My Tribute to "Old-Fashioned" Macarons

I was not going to post about macarons...Why? Because I have already done it, and because macarons are everywhere....and as a general rule, when something is everywhere, I, almost automatically, lose my interest in it.

But I made macarons this weekend, for the sole reason that my daughters asked me to do it...and out of the hundreds flavors and combinations, my daughters prefer the simple, traditional pistachio!  yes, while most teenagers will indulge in chocolate, my daughters adore  "pistache"....("weird" girls.....like mother, like daughters? LOL)

And so, while I was making them, ideal time for my musings, I thought about what has happened with macarons.....When I came to France for the first time, almost ten years ago now, macarons were fragile, refined, pale things.....(believe me they were subtle in color!), that came only in a handful flavors: chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, pistachio.....and the filling? in most cases, "crème au beurre", French butter cream....

Then, the world changed, became global, macarons became THE thing to be made, and copied.....the world used all its imagination to glorify them ! some people did a tremendous job....and some others banalized them, turning this jewel of French Pâtisserie, unparalleled art and refinement, into something that Marie Antoinette would find it hard to recognize!

Mind you, I also make "mea culpa", I am also part of the bunch whose imagination went wild..this is why, in this post, I decided to pay tribute to the old macarons...traditional, subtle, with crème au beurre....

and I hope these photos capture my idea, this classical French spirit, the macarons, some almost faded "pivoines" (peonies), the pearls...so dear to all French ladies...tradition, sticking to old values, simple and at the same time sophisticated...like "la France".

Now for the recipe.....





For the shells, follow my basic recipe here, only adding some green/yellow foodcoloring (quantity depends on the brand and type). You can sprinkle them before baking with some coarsely chopped pistachios.


For the French "crème au beurre": 

(N.B.: the quantity here is much more than what you need for 30 macarons, but some recipes, like this one, just can't be made in very small quantity...I suggest using the half in pistachio flavor, and the rest for the filling of some other macarons: café, coconut...au Grand Marnier..)

soft butter (room temperature), 250gr

water, 50ml

sugar, 140ml

eggs, 2

yolks,2

pistachio paste, 1 teaspoon

Whisk the soft butter till it gets a creamy texture. Put the water and sugar over low/medium heat. Heat it till it reaches 118°C. In the meanwhile, whisk the yolks and eggs, preferably in a stand mixer till they whiten. When the syrup has reached the right temperature, pour on the eggs (with mixer at high speed) Lower the speed, and mix until the temperature lowers (Bravo !!! you have made a "pâte à bombe"), they should be slightly warm, actually, eggs and butter should have the same temperature....Add in the butter gradually. Mix until you get a smooth cream...Add the pistachio paste to half this recipe, use the rest for another flavor (e.g.: you can aromatize with cognac, Cointreau, 10 gr of instant coffee dissolved in a little water, vanilla extract). The "crème au beurre" was the original filling for Bûches de Nöel, génoise, and some petits-fours....