Shamrock Macarons with Baileys Ganache
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
- 100 grams egg whites
- 100 grams white granulated sugar
- 105 grams almond flour
- 105 grams powdered sugar
- Leaf green food coloring
Baileys Ganache
- 250 grams white chocolate
- 38 grams Baileys Irish cream
- 32 grams heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp Jameson optional
Instructions
Macaron Shells
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Before you start, get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare two piping bags, fitted with round tips, I am using a tip number 3 for the stem and a tip number 8 to pipe the shamrock leaves. The stem is smaller and thinner than the leaves, so you will need a smaller tip for that.
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Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat. Place the template under the mat.
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Measure out all of the ingredients.
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Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together. Set it aside.
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Place a bowl over a pan with barely simmering water. Add the sugar and egg whites to the bowl and whisk the mixture until frothy and the sugar is completely melted. It will take a couple of minutes. You can test by touching the mixture between your fingers, and if you feel any sugar granules just keep whisking the mixture over the water bath.
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Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the simmering water because you don’t want the whites to cook.
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Also, don’t overheat the sugar syrup, this may cause issues down the line, such as wrinkly macarons.
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Transfer the syrup to the bowl of a stand mixer.
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With the whisk attachment, start whisking mixture on low for about 30 seconds, then gradually start increasing speed to medium. Whisk on medium for one to two minutes, until the mixture is white and starting to become fluffy. Raise the speed to high, or medium-high and whisk for a few minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Best way to check this is to keep your eye on the whites. Once they get glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, it might be time to stop.
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Whisk until stiff peaks have formed. When you pull your whip up, the peak should be stiff and shooting straight up, with possibly a slight bend at the top, but not bending down to the side.
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Pour the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into the stiff meringue.
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Add the food coloring at this point, if using. I added some green leaf gel food coloring.
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Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula.
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How to know when to stop folding the batter: It’s time to stop folding when the batter is glossy and has a thick and flowing consistency. There are several ways to test this.
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First, pick up some batter with the spatula and try to draw a figure 8 with the batter that is dripping off the spatula. If you can form several 8 figures without the batter breaking up, that’s one indication that it might be ready.
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There’s another test you can do. I call it the Teaspoon test.
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Grab a teaspoon of batter and spoon onto the parchment paper or silicon mat. Wait a minute to see how it behaves.
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If the batter stays stiff, forming a point and doesn’t spread out, fold a little bit more, about 3 folds. Test again.
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Once the batter spreads out a bit and starts to look glossy and smooth on top, on the parchment paper or silicone mat, it’s ready.
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You don’t want your batter to be too runny either. So be careful not to overmix. It’s always best to undermix and test several times until the proper consistency has been achieved.
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When you hold the spatula with batter on top of the bowl and the batter falls off the spatula slowly but effortlessly the batter is ready. The batter will keep flowing off the spatula non-stop, but not too quickly.
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Transfer the batter to the piping bags, you will need less batter on the piping bag fitted with the tip number 3 since you will only be using that batter for the stem.
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Place the piping bag with the number 8 tip at one of the rounded parts of the shamrock leaf, and apply pressure as you move the piping bag towards the center. Move the piping bag to another rounded outer edge and repeat the motion. It’s a pretty similar motion to piping the hearts that I have taught you before. But this time you will pipe several hearts that will meet in the center.
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Now set the piping bag aside and grab the smaller tip one, and pipe the stem.
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Frequently tap the tray against the counter or against the palm of your hand, which will help the batter spread out.
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Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles and also to drag the batter to the outer edges and smooth out any bumps.
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Let the trays sit for a while so the shells will dry out. I usually leave about 20-40 minutes, depending on how humid the day is. Since I added a lot of color to these shamrocks, I had to leave them resting for nearly one hour. You’ll know they’re ready when you gently touch the surface of a macaron and it seems dry.
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Pre-heat the oven to 325ºF.
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Bake one tray at a time.
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Bake for 5 minutes, rotate tray.
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Bake for 5 more minutes. Rotate again.
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I bake each tray for about 15 to 20 minutes.
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When baked, the macarons will have a deeper color and formed feet. If you try to move a macaron, it shouldn’t feel jiggly. If the macaron is still jiggly, keep baking.
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Remove from the oven and bake the other tray.
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Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling.
Baileys Ganache
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Mix the baileys with the heavy cream, and heat in the microwave for 15 second intervals, until hot. Be careful so it doesn’t boil over.
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Pour the hot heavy cream and baileys over the white chocolate. Cover with a plate or with a towel and let it sit for 2 minutes.
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With a whisk gently stir the chocolate until completely melted.
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If the chocolate isn’t melting entirely place it in the microwave for 5 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until melted.
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Do NOT over heat the chocolate because it will separate and curdle.
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Do NOT use white chocolate chips from the store, those aren’t real white chocolate, and will not work well, causing you to waste ingredients and money. Look for white chocolate bars, or white callets by Callebaut or other brands that will tell you their chocolate has over 20% cocoa butter. Store bought white chips have additives, and lots of oils which makes them seize and separate when you try to melt them.
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Once the ganache has melted entirely, add a little bit of Jameson and stir to combine. Then, set it aside at room temperature to cool down.
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After about an hour or so, the ganache should be ok to use.
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If you place the ganache in the fridge, and it becomes too hard, you can always whip it with a mixer, the whipping will make the chocolate smooth and creamy, easy to pipe.
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If the ganache is too soft, that’s because you either used white chocolate that didn’t contain 20% cocoa butter in it, or you added too much liquid.
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The ganache will pipe best if it’s at room temperature, but the whipping trick will work as well in case you want to make it ahead and keep it in the fridge.
To assemble
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Place the ganache in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip.
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Pipe the ganache in each bottom shamrock shell.
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Top with another shell.
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Decorate the shamrocks with edible gold leaves if desired.
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Let them mature overnight before serving.
To store
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Store in the fridge for up to 7 days or in the freezer for 1 to 2 months.
Recipe Notes
Egg White Powder: I am not using egg white powder for this recipe because the weather is super dry lately, and as soon as I pipe the macarons they have been drying out. And specially when making shapes, you want the batter to not be so dry or stiff, because you will need to use a toothpick to help it smooth out to the edges of the outlines of the template you’re using.
Vinegar: Before starting make sure to wipe down the bowls, whisks, silicone mats and everything you are going to use with vinegar, to avoid any grease particles of coming into contact with the meringue and batter.
Food coloring: Make sure to use gel food coloring, not liquid. I love Americolor. If you are a beginner macaron baker, I recommend going easy on the food coloring, as it can alter your batter a lot, and it can take extra mixing time, specially if you continue to add the food coloring as you do the macaronage. Please read more about macarons and food coloring here.
Scale: Please use a scale when measuring the ingredients for accuracy.
Macaron amount: it will vary greatly depending on how big you pipe the shells, and on how runny or thick the batter is.
Baking time/temperature: Baking time and temperature will vary according to your own oven. I recommend experimenting with your oven to find out the best time, temperature, position of the baking tray.
Oven thermometer: Make sure to have an oven thermometer to bake macarons. It’s one of the most important things about making macarons. Home ovens aren’t accurate at all at telling the temperature, and even a slight 5 degree difference can make or break your whole batch.
Tray rotation: Lots of bakers don’t have to rotate the trays 180 degrees in the oven every 5 minutes, but I do have to with my oven, or I will get lopsided macarons. Please adjust this according to your oven.
Macaron Tools: Please visit this post to check out all the tools I use to make macarons.
White Chocolate: Make sure to use good quality white chocolate, don’t use white chocolate chips, or candy melts. Use bar white chocolate appropriate for baking. Most chocolate chips bought at the store are not actually white chocolate. To be considered white chocolate, it must have at least 20% cocoa butter. I use Callebaut callets, they have 28% cocoa butter and I get them on Amazon, it’s my favorite chocolate for baking.