Food & Drinks

Best of both: champagne macarons

macarons champagne

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: macarons with champagne.

Remember back when we went to concerts, hung out on terraces, and booked weekend trips to Paris? Back then, you could just buy the most delicious macarons at Ladurée in Paris. If you're craving that decadent delicacy now, you'll have to get to work yourself. Set aside some time for it, because the perfect macaron isn't easy, but it is divine.

INGREDIENTS
200 grams of fine sugar
80 grams almond flour
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon of rose water
pink food coloring
70 grams of gelling sugar
100 grams of raspberries
1 glass of champagne
125 grams of unsalted butter
30 grams of powdered sugar
1 tablespoon of rose water

What is the difficulty of a macaron? To start: the foot. The best macarons rise a bit after the top has already set, so they have a nice little ridge on the bottom. Second difficulty: folding the almond flour into the egg whites. Fold gently, so no lumps form, while keeping the egg whites airy. Last point: the oven. A few degrees too hot and your macarons discolor, a few degrees too cold and they won't bake properly. Are you zen? That's the right mindset to take on this French challenge. And remember: practice makes perfect.

  1. Start with the macarons. Whip the egg whites until frothy. Then add the sugar and continue whipping until stiff. Add the rose water and food coloring and whip a little more. Sift the almond flour over the batter and gently fold it in with a spatula.
  2. Place a piece of baking paper on a baking sheet. Pipe circles of egg white onto it. All circles must be the same size to get nice macarons, so draw circles on the baking paper before you start – the size of a champagne flute is nice.
  3. Set the baking sheet aside for twenty minutes. The macarons will dry out a bit, so you'll get a nice foot and a smooth macaron later.
  4. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees. Bake the macarons for 20 minutes. The macarons are done when you can easily lift them off the baking paper.
  5. Cook jam from the raspberries, champagne, and gelling sugar. Let it cool and put it in a piping bag.
  6. Make the buttercream by whipping the soft butter with powdered sugar, food coloring, and rose water. Put that in a piping bag as well.
  7. Pipe a dollop of champagne jam in the center of a cooled macaron. Pipe a circle of buttercream around it with the other piping bag, not too close to the edge. Gently press another macaron on top. Make stacks of all the macarons this way.
  8. In the fridge, macarons are good for three days.