Eggnog French Macarons
Anja Bauman
November 15, 2022
These eggnog-flavored French macarons will be the show stopping cookie at any holiday gathering!
It can take some practice to perfect the macaronage step in this recipe, but what I love about baking macarons in the Anova Precision Oven is that it takes all the guesswork out of baking them because of how evenly and precisely the oven holds its temperature.
You will need at least one quarter sheet pan for this recipe. The Anova sheet pan with ridges will not work for this recipe.
Notes: It is critical that the stand mixer bowl and attachment are pristinely clean before using. Make sure to thoroughly wash them before using. The mixing times for the meringue are dependent on the size of your stand mixer. If using a smaller 3- to 5-quart mixer, such as a KitchenAid Artisan, you can expect the shorter end of the time ranges listed. If using a larger 6- to 7-quart mixer, such as a KitchenAid Pro, you can expect the longer end of the time ranges. If your kitchen is especially humid, it may take even longer to beat the meringue.
Serves
33
Prep Time
26:30
Cook Time
00:30
0
250
Ingredients
90 grams
(about 3 large) egg whites
¼ cup
heavy cream
½ tsp
freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp
vanilla extract
6 oz
white baking chocolate
170 grams
sifted powdered sugar
125 grams
sifted blanched almond flour
70 grams
granulated sugar (⅓ cup plus 2 tsp)
2 tsp
cocoa powder
Steps
1. Age Egg Whites
The day before making the macarons, place the egg whites in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator overnight or for up to 3 days.
2. Steep Cream
In a small saucepan, combine the heavy cream, nutmeg, and vanilla. Place over medium heat and cook until it just comes to a simmer. Remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 15 minutes.
3. Make Ganache
Finely chop the chocolate and place in a medium heatproof bowl.
Add just enough water to a medium saucepan so that you can set the bowl of chocolate on top of it without the water touching the bottom of the bowl. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Once the water comes to a boil, remove from the heat and place the bowl of chocolate on top. Pour the steeped cream on top of the chocolate and let sit for 3 minutes.
With a small spatula centered in the middle of the bowl, stir in small circles to bring the cream and chocolate together until smooth. Transfer to a storage container and refrigerate until cool, at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
4. Bring Egg Whites and Ganache to Room Temperature
An hour or two before you’re planning to bake, remove the egg whites and ganache filling from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Thoroughly wash and air dry the bowl for a stand mixer and the whisk attachment.
5. Prepare Sheet Pans
Cut three pieces of parchment paper to fit perfectly into the bottom of a quarter sheet pan. If you have multiple quarter sheet pans, line each of them with parchment. If you only have one quarter sheet pan, flip a half sheet pan upside down and place the other two pieces of parchment side-by-side on top.
6. Sift Powdered Sugar and Almond Flour
In a large bowl, sift together the powdered sugar and almond flour. Give the mixture a few good whisks to thoroughly incorporate.
7. Start Whipping Egg Whites
Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attached. Beat on medium speed until the egg whites are foamy and start to lose their yellowish tint, 1 to 3 minutes.
8. Add Sugar and Beat to Stiff Peaks
While continuing to mix on medium speed, slowly add the granulated sugar 1 teaspoon at a time, letting each teaspoon of sugar mix into the egg whites before adding the next. This step should take about 5 minutes.
Once all the sugar has been added, stop the mixer and, with a spatula, scrape down any sugar granules that may be sticking to the side of the bowl.
Turn the mixer back on and adjust the speed to medium-high. Beat until stiff peaks form, 3 to 7 more minutes. You want to be careful not to over whip the egg whites, so when you know it is getting close, check them every 30 seconds
9. Start the Macaronage
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and add the sifted almond flour and powdered sugar. Using a rubber spatula, lightly stir to combine the almond flour mixture with the egg whites.
10. Finish the Macaronage
Once the mixture is combined, start folding. Fold the batter once and then scrape the spatula through the middle of the batter twice. Continue to repeat this motion.
The goal here is to release some of the air out of the meringue. The mixture will be very thick at first. But as you continue to fold and scrape it will begin to soften. You want it to be smooth and soft enough that if you lift the spatula up, the batter running off it should come off like pancake batter and you should be able to make a smooth figure eight with the batter. When ribbons of batter fall back into the bowl, they should soften back into the batter after 15 to 20 seconds. You do not want to go past this point because it will become over mixed quickly, so check often as you are folding.
This is the trickiest part of making macarons because you do not want to under mix them, but you do not want to over mix them either. With practice it becomes easier!
11. Pipe Macarons
Transfer the macaron batter to a piping bag with a medium-size round tip measuring ¼ to ½ inch in diameter. Hold the bag so that it is at a right angle to the prepared sheet pan and you are squeezing the batter from the top.
Pipe straight down to create 1-inch round circles, lifting the bag straight off of each round and leaving ¾ inch of space between each macaron. Once you have filled the sheet pan, pick up the sheet pan and firmly tap the bottom of the sheet pan against the countertop twice to knock out any air bubbles. Repeat with the remaining batter on the prepared parchment sheets.
12. Add Cocoa
Once you have piped all of the macarons, use a fine sifter to sprinkle a light dusting of cocoa powder on the macarons. You do not want to cover them completely with cocoa; you should still be able to see the macaron underneath.
13. Dry Macarons
Let the macarons dry on the counter until they are no longer sticky when you lightly touch the top, 30 minutes to 1 hour. This step helps to create their shell.
14. Preheat the Oven
Rack
If you have at least two quarter sheet pans, you can bake two pans at a time on racks 2 and 4. Adjust a rack to position 3 to bake the final batch.
Sous Vide Mode: Off
Steam: Off
Temp: 300°F
Heat: Rear
15. Bake
Rack
Transfer the macarons to the oven and bake until the tops of the macarons do not move when touched, 10 to 12 minutes.
Sous Vide Mode: Off
Steam: Off
Temp: 300.00199999999995°F
Heat: Rear
00:10 Timer
16. Cool
Remove from the oven and let cool on the sheet pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes before transferring the macarons, still on the parchment, to the rack.
Slide the next sheet of piped macarons onto the sheet pan and continue baking the macarons in batches.
Let all of the macarons cool completely.
17. Fill Macarons
Pipe about 1 teaspoon of eggnog ganache onto the bottom of half of the macarons and place the remaining macarons on top.
18. Mature Macarons
Place the filled macarons in an airtight container and let mature in the refrigerator overnight. Let them come to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
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