Cherry Ripe Macarons

Last, but by no means least, of the flavours made for the 30th birthday macaron tower were the Cherry Ripe Macarons as chosen by C.  When I found out that this was C’s flavour and I can honestly say it was something I wasn’t expecting and was a little bit freaked at first because for whatever reason, I couldn’t recall ever eating a Cherry Ripe before in my life.  But I took one for the team and tried a few Cherry Ripes when I was testing out a couple of recipes for the ganache and I can say I am a fan.

Immediately I knew I wanted the macarons to be bright red like the packaging of a Cherry Ripe so a couple of test batches would be in order as I haven’t, up until that point, made any brightly coloured macarons.  I couldn’t really use the red food colouring I still have from My Best Friend’s Wedding Cake because it is liquid and it tends to mess up the macaron mixture.  So I turned to the red Americolor gel colouring and even though it felt like I added a lot of colouring, I could only get a pale red, but it was pretty similar to the inside of the Cherry Ripe.

So I hunted around for some red powdered food colouring which, after much consulting with Mr Google, was apparently assured to give me the bright red colour I was after.  I ended up purchasing the colouring from The Red Spoon Company, which is an awesome store in Sydney that the hubby and I called into one day to purchase some popping candy, paillete feuilletine and check out what else they had in store.  It just so happened that I was after some more popping candy and a precision scale so I placed an order for these and their powdered red food colouring.

In my original macaron recipe, Zumbo uses a tablespoon and a half of red food colouring in that recipe so I used the same proportion.  But apparently all powdered food colouring isn’t created equal as I am sure that those macarons wouldn’t have left your mouth and teeth red like mine did.  So after actually reading that the dosage for this particular brand was 0.5-2 grams per litre, I altered my quantities and got that precision scale out to scale back the ratio.  Needless to say, the final batch didn’t have that problem.

So onto the macarons.  I think I mentioned in my last couple of posts that I am now using my food processor to process the almond meal and icing sugar into an even finer powder prior to sifting it.  It certainly pays off as the shells on these bad boys were smooth as a baby’s butt!

I have also gotten a little lazy so after I have sifted the almond meal and icing sugar, I place it back in the food processor with my egg whites to mix it through.  Much quicker than me mixing by hand and appeals to my lazy efficient side.

The powdered colouring was dissolved into the sugar syrup as it boiled before being poured into the slightly whipped egg whites.

It’s a little deceptive as the colouring has tinges of brown to it, but what results is an amazingly bright and luscious red.  I love it (but I am very much in love with anything red – just look at half of my kitchen).

Fold the red egg white into the almond meal and pipe away using one of the templates in the library.

When developing the ganache, I was tossing up whether to make my own version of a Cherry Ripe from scratch or just use the ones already made.  To maintain the authentic taste, I decided on the latter.  In addition to the Cherry Ripes, I used a combination of milk and dark chocolate because I didn’t want to risk using only dark chocolate which could over power the flavour plus cream.

Cut the Cherry Ripes into quite small pieces and place into a heat proof bowl with the milk and dark chocolate.  Heat the cream until it just starts to boil and then pour it over the chocolate and Cherry Ripes.  I always let it sit for a minute or so, after pushing as much of the chocolate under the cream as possible, so that the cream can start the work.  Then stir using a spatula until the chocolate has completely melted.  Because the inside of the Cherry Ripe bar doesn’t melt, I use my stick blender (for which I purchased a KitchenAid stick blender just before making these – red of course) to puree the mixture.  You will probably still end up with a few lumps, but it isn’t the end of the world.

This ganache just gets better the longer it sits so if you want to make it first you won’t regret it.

Pair up your macarons and pipe some of the set ganache into the middle and place the second shell on top and gently squeeze together.

See how shiny those shells are.  And the awesome colour.  I was beyond happy with how these turned out.

I was contemplating putting coconut on top of the shell or around the edges on the ganache but because of how gorgeous they turned out I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Print Recipe

Cherry Ripe Macarons

Macaron recipe inspired by Adriano Zumbo and Cherry Ripe Ganache an original recipe by Cath from Cath's Cookery Creations

Course

Macarons

Servings

macarons

Ingredients

For the macarons

• 225 g almond meal
• 225 g icing sugar
• 82.5 g egg white(s) fresh
• 225 g caster sugar
• 55.5 g water
• 1.5 g red powder food colouring
• 82.5 g egg white(s) old
• 1.5 g powdered egg white

For the Cherry Ripe ganache

• 150 ml pure cream
• 165 g Cherry Ripe bars
• 38 g milk chocolate
• 53 g dark chocolate

Course Macarons Servings macarons Ingredients For the macarons 225 g almond meal 225 g icing sugar 82.5 g egg white(s) fresh 225 g caster sugar 55.5 g water 1.5 g red powder food colouring 82.5 g egg white(s) old 1.5 g powdered egg white For the Cherry Ripe ganache 150 ml pure cream 165 g Cherry Ripe bars 38 g milk chocolate 53 g dark chocolate

Instructions

For the macarons

1. Sift the almond meal and icing sugar into a bowl and mix in the fresh egg whites to form a paste.
2. Place the caster sugar and water into a saucepan and place over a low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and then increase the heat to medium to bring the mixture to a boil. Add the food colouring and then bring to 119°C. Remove from the heat, and the temperature of the syrup will continue to rise slightly and will need to be added to the whisked egg whites at 121°C.
3. Place the old egg whites and the powdered egg white into the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk until combined. Slowly pour the syrup (which should be at 121°C) into the bowl whilst whisking on a medium speed until the mixture is fluffy and glossy. Continue to whisk until completely cool.
4. Fold one third of the whisked egg whites into the almond paste. Continue to gently fold in the remainder of the egg whites until thoroughly combined.
5. Transfer the mixture to a large piping bag and onto a lined baking tray pipe 4cm circles approximately 2 cm apart.
6. Set the trays aside for 30 minutes until a skin forms on the macaron.
7. Preheat the oven to 200°C and place the trays into the oven and immediately turn it off. Leave for 10 minutes and then turn the oven back on at 155°C for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the tray.

For the Cherry Ripe ganache

1. Chop the Cherry Ripe bars, milk and dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a heat proof bowl.
2. Pour the cream into a sauce pan and heat over a medium-high heat until it just about boils then pour over the chocolate and let sit for one minute.
3. Stir the cream and the chocolate until the chocolate is completely melted, and if desired, use a stick blender to puree the mixture to break down the Cherry Ripe pieces.
4. Set the ganache aside to cool and firm up.

Assembly

1. Pair similar sized macarons together and place one face up.
2. Pipe filling onto the macaron facing up leaving about 3-5mm around the edge.
3. Place the other macaron on top and gently squeeze together, pushing the filling to the edge.
4. Put the completed macarons in an air tight container in the fridge at least overnight. To serve, bring to room temperature.

Recipe Notes

You can grab a template to help you pipe the shells from my template library.