Saffron Orange Thyme Macarons

These saffron-infused Orange Thyme Macarons are crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside and they come laden with a generous scoop of a rich, buttery filling in between the shells. They make a gorgeous & dainty edible gift.

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Sometimes I just get the urge to bake and nothing is going to stop me. I love such days and last Sunday was one of them. I was tired from a late Saturday night, didn’t fancy doing anything I should be doing (like ironing) and so I decided to head into the kitchen instead. These Orange Thyme Macarons are the result of my ironing diversion tactic and they are the perfect recipe for me to kick off my 2018 baking because macarons have always been a challenge for me.

Let me explain. Towards the back end of last year, I came to the conclusion that my baking recipes had got stuck in a rut. I have a soft spot for cupcakes and layer cakes and perhaps that was beginning to show here on LittleSugarSnaps. Madeleines, macarons, pies, tarts, creamy desserts, cheesecakes… I see you all trying to grab my attention. So I decided that the coming year would be all about expanding the recipes I’m offering up and making LittleSugarSnaps baking more inclusive to specialist diets such as gluten free and vegan.

I’m quite excited by this notion. For one thing, it means I’ve challenged myself to get more creative in the kitchen and perfect some of the recipes that have presented obstacles to me in the past. And that brings me neatly back around to the star of today, these Orange Thyme Macarons.

I’ve had a fixation about macarons that dates back to 2010. That’s a long time. I used to just enjoy them whilst on holiday in France, but then my fixation grew and I started trying to bake them at home – macarons are expensive to buy, especially in the UK. But the draw of those delicate & crisp, multi-coloured shells and endless flavour combinations just kept pulling me back.

I’ve had so many failed attempts at baking macarons over the years. All of them tasted absolutely fine (wonderful, in fact) but I found achieving that smooth dome of a shell tricky. It had been well over a year since my last miserable attempt at macarons and last Sunday I decided it was time to slay this beast.

After some research, I finally worked out where I was going wrong. I had repeatedly been either under-mixing or over-mixing the macaron batter… for about 5 years. It was Michelle from Giraffes can Bake who finally put me straight. Here’s her advice:

• Mix gently but firmly – the aim is to knock some – but not all – of the air out of the meringue
• Aim for a macaron batter that is similar to lava in texture. To test your batter, lift the spatula out of the mixture and allow the batter to fall in ribbons back into the bowl. If those ribbons blend back into the batter after about 20 seconds the batter is ready.  If the mixture doesn’t incorporate back in it is too thick and could do with a few more folds
• But if the ribbons of mixture blend back in too quickly then the batter is over-mixed

This advice made perfect sense to me. I’ve varied between shells that would refuse to flatten out prior to baking (under-mixed) to shells that spread out on the baking sheet (over-mixed). It was only occasionally and accidentally that I’d hit up the perfect mix and end up with macarons that looked like macarons.

After reading Michelle’s advice I set to work on my Orange Thyme Macarons. I went cautiously and stopped folding my mixture after 25 turns (count them as you go). I did the “ribbon test” and worked out I needed a few more turns of the mixture. From this point, I did 2 turns (folds) of the mixture at a time and retested until the ideal consistency was reached.

The result was perfectly formed macarons. These Orange Thyme Macarons have the classic macaron shape, a lovely crispy shell and a soft, chewy middle.

Now I’ve covered the technique, I can tell you more about the flavours in these macarons. I’ve chosen to include a touch of saffron into the shells of these macarons. This was partly for flavour but also to add a hint of natural colour. The saffron can be left out if you are not keen on its flavour and gel colouring can be used to boost the colour instead. I used egg yellow colouring to intensify the colour in half my macarons as I thought it would be a good way to visually display the lightness of the naturally coloured macarons.

I made a sublime cream butter for the centre of the macarons that has been flavoured with freshly squeezed orange juice and fresh thyme leaves. The flavours are subtle, but that’s exactly how I like my macarons. Note that I have deliberately called this centre a cream butter rather than buttercream. It is nothing like buttercream. It also does not contain cream. Instead, it is a blend of eggs, juice and sugar that is whisked whilst heated, until thick and creamy. Then the “cream” is allowed to cool slightly before a generous helping of butter is blended into it. This cream butter is just as good as it sounds and the subtle flavours of orange and thyme sit effortlessly well with it.

Phew, I’ve been talking for ages now, so I need to shut up. I suggest you trot off and bake these Orange Thyme Macarons using all of the tips from myself and Michelle. Your reward will be 36 pastel domed sweet, nutty sandwiches that are outwardly crisp, inwardly soft and gooey with a lusciously buttery centre. Bliss.

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