Mascarpon

Macaron + mascarpone tiramisu-like filling

About a month ago I won Jill Colonna’s book “Mad about Macarons” along with delicious French chocolates and more goodies in a giveaway by Joshua from Just Eat. I started on my first ever batch of macarons as soon as I’ve received the book. These are my second batch.
Source
Macaron from Jill Colonna’s “Mad about Macarons”, mascarpone filling based on the homemade mascarpone cheese recipe on Passionate about Baking

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients
For macarons
see Joshua’s post (or “Mad about Macarons”)
For mascarpone
- 2 cups of heavy (whipping) cream (1640 cal)
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (10 cal)
For tiramisu flavor
- 2 tbsp boiling water
- 2 tsp instant coffee
- 3 tbsp sugar (135 cal)
- 1 tsp orange extract
- 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (10 cal)
Total filling for 20 medium sized macarons + some extra, 1795 cal, 90 cal / macaron filling

Instructions
For macarons
See Joshua’s post or “Mad about Macarons”
For mascarpone cheese
1. In a double broiler heat the cream until it reaches 180F. Pour in the fresh lemon juice and continue stirring for several minutes.
2. When the cream starts to thicken slightly remove it from heat, cover and leave at room temperature until it cools down. Refrigerate overnight.
3. By now the cream will be significantly thicker. Pour the cream into a strainer lined with a several layers of cheesecloth to let the whey drain. Refrigerate for 24 hours. The amount in this recipe will yield a little over a cup / 250 g of mascarpone.
For tiramisu flavor
4. Add instant coffee, sugar and orange extract to the boiling water and stir until dissolved.
5. Combine mascarpone, coffee and cocoa powder. Mix well with a fork until uniform. Adjust sugar to taste, if needed.
6. Assemble the macarons and let the sit in the fridge for 24 hours before serving to allow the filling to penetrate into the hard shell.
7. Eat whatever is left of the filling with a spoon or serve with fresh fruit :-)

Afterthoughts
- First of all, thank you so much to Joshua (Just Eat), Jill (Mad about Macarons) and Deeba (Passionate about Baking)!
- Regarding macarons, I am still in the very beginning of my learning curve, that’s why I am sending you to Joshua’s post :-). What I’ve learned so far from my mistakes, from Jill’s book and from her kind replies to my questions on her blog:
1. If you over mix your batter the macaroons will be too liquid and misshapen, if you don’t mix enough the macarons will be too stiff and will have a peak on top, like little turbans.
2. You must be patient and let your macarons sit on a tray for quite some time (in my case an hour) to make sure the tops are hard. Otherwise you won’t get those pretty feet and the tops might crack.
3. You need to know your over settings. Not all ovens are made equal, so it takes a lot of experimenting no matter how good the recipe. I’m still working on this part..
- Regarding mascarpone, it’s absolutely divine! I’ve tried several recipes before and it turned out sour and dry. Deeba’s recipe gives you a wonderfully light and fresh mascarpone. Next time I’ll make more and make the full tiramisu – yum!