Heart Shaped Macarons Recipe | The Best Macarons | Italian Meringue Macarons | The Best
Channel: Chef Ben_G
Date: 2021-02-07

In this video in my valentines series I will be showing you how to make heart shaped macarons using the Italian meringue method. This recipe is a bit more complex than previous videos in my valentines series but persevere and you’ll be happy with the results.

This is a great valentines day baking idea as you’ll be able to make a special homemade gift for your valentine that’s got the extra special bonus of it being made by you as an extra heartfelt valentines day gift for her or even a valentines day gift for him.

Heart Shaped Macaron Recipe:

170g Icing Sugar (Sometimes called powdered sugar)
165g Ground Almonds (Sometimes called almond flour)
120g Egg Whites (Split into two 60g batches)
160g Caster Sugar (Sometimes called fine sugar)
50ml Water
Red Food Colouring

I used red food gel for the colouring, try to use food gel rather than liquid colouring as the liquid colouring has the potential to make the batter too wet and it may not work as intended.

This macaron recipe uses the Italian meringue method, it’s vital when making the meringue that you do this in one continuous process. Have your egg whites ready but do not start whisking until your sugar syrup has reached 110oC so that when the sugar syrup reaches 120oC the egg whites should be brilliant white, glossy and fluffy ready to add the syrup. It’s also important to leave the mixer running continuously until the meringue has cooled. The continuous mixing will incorporate cool air into the meringue in order to cool it quicker and also at a steady rate. 

If you don’t have a stand mixer you can always make your meringue with an electric hand mixer, there is another recipe on the channel where I make Lemon Macarons with an electric hand mixer which can be found here:

Making Lemon Macarons: https://youtu.be/iC1jRVR4sPg

The mixer you see being used is also a budget brand mixer which can be seen unboxed and reviewed here:

LiDL Silvercrest Stand Mixer: https://youtu.be/1O8D8UQPs7M

I did attempt a macaron hack where I tried to use a heart shaped cutter to mould the macaron shape. This didn’t quite go according to plan as I’d hoped but on reviewing the footage I think you may be able to use this hack although I don’t think it will give you the sharp edges of the heart if you do follow this method.

The way I ended up doing the heart shaped macarons was to download a template off the internet, q quick google search brings up loads and loads of printable templates. As you can see from the video the two templates side by side was slightly overloading the tray so I opted to use one template at a time, it’s very important not to overload the tray and leave a good gap between each macaron on the baking sheet, they shouldn’t expand outwards on the tray but it’s best to leave the gap just in case they do.

You need to let your macarons dry before baking, leave at room temperature for as long as required, usually 30-45 minutes until a shiny skin has appeared on the surface, when they are ready you will be able to lightly touch the surface and none of the macaron batter will not come away on your finger but be careful not to indent the macaron shell.

It’s very important that you bake each sheet of macarons one at a time, don’t be tempted to overload the oven.

Baking of the macarons can be tricky, I had my oven set to 150oC for the baking process but the first batch was slightly overbaked on top so I turned it down just a slight nudge for the subsequent batches. You will also see that there is some macarons that have puffed and cracked during the baking process, these could be disregarded if you are looking for perfection however, with the way I present mine I used the cracked ones for the bottom shell of the macaron.

You can fill with any filling you like, I opted for lemon curd but you could use a jam / jelly or a crème patissiere, the flavours and options for filling are truly endless!

Be sure to leave a like and share the video to your social media channels and consider subscribing to the channel to see more of the valentines series pus lots more cooking and baking!

Music credit: Bensound.com

You can follow me on my social media here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChefBenG
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chef_BenG
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chef_ben_g/


Chapters
0:00 Intro, Macaron Recipe & Sieving Ingredients
1:05 Mixing The Almond Paste
1:45 Making Italian Meringue
3:24 Making the Macaron Batter
4:29 Moulding Macarons The Wrong Way
4:55 Moulding Macarons The Correct Way
6:04 Baking The Macaron Shells
6:52 Filling The Macarons
8:18 Garnishing The Macarons
8:41 Finished Macarons & Outro

#DIYValentinesGifts #ValentinesDay #HeartShapedBaking