After making cotognata I was left with some of the cooking liquid from the quinces. That fragrant liquid makes a wonderful quince jelly, and I wanted to use it in something special. What better way to celebrate than with delicate, elegant macarons? I made a batch of macarons and sandwiched them with quince jelly — the contrast of the light almond shells and the amber, floral jelly was delightful. This recipe also celebrates a milestone: this was my 100th post, and to mark it I held my first giveaway. Read to the end to find the giveaway details. Enjoy!
Ingredients
For the shells:
63 g ground almonds or almond meal, sifted
50 g aged egg whites, brought to room temperature
103 g pure icing sugar, sifted
30 g granulated sugar
Pink and/or orange food colouring (powder or paste)
For the quince jelly:
Leftover cooking liquid from quinces used for cotognata
Sugar, equal weight to the liquid (1:1)
For the shells:
Begin by ageing your egg whites: leave them in the fridge for up to four days or at room temperature for a couple of days, covered to keep out debris. Bring the whites back to room temperature before whisking. Reserve the yolks for another recipe.
On the day you bake, have everything prepared: fit a piping bag with a round nozzle (about 1 cm diameter) and line baking trays with parchment or a silicone mat.
Sift the almond meal and icing sugar together into a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
Make the meringue by whisking the room-temperature egg whites in a clean bowl with an electric mixer. Gradually add the granulated sugar and food colouring while whisking until the whites hold very stiff, glossy peaks with a translucent, pearly appearance.
Fold the meringue gently into the almond and icing sugar mixture. When combined, perform the macaronnage: use a spatula or pastry scraper to fold and scrape the batter against the bowl repeatedly to deflate excess air until the batter flows in a ribbon and ‘magma-like’ consistency.
Transfer the batter to the piping bag and pipe rounds onto the prepared trays, holding the bag steady and squeezing to form even circles.
Let the piped macarons rest for 30–60 minutes, until they form a slight skin and are no longer tacky to the touch.
Baking times vary by oven. For light-coloured shells I found 150°C fan-forced for 15–17 minutes or 160°C for about 12 minutes can work; experiment with your oven and consider using a small oven thermometer to check actual temperature. Allow shells to cool fully on the tray before attempting to remove them to preserve the characteristic feet — if they stick, chill briefly in the freezer and try again.
Once cooled, store shells in an airtight container in the fridge until assembly.
For the quince jelly:
Weigh the leftover quince cooking liquid and combine it in a saucepan with an equal weight of sugar. Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens and turns an amber colour while remaining translucent. Test by placing a drop on parchment; if it sets like a jelly after a minute, it is ready. Be careful not to overcook — it can become too firm and chewy when cold.
When the jelly has cooled slightly, pipe a small amount onto half of the macaron shells and sandwich with the remaining shells.
Do not refrigerate assembled macarons if the jelly is still warm or soft, as it can harden and become chewy. Store the finished macarons in an airtight container and enjoy them the next day for the best texture.
Giveaway announcement
To celebrate the blog reaching its 100th post, I hosted a giveaway to thank readers and make baking easier across different measuring systems. The prize was a digital kitchen scale that displays grams and pounds so you can follow recipes with confidence.
How to enter:
Each comment counted as an entry. There was a mandatory required entry plus optional extra entries. Required entry: leave a comment on the post naming your favourite autumn food or ingredient. Extra entries included following on social media, sharing the giveaway, tweeting the entry, and subscribing to blog updates. Participants were asked to leave separate comments for each entry and to include social usernames for validation.
Important guidelines (as originally posted): one required comment was necessary for any extra entries to count; a maximum of six entries per person applied; the giveaway closed on July 10, 2011 at 11:59 pm GMT; a random winner would be chosen and contacted by email, with three days to respond to claim the prize. The giveaway was open internationally.
Note: The giveaway mentioned in this post is now closed and the winner was to be announced in a follow-up post.