Ever since I discovered hibiscus tea, I have been in love with this extremely flavorful beverage and ofcourse it’s color! As a kid, growing up in India, we were surrounded by Hibiscus flowers all the time, in our garden and all in different colors. It is a tropical flower and actually the national flower of Hawaii! Did you know that the flowers of the hibiscus have been used as a hot or cold beverage in many countries ? This plant is so versatile in its usage as a food product! Quite amazing isn’t it? I had no idea that hibiscus flowers can be brewed as tea until a couple of years ago.
Being so intrigued by it’s flavor, and my crazy obsession with making different macaron flavors, I decided to make a Berry macaron with a Hibiscus Buttercream this Friday night. There is something about baking at night, once my kids are in bed, and I have the kitchen all to myself, and I can peacefully bake, without any interference or interruptions. Baking is extremely therapeutic for me, and I get transported into a different world. My zen moment!
In my mind, I knew the berry-hibiscus flavor combination would work, but I had to try it out. I used freeze dried raspberries and blueberries, that I got from Trader Joe’s. I ground a little bit of it into a powder to add flavor to the macaron shell. I had to use a little bit of color to impart that beautiful deep lilac to the shell.
I brewed Hibiscus tea, using a single tea bag in a small quantity of water, to make it concentrated and used the tea for the buttercream! The gorgeous pink is purely from the tea, no color added! Such a beautiful pink it is!
When making macarons there are important things to remember, which I will put in the Recipe Notes at the bottom. Macaron making is not difficult, but each step needs to be followed meticulously, else it can be quite easy to mess it up.
The macaron turned out to be absolutely yummy, floral and berrilicious! Cannot get over how delicious it was! I shared it with my friends, and they enjoyed them a lot!
Berry Macarons with Hibiscus Tea Buttercream
Notes
NOTES:
1) Make sure that you whip the meringue thoroughly. The best way to check after 10 minutes of whipping is to remove the whisk, stir the meringue vigorously and turn it upside down. The merigue should stay stiff like a peak.
2) Make sure that you fold the almond mixture and it is well incorporated with the meringue and the end mixture is smooth and falls off the spatula with ease.
3) When using the pastry bag to pipe the macarons, hold it absolutely vertical, and center to the holes on the template and slightly above it, and not touching the paper to pipe it. You need to squeeze just a tad bit to release the batter onto the parchment paper.
4) Make sure that you tap the tray atleast 2-3 times to release any air bubbles in the macaron shell.
5) You HAVE to let the macarons rest for atleast 30 minutes to form a nice shell.
6) It is very important to rotate the tray halfway through baking to make sure that the macarons are baked evenly.
7) DO NOT remove the shells off the parchment paper as soon as the tray comes out of the oven, else you will break the shell. Wait for 2-3 minutes atleast for it to cool down.
8) You can keep the shells covered and do the frosting the next day as well. The shells will keep for a couple of days.
Ingredients
- 7 ounces confectioners sugar, divided
- 4 ounces almond flour
- 4 large(4 ounces) egg whites, room temperature
- Pinch of cream of tartar
- 3 1/2 ounces granulated sugar
- Wilton pink violet coloring.
- 1/4 cup mix of freeze raspberries and blueberries powdered in a coffee grinder
- 1 teaspoon raspberry extract
HIBUSCUS BUTTERCREAM FILLING
- 8 ounces unsalted butter, room temp
- pinch of kosher salt
- 3 tbsp cooled brewed hibiscus tea(recipe below)
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with the paper templates, and top with the parchment paper.
- In a bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse one-third of the confectioner's sugar with the almond flour, and the dried raspberry and blueberry powder until a fine powder is formed. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and mix in the remaining confectioners sugar. Using a drum sieve, sift mixture three times into a large bowl. Set aside.
- To make the meringue: In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add granuated sugar. Once all the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is thick, scrap down the sides of the bowl, add food coloring and the raspberry extract and increase the speed to high, whipping until stiff, firm, glossy peaks form for atleast 10 minutes.
- To complete the macaronnage step: Sift the almond flour mixture, one-third at a time, over the egg white mixture, and fold using a large spatula until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Once all the almond flour mixture is incorporated check for the correct consistency, the batter should be firm, have a glossy shine and drip smoothly from the spatula. Make sure that the entire almond mixture is incorporated. This step is very important.
- Transfer the batter to a pastry bag filled with a 1/2 inch plain round tip(#12), and pipe 1 1/3 inch rounds on parchment-lined baking sheets. Gentle tap the bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes atleast. Check for a slight crust to form on the macaron. The macarons should not stick to your finger when lightly touched.
- Bake one sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macarons are crisp and firm, about 13 minutes.
- Allow macarons to cool on the baking sheets for 2-3 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.
For the filling:
- To make the hibiscus tea: Heat 1/4 cup of water either in a microwave or on the stove top till hot, in a mug. Add in the tea bag, cover it and let it steep for 7 minutes. Once brewed remove the tea bag, and let the tea cool.
- In a stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment, add the butter and salt and whip until light and creamy about a minute.
- Add the sugar, hibiscus tea and vanilla to a whipped butter and mix until the ingredients are well combined and the mixture is smooth about 3 minutes.Use a pastry bag to pipe the macaron shells, one at a time, and top with another macaron shell gently.
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