the one time i used pandan essence it ruined my entire dish with a fake, yucky tang so i wouldn’t recommend it – but maybe i just had a bad batch. stores that sell pandan essence tend to sell the paste as well so hopefully it’s not too hard to find, wherever you are in the world. :)

      Reply

    2. JasmyneTea’s avatar

      Maaaaate, if someone handed me one of these macarons I’d propose! Words can’t describe how much I LOVE pandan, it’s like crack to me :) They look amazing!

      Reply

    3. abtcxjkxm’s avatar

      не работает

      Reply

    4. Bobbytat’s avatar

      http://coral-info.com/kletochnoe-pitanie/ – эко химия купить, купить лецитин в москве

      Reply

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      darkcomet – лог это, аккаунты ps3

      Reply

    6. ThomasStiny’s avatar

      гидра магазин – как зайти на гидру, гидра официальный

      Reply

    7. OmeVpaSfsa’s avatar

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      Reply

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