Macaron Festival
It’s no secret that S and I, like so many other greedy gourmets around the world, are mad for macarons. The best we’ve had, hands down, have come from Pierre Herme. S also adores Laduree’s licorice versions while I can’t get enough of J‘s peanut butter and jelly ones. We also both really love Chef Pang Kok Keong‘s caramel fleur de sel macarons (whose recipe I’ve begged for and am running at the end of this post).
Chef Pang is easily one of Singapore’s most talented young pastry chefs. In addition to running the central dessert kitchen for the Les Amis restaurant group, he also runs his own rather swish dessert-focused restaurant and the excellent pastry shop Canele. Canele is a delight for fat fellas like me. There are wonderful desserts and cakes on offer. Many are staples, i.e. always available. But every so often, Chef Pang will unveil some new and interesting creations to tempt and tease us.
This month, he’s launched what he calls a Macaron Festival. For the festival, Chef Pang has whipped up a special range of six limited edition macarons: marron glace (chestnut cream and candied chestnut); citron vert (almond macaron with green lime cream); pistache et griottine (almond macaron with pistachio cream and brandied cherry); sesame (almond macaron with black sesame cream); matcha (green tea macaron with green tea cream); and noisettine truffe (hazelnut macaron with truffle cream and roasted hazelnut). These are available for sale, packaged in cute and specially designed boxes for either 6 pieces or 12 pieces, at both the flagship Robertson Walk Canele as well as the Paragon branch.
S and I have already greedily devoured a six-pack of these special macarons. They were all excellent. My favourite among them was the citron vert, which had a nice, sharp bite. My second fave was the marron glace. S preferred the noisettine truffe, which she swooned over, and the matcha, which has a nice subtle, refined and not-too-sweet taste.
In addition to the macarons on sale at the two Canele shops. Chef Pang is also offering a high tea macaron buffet at (where else?) Macaron. The S$55++ per person spread is only available on weekends, so book now if you want to check this out. Each patron is given the choice of having both an appetizer and entrée from Macaron’s regular menu, followed by a buffet offering 18 different types of macarons, 7 types of macaron entremets (cakes with an element of macaron as part of the composition) and 2 a la carte servings of Canelé’s homemade ice creams or sorbets. Talk about a sweet and decadent way to spend a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon!
It’s really nice to see that some of our younger and more talented pastry chefs are now thinking seasonally, creating novelties to surprise and delight our often jaded palates. It’s also great that some of these chefs, like Pang, are trying to innovate new menus and promotions to keep customers excited and, importantly (for them), returning.
Macaron
11 Unity Street, Robertson Walk
Tel: +65-6235-7277
Canelé Patisserie Chocolaterie
11 Unity Street
#01-09, Robertson Walk
Singapore
Tel: +65 6738 8145
Chef Pang Kok Keong’s Macaron Caramel Fleur de Sel
For the macaron cookie
500g ground almond
900g icing sugar
440g egg white
120g sugar
Sieve your ground almond and icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Make sure the mixture is lump-free. Beat the egg whites using an electrical mixer with a whisk attachment at high speed until you can see a line made by the whisk going round. Then add in the sugar while the mixer is at medium speed. Make a stiff meringue. Fold the meringue into the dry sieved ingredients until you get a homogeneous mix, taking care not to overfold it, as normal meringue are very delicate.
Pipe the mixture onto a silpat with a no. 5 plain tube into 3cm balls (The cookies will spread to approximately 5cm). If the mixture is too thick, you’ll see a tip sticking up from the balls (from where you piped them) even after you finish piping the last row. If this happens, give the tray a little tap so that you’ll get a nice smooth surface.
Leave the piped macaron cookies out to form a skin before baking them at 160 degrees Celsius in a fan oven for approximately 14-16 minutes. When totally cooled, sandwich two cookies together with either buttercream, firm mamarlade, or a caramel filling.
Caramel fleur de sel
200g sugar
1 vanilla pod
200g cream
3.75g fleur de sel
140g butter, chilled
In a 1 litre heavy based pot, cook the sugar, stirring all the time to get an even caramel. Then add in the vanilla pod, scraped. Add in the warm cream a bit at a time as it will bubble up and splatter. Then add in the fleur de sel. Stir to make sure all the caramel has dissolved. Cool the mixture to approximately 40 degrees Celsius. Add in the well chilled butter, cut into cubes. Using an immersion blender, blend in the butter till you achieve a smooth glossy paste. Line the surface of the caramel with plastic wrap or greaseproof paper to prevent a skin from forming and chill in the fridge until needed.
About Aun Koh
Aun has always loved food and travel, passions passed down to him from his parents. This foundation, plus a background in media, pushed him to start Chubby Hubby in 2005. He loves that this site allows him to write about the things he adores--food, style, travel, his wife and his three kids!
Thanks you so much for sharing this post about macarons. I love hearing about the big macarons’ lover wave in teh world
I have just attended Joycelyn’s macaron class @ Shermay’s over the weekend and I now fully appreciate and understand the sweat and pain behind churning out these lovely jewels. It IS highly labourious, requires precise steps and not to mention, tremendous patience to ensure that each of the cookie turns up delicious and beautiful. I will never look at another macaron in the same light again…
Macarons have become one of my baking obsessions. I have pretty much mastered the chocolate macaron thanks to a foolproof David Lebovitz recipe. I’m still working on other flavors, not sure what makes them different than the chocolate….But I love reading about macarons, so thanks for the post!
Thank you- I’m looking forward to making these. By the way, how long should I let the formed cookies sit in order to get the skin before popping them in the oven?
Hi Tokyoastrogirl,
The timing varies depending on the level of humidity you’re working in. Best to touch them to see if they’ve formed a skin.
Another macaron recipe to try for my macaron experiment! And yes humidity plays a large part in making this little beauties.
A question. I guess you use unsalted butter because you are adding in the salt anyway? I am so excited to try this with the hazelnut macarons I am attempting this weekend. This and some Mariage Freres tea and I’m all set !
Hi Veron,
Chef didn’t specify if it should be salted or unsalted. Depends on your preferences, I guess. Do please stop by again and let us know how they turn out!
Perhaps Canele has revised its macaron recipe but I must say I was rather disappointed when I tried its macarons when they first came out. The macaron cookie is too hard and the filling painfully sweet. I am surprised. Bakerzin’s creations are even better than theirs. But yes I agree, Pierre Herme is definitely the most yummylicious I’ve ever tasted, with that wow factor which leaves you craving for more.
Have you ever had the macaroons from Laduree? (Either by way of Harrods in London or Laduree in Paris.) Delicious!!!
What’s fleur de sel?
bluemarine: Fleur de sel is French sea salt that is naturally harvested from the surface of salt basins. It is flaky and while savoury, not sharp like most other salts.
i’ve been contemplating macarons for a while now, could i just ask, for all the different flavoured macarons, do i just use the same cookie recipe, with the addition of flavourings to derive the colours?
Here’s an interesting macaron story to read, with its own recipe at the end:
http://www.willcotton.com/presspageshtml/nytimes2005-12.html
The Caramel Fleur de Sel is a big hit – simply delicious. You can check out my results here:
http://kitchenmusings.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/10/the-macaron-c-1.html
Thanks for being so generous with the recipe!
Hmm.. I still think that Bakerzin’s the best… Unformidable…
I am so crazy with Macarons and Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. I dont’ know baking but i would love to learn baking next year, cos i just had my operation, doc advice me to rest as much. I am looking forward to it.
Thankyou for posting this recipe. I first saw macarons as decorations on cakes and thought they were very cute. I had no idea what they were when i first saw them, but really wanted to bake them and decorate my cakes with them, and i saw it here! I will try and bake with this recipe!! looking foward!
Thankyou
Thank you for a great recipe. I hope you don’t mind, I shared it on my blog. If you object, please let me know.
Hi CH,
Wow… thanks for sharing the recipe. Please thanked the Chef Pang to let foodies into his recipe… 🙂 I’m coming to Singapore end of June,2008. Which Canele should I indulge myself in? Paragon or Roberston Walk? Both of this outlets shared same menus? Does Macaron has a website?
Thanks in advance.
Hi chubbyhubby,
Thanks for sharing the recipe with us.Does Chef Pang has a cookbook?If so can u email me the name of the book please.
Thanks
These look amazing!
How many macaroons will this recipe make?
These are so pretty. I’m really getting interested in all the buzz on these macarons among the food blogging community.
Thanks for sharing!
Can the fleur de sel salt be replaced with some other kind for the recipe??
Please advice?
Thanks
thank you sooo much for the recipe! i’m currently in love with salted caramel and macarons! (:
This looks amazing! I’ll be making them soon, but I have one question: can I use a regular blender or maybe a stand mixer instead of an immersion blender when mixing the butter into the sugar mixture? Thanks!