Maple Syrup Macarons

To make one of my Yule logs, I had bought maple sugar, and I wanted to use it for a new recipe. I decided to make a cream to fill macarons by mixing this maple sugar with liquid cream and mascarpone. If you only have maple syrup and not sugar, I think it's possible to make this filling but with some adjustments to achieve a good texture. For the shells, I used Pierre Hermé's recipe, which involves Italian meringue macarons. That's all there is to it; all that's left is to macaronage and then enjoy these little treats ;-)

For about 30 macarons

Preparation time: 1h – 1h30 + 10 to 15 minutes of baking per tray of macaron shells

Macaron shells:

128g of icing sugar
128g of almond powder
47g of egg whites (1)
47g of egg whites (2)
32g of water
128g of granulated sugar
Coloring

Sift the icing sugar and almond powder, then add the egg whites (1) while mixing well.

Next, prepare the Italian meringue: make a syrup with the water and granulated sugar. When it reaches 110°C, start beating the egg whites (2). When the syrup is at 118°C, pour it in a thin stream over the egg whites and continue beating until you obtain a shiny meringue.

Take half of the Italian meringue and pour it into the first mixture to loosen it, adding the coloring if desired.

When the mixture is homogeneous, add the rest of the Italian meringue while mixing with a spatula or a rubber spatula (this is the macaronage). You need to loosen the batter so that it is homogeneous and flexible, but definitely not liquid; it should form a ribbon.

Put the macaron batter into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle, then pipe the shells onto a tray lined with parchment paper. Personally, I let them dry before baking, but some people don't do this and it works well too, so it's up to you ;-) Once the batter no longer sticks when you touch it (about 15-20 minutes), bake the shells in a preheated oven at 145°C for 12 to 14 minutes (the oven temperature and baking time are given as a guideline; you will likely need one or two tries to find the right combo for your oven).

Once the shells are baked, let them cool before peeling them off the parchment paper.

Filling:

3g of gelatin
112g of heavy cream
90g of maple sugar
165g of mascarpone

Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water.
Heat 35-40g of heavy cream, then dissolve the gelatin in it.
Separately, whip the remaining heavy cream into whipped cream, gradually adding the mascarpone and maple sugar. Then, add the cream mixed with the gelatin.

Place the resulting cream in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Assembly:

Take the maple cream out of the refrigerator. It has a slightly mousse-like texture; whip it a bit to achieve a creamier texture, then place it in a piping bag.

Fill half of the shells with the maple cream, then close them with the second shell.

Yes, the photo is blurry, but you get the idea ;-)

Place your macarons in the refrigerator for a night; they will be better after resting in the cold ;-)