These mint olive oil macarons came about because I was reading through William Curley’s book Couture Chocolate and I found a recipe for Rosemary, olive oil ganache. I thought this looked like an interesting recipe and I’d wanted to make an olive oil ganache for a while.
I’d had ‘bake another batch of macarons‘ on my baking list for a while now and they always go down well when shared with friends. I enjoy making them (and eating them), but I didn’t want to make a flavour you might expect to see, or a flavour that felt too summery for this time of year.
I also had some activated charcoal leftover from my cronuts that Special Ingredients sent to me a little while ago which I wanted to use to colour my shells black. For some reason I had developed an obsession with the idea of black macarons. I think they look so striking and quite sophisticated.
Getting back to William Curley, rosemary, olive oil ganache sounded like the perfect filling for some macarons. So I made the ganache by infusing the cream with rosemary, I had an issue the first time of trying as my ganache split. I rescued it with a little warm milk – this is a great trick if your ganache ever splits. Place the split ganache in the bowl of a stand mixer (you won’t be able to do this by hand), add a little warm milk and whisk on medium until it comes together, increasing the speed as it binds together.
Sadly I had to throw the first batch of ganache away, because although I rescued it, when I tried to add the olive oil, it split all over again. Undeterred, I decided to try again and I made the ganache more slowly and instead of melting the chocolate first, I used the hot cream to melt the chocolate and I added the olive oil in small batches.
The reason behind using a mint infused olive oil was because I had been sent some wonderful Mint Olive Oil from Tariette and also mint and chocolate are just a match made in heaven.The only problem was that the mint massively overpowered the rosemary and there was just no point infusing the cream, so I haven’t included the rosemary in the final recipe. I did use a strong chocolate from Guittard though which can withstand the olive oil.
I think if I make a rosemary olive oil ganache again, I will include it with a recipe that has some lemon or more subtle flavours that will compliment the rosemary instead of overshadowing it. Finally the metallic green paint was added because macaron shells in my opinion should always give you a hint as to the flavour of the macaron. A black macaron shell wasn’t giving anything away and also, I had seen plenty of painted macarons on instagram and they really inspired me.
So, that is the story behind the mint olive oil macarons and here is the recipe for you.
Mint Olive Oil Macarons
Ingredients
- ***Mint Olive Oil Ganache***
- 300 ml Double Cream
- 340 g Guittard Bittersweet Chocolate Wafers 74% cocoa
- 11 g Butter softened, diced
- 15 g Caster Sugar
- 30 - 40 ml Mint Olive Oil
- ***Macarons***
- 200 g Ground Almonds
- 200 g Icing Sugar
- 50 ml Water
- 175 g Granulated Sugar
- 150 g Egg Whites
- 2-3 Tbsp Activated Charcoal
Instructions
- First make the ganache, put the cream in a small saucepan with the sugar and bring it to a boil. Leave the cream to cool a little so that it is not boiling, pour it over the chocolate and stir to melt it evenly, add the butter gradually and stir until it has completely mixed in.
- Take the olive oil and slowly add it in batches, if you add it all at once it will probably split.Taste the ganache as you go and only add all f the oil if you like an intense mint flavour as this isn't for everyone.
- If using immediately place the ganache in a disposable piping bag, if making in advance place it in a bowl and press a piece of clingfilm to the surface and allow it to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 170C Fan and line four baking trays with baking parchment, if using templates place these under the baking parchment. I used 4cm templates, but you can use anything up to 5cm, but you will have less macarons.
- Grind the ground almonds and icing sugar together in a food processor and then sift them into a clean bowl.
- Add the remaining 75g of egg whites to this mix and beat it, until it forms a paste. Place to one side.
- Add the water and granulated sugar to a saucepan and stir over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
- Put 75g of the egg whites into a stand mixer and whisk them on a medium speed until frothy.
- Bring the syrup to a boil and heat until it reaches 118 degrees.
- Pour the syrup in a slow steady stream into the egg whites as they are being whipped on a high speed. Keep whipping until the meringue forms a stiff peak, about 5mins. Add the activated charcoal until you achieve the desired colour.
- Add a third of the meringue to the almond paste and beat it in thoroughly.
- Fold through the remaining meringue, ensure the ingredients are mixed thoroughly.
- Put the macaron mix into a piping bag and pipe out the macarons, you will have enough to make around 40 whole macarons, so 80 shells in total.
- Tap the bottom of the tray to remove any bumps or air pockets, then put the macarons in the oven for 12-14 mins per tray. Turn the trays halfway through cooking to ensure an even bake.
- Let the cooked macarons cool completely before trying to remove them from the tray.
- Then sandwich the macarons together with a blob of chocolate ganache and place them in the fridge to set.
- Macarons are usually best left in the fridge for a few hours before eating, so that they can set and the shells can soften, take them out the fridge 30mins before serving.
Are you a macaron fan? Do you like to bake them?
Thanks for reading.
Angela
Thais FK
They look absolutely stunning and for certain are also delicious!
patisseriemakesperfect
Thank you so much!
vikalinkafood
These are just so gorgeous, Angela! I have no idea how you made charcoal grey macarons look this good but you managed! I am super curious about the flavours but I’ve never attempted making macarons!! What a girl to do?!
patisseriemakesperfect
Thanks Julia – these turned out exactly how I wanted them to, which so rarely happens! I love it when you get a good bake – it’s just the boost I needed. I think you either need to learn to make macarons, or the next time we meet up, I’ll bring a batch for you and the Freys to share. x
Jane Saunders
Loving the edgy look of these macarons and the flavour sounds intoxicatingly good. I only tend to make macarons once or twice a year but I do adore them. I’m lining these up for future kitchen adventures.
patisseriemakesperfect
Thanks Jane – yes I love the bright coloured macarons, but there is something almost gothic about these ones that I really like. I’m really into the idea of more olive oil ganaches now though as it makes it so silky.
Annaliese
These are striking! Love the green-turquoise against the deep gray. I’ve tried my hand at macaron only twice-last time using Bouchon Bakery’s method with an Italian meringue. It was more successful, but I still need practice perfecting the cookies before I can consider filling them! And yes…ganache is picky sometimes. I think lipids are my favorite macro-nutrient but their behavior can be frustrating!
patisseriemakesperfect
Thank you so much Annaliese – I have the Bouchon Bakery book, but I haven’t tried the macaron recipe. This recipe uses an Italian Meringue as well, I find that is the best method for me – much more reliable.
kellie anderson
These are helluva sexy and beautiful! Wow!
patisseriemakesperfect
Cheers kellie 🙂
Corina Blum
These little macarons are so pretty and look really sophisticated too! I doubt I could get them to look half as good but I’d love to try yours!
patisseriemakesperfect
Thanks Corina – if you follow the steps, use a template to pipe the macarons, you’ll be surprised how good you can get them looking.
Lucy Parissi
These are beautiful Angela. They look so dark and mysterious, which matches there flavour profile perfectly.
patisseriemakesperfect
Cheers Lucy – I’m trying to up my game a bit this year. Fingers crossed I can produce something out of all the fails!