Pistachio Macarons

I did some baking the other day and I thought I'd share the recipe of some super delicious Pistachio Macarons inspired by Byron Talbott. Check him out, he cooks and bakes some great stuff.

Ingredients

For the Ganache:
1 cup (250ml) cream
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup (70 grams)  pistachios
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 (300 grams) white chocolate or chocolate chips

For the Meringue:
130 grams (1 1/4 cups) powdered sugar
100 grams (2/3 cup) pistachio flower
2 egg whites
30 grams (1/8 cup) sugar
100ml (1/2 cup) water

Start off by bringing the cream, butter and 1/2 cup of pistachios to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the sugar, turn to a medium heat and stir regularly. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes or 
until the pistachios have slightly softened. 

If you're using white chocolate, rather than white chocolate chips chop it up very finely. Take the saucepan off the stove and pour the mixture into a blender and blend away on a high speed until you have a smooth consistency. Add the chocolate into the blended mixture. Stir until everything is melted. Let the ganache cool down while you're making the meringue.

If you can't get ground pistachio at your local grocery store just make it yourself, by putting the whole pistachios into your food processor. Sift the powdered sugar and the pistachio flour and add one of the egg whites. In a small saucepan bring water and sugar to a boil. Let it bubble away for about 10 minutes or until it has the texture of syrup. Stir constantly, you don't want it to burn.

In another clean bowl whisk the second egg white until stiff and fluffy. Add in the sugar water mixture half way through. 
Now carefully fold the beaten egg whites into the flour mixture, until you have a smooth, not too runny batter. Fill into a piping bag with a small round tip and start piping it onto a baking tray, lined with parchment paper. Try keeping them all roughly the same size and shape (about 4"/10cm). Once you are all done, give the tray a few taps on the counter, just to release any air bubbles that might be caught inside the batter. 
Let them dry for about 20 minutes, then pop into an oven at 300F° (150C°) for 10 to 12 minutes. 

Let them cool for at least 30 minutes. Pipe or spread the ganache on one cookie and place another one on top. I then put the macarons into the fridge for about 15 minutes, just so that the white chocolate mix could fully cool down. Now enjoy this 
delicious treat! 

My tip: If you want to go for a slightly cheaper option, or you just can't get a hold of pistachios, ground almonds for the batter work just as well and taste just as delicious. You could even go half pistachios, half almonds, that's what I did.

Let me know if you make some macarons yourself. I'd love to see them.

Keep smiling,
xoxo

Pichen