It is #margaritaweek this week! This week is Cinco de Mayo Celebration! There are lots of ways to celebrate here in the US and Mexico! Parades, folklore, parties, food, and lots of drinks! Many people believe that Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican independence. However, the holiday actually celebrates Mexico’s victory over France during the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. The French army was much larger but the Mexican people stood their ground in Puebla, and won. While the French eventually did overtake the city, it’s still considered a victory. Apparently the celebration is not as big in Mexico! It is celebrated in grandeur in Puebla where the battle took place. I actually learnt this from my son, who had a Mexico History last year when he was in the first grade! It is always fun to learn from kids right?
As Cinco de Mayo is celebrated widely in the US, there is a lot of alcohol consumption that goes on. I mean is a party even complete without drinks?! Heck no! So every year there is a virtual party hashtag #margaritaweek organized by Kate at !Hola Jalapeno ! A bunch of bloggers have been posting their recipes of margaritas OR food inspired by margaritas and it has been super fun to see all the recipes that the bloggers have come up with! The link for all the margarita fun is here at Margarita Week!!!
2 years ago I made these delicious Lime and Cinnamon Cookie Bars with a Strawberry Hibiscus Lime Buttercream and Tequila Drizzle. Last year I made this Passion Fruit-Mango Tequila Lime Ice cream with a Tequila-Ancho Chile Caramel and a Peanut and Pepita Seed Brittle on the top. This ice cream was CRAZY delicious and got over pretty quickly! So full of fun flavors and a bit of kick from the ancho chile. It was mind blowingly delicious!
This year, I decided to use the same flavor profile, but in the shape of macarons! I used freeze dried mangoes from Trader Joes to grind it up into a fine powder, and used it in the macaron shells. I made a Mango Tequila Lime Buttercream that has mango puree, tequila, lime juice mixed into the buttercream. I would have loved to add tajin in it, because I think it would have been a fantastic balance to the otherwise sweet macaron. I did not try that combo though. I filled the center of the macaron with a fresh passion fruit curd filling. The whole macaron was an absolute delight! I so love the flavors here! I decorated the macarons with royal icing in an abstract way, with colors of blue, yellow and red to depict a maraca, and the colors of shades of green and white to depict a lime wedge. I did make lime wedges on some of the macarons and it looked pretty cute! 🙂 Making patterns/designs on macaron shells with royal icing is so addictive, and therapeutic too! It makes such a fun activity with kids too!
I had so much fun making this macaron flavor. If you do get a chance to try this recipe, please do not forget to tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a sweet comment on this blog post :). You will NOT be disappointed! This macaron is over the top ! SERIOUSLY!
Cheers to #MargaritaWeek and special thanks to Kate from Hola! Jalapeno for organizing yet another successful year with this awesome party. Do check out all the other entries to this party at the following link and get a ton of inspiration for Cinco de Mayo!
Happy Cindo De Mayo!
Cheers,
XO
Amisha
Mango Macarons with a Mango Tequila Lime Buttercream and Passion Fruit Curd Filling
Notes
NOTES:
1) Make sure that you whip the meringue thoroughly. The best way to check after 7 minutes of whipping is to remove the whisk, stir the meringue vigorously with the whisk and turn it upside down. The meringue should stay stiff like a peak with a slight curve at the end of the 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. It should look like a ribbon falling off the spatula. It should form a figure 8, and give it 20 seconds to settle and merge into the rest of the batter. If that happens, you know your batter is perfect.
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. Increase the pressure, and reduce it immediately.
4) Make sure that you tap the tray atleast 6-10 times to release any air bubbles in the macaron shell. Pop out any air bubbles with a toothpick.
5) You HAVE to let the macarons rest for atleast 30-45 minutes to form a nice shell. It must dry out.
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
For the Mango macaron shells:
- 7 ounces confectioner’s sugar
- 4 ounces almond flour
- 3 tbsp mango powder(made from freeze dried mangoes from Trader Joe’s)
- 4 large(4 ounces) egg whites, room temperature
- Pinch of cream of tartar
- 3.5 ounces granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- A drop of yellow and orange color
Mango-Tequila-Lime Buttercream filling:
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
- pinch of kosher salt
- 4 cups confectioner’s sugar ( the buttercream should not be runny, it should be firm, but pipeable at the same time, add more powdered sugar accordingly if required)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 tbsp mango puree
- 2 tbsp mango powder(ground from freeze dried mangoes)
- 1 tbsp tequila
Passion Fruit Curd:
- 1/3 cup strained passion fruit juice from about 5 passion fruits
- 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3 large egg yolks at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 stick unsalted butter (cold), cut into 8 pieces
- Pinch of salt
Royal Icing:
- (Recipe from Wilton Cakes)
- 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 3 tbsp meringue powder
- 6 tbsp warm water
- Colors depending upon what you want to decorate the macaron shells as.
Instructions
* For the mango macaron shells:*
- Preheat oven to 310 degrees. Line baking sheets with the paper templates, and top with the parchment paper, or you could use silpat.
- In a bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse 1/2 of the confectioner's sugar with the almond flour and mango powder until a fine powder is formed. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and mix in the remaining confectioner’s 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 granulated sugar. Once all the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is thick, scrap down the sides of the bowl, add the vanilla extract, and drop of the color and increase the speed to high, whipping until stiff, firm, glossy peaks form for atleast 5-7 minutes. You can remove and turn the whisk and the meringue should hold.
- 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. Take in the batter with your spatula and press it against the bowl in the same motion to remove the air from the batter. This step is very important. If you overwhip the batter will be too runny so do not overwhip. It should flow like lava, slowly but form ribbons.
- 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 OR you could bang the tray against the kitchen counter. Do this step atleast 10 times. If they have a tip, gently pat it down with your wet finger. If there is a bubble, use a toothpick to fill it up.
- Let stand at room temperature for 30-40 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 15 minutes.
- Allow macarons to cool on the baking sheets for 30 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.
Passion Fruit Curd:
- Put all the ingredients except the butter, into a 2 quart saucepan, on medium heat. Whisk it well for ½ a minute to blend it all together. Keep whisking until the sugar dissolves. Now add the butter and using a wooden spatula now, keep stirring, so that the egg yolks do not curdle. Keep stirring for about 5-7 minutes, until the curd starts to look slightly thick. If you run your finger at the back of the wooden spatula, it should leave the sides as is. That is when you know the curd is done.
- Remove it into a glass bowl, and cover with a plastic wrap so that it does not form a thick skin on the top. Refrigerate for about 2-3 hours. You can transfer it into a glass jar, and it will keep for a week, or you could freeze it to keep it longer.
For the mango-tequila-lime buttercream filling:
- In a stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment, add the butter and salt and whip until light and creamy about a minute. Add in the mango powder, mango puree, vanilla extract, tequila and lime juice and whisk at low speed to incorporate.
- Add the sugar to the whipped butter and mix until the ingredients are well combined and the mixture is smooth about 2 minutes. Use a pastry bag to pipe the flat side of the macaron shell on the rim. Fill the center with the passion fruit curd. Use the same sized macaron shell to cover the icing.
Royal Icing:
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the confectioner's sugar, meringue powder and water, first on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue mixing the icing until it is light in color and holds a stiff peak, 3 to 5 minutes. Do not overmix the icing.
- Use the stiff consistency as-is for outlines. Divide the mixture into the different bowls, for different colors. Put the icing in a 12 inch pastry bag with a very tiny pipping tip like 102/103 Wilton tips. Scrap the icing down with a bench scraper. Secure the top tight. Use the pipping bag to decorate the macarons with royal icing.
- The bags can be kept in the refrigerator for 10 days. Keep the tips well secured, so as not to dry out the icing.
- I decorate the shell first with the royal icing. And then put it on top of the second macaron shell.
Reader Interactions