pierre hermé's ispahan macaron

In my mind, Pierre Hermé is indisputably the king of macarons not only for his mastery of the skill and technique but more so for his inventive flavor combinations and the ispahan macaron is one of those incredible creations. If you get the chance, definitely get yourself one from Pierre Hermé but it can be surprisingly easy to make at home.

What flavor is ispahan?

Named after a type of rose, the ispahan macaron is filled with a rose flavored white chocolate cream with lychees along with fresh raspberries. Macarons can be heavy to eat at times, especially if they are oversized like these, but this is not a problem for the ispahan; the cream is light and delicate while the fresh raspberries cut through the creaminess of the white chocolate cream and the sweet macaron shells.

How to put it together

The macaron shells

Prepare the macaron batter normally however before you fill the piping bag, find a jar or something you can trace that’s approximately 3.5” in diameter. I alternate between using parchment or silpat to line my baking sheet, but I would recommend parchment in this situation to easily trace circles. Don’t forget to flip the parchment over so that the pencil lined side is facing down and not in direct contact with the macaron batter.

As you pipe the macarons, start in the middle of the circle and while keeping even pressure start moving the piping tip in small circles to help distribute the batter. Stop piping once the batter fills up ~80% of the circle as it will continue to spread out to fill out the rest of the circle.

Building the macarons

Start by arranging a ring of raspberries around the outside of a macaron shell. Add a dollop of the rose white chocolate cream and add another raspberry in the center. Arrange the lychee in a ring around the center raspberry on top of the cream. Finish by adding a generous spoon of the cream before adding the second macaron shell on top.

A few tips:

• I’m aware that Pierre Hermé typically uses the Italian meringue method for making macarons (using sugar syrup), but I find the french method which I include below to be quicker and easier and with fewer pots to clean.

• Go easy when adding floral flavors like rose or lavender because if you add too much it can easily start to taste “soapy” or like your grandmother’s potpourri. The amount I wrote out below is a relatively muted rose flavor so if you’re a big fan, feel free to add more per your tastes.

• Wash the raspberries gently as they fall apart easily, and dry thoroughly to prevent any extra moisture from getting onto the macaron shells

• Store in an airtight container in the fridge for a few hours before serving to let everything come together. The macaron shells can be a little harder coming straight from the oven but they will settle into the perfect consistency after sitting in the fridge.

• I find it easiest to buy lychees canned in syrup with the seeds removed but if you want to use fresh you can as well.

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pierre hermé’s ispahan macarons

serves 6

ingredients

for the macaron shells:

200 g almond flour

200 g powdered sugar

160 g egg whites (~4 large egg whites), room temp

1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice

160 g granulated sugar

red gel food coloring

for the filling:

100 g high quality white chocolate, chopped

100 g heavy cream, split into 50 + 50 g

3 - 4 teaspoons rose water

optional:

5 lychees, canned in syrup

1 pint raspberries, washed and dried carefully

steps

macaron shells:

1. Sift together dry ingredients: Sift together the almond flour and powdered sugar and evenly mix the two together.

2. Whisk meringue: Add the egg whites and vinegar/lemon juice to the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Start beating on medium speed until soft peaks and slowly add in the granulated sugar. Continue whipping on high speed until medium stiff peaks. The meringue will look glossy and peaks should form at the tip of your whisk that can hold its shape as you hold your whisk up.

3. Macaronage: In 1/3’s, fold in the almond/powdered sugar mixture along with a few drops of red food coloring. Continue with the rest until there are no more visible dry streaks. This is now when you have to take your time. Gently fold the mixture, making sure scrape from the edge of the bowls. As you continue folding the mixture and the meringue deflates, you will see the meringue become glossy and form ribbons when you lift the spatula. Stop mixing when the batter is just loose enough to form a figure 8 without breaking. I prefer to stop mixing one or two folds short, knowing i’ll deflate the mixture a bit more when I go to fill the piping bag and as I’m piping out the macarons.

4. Piping the macarons: Prepare two half sheets lined with parchment paper with a total of 12 3.5” circles penciled out. Pipe the macarons using a piping bag with a piping tip similar to the Wilton 2A tip. Use a little of the meringue in each corner of the parchment paper to stick the paper in place. Holding the pan with one hand, use the other to tap the pan from below to help any trapped air bubbles escape. Use a tooth pick to pop any stubborn ones at the surface. Let the macarons rest until a dull skin forms on top (this can take anywhere between 15 min - 1 hour depending on the humidity). Preheat the oven to 350 F as the macarons rest.

5. Baking the macarons: Bake the macarons one sheet at a time. After putting them in the oven, turn the oven down to 325 F. After 5 minutes, rotate the pan to help the macarons grow evenly. At this stage, you should see the feet start to develop. Continue baking for another 15 - 20 minutes until the macarons no longer move when nudged gently. It is better to err on the side of slightly overbaking as that can be corrected once you fill and refrigerate the macarons, but if you underbake, the feet may shrink coming out of the oven leaving you hollow shells and potentially sticking to the parchment. Let macarons fully cool on the baking sheet before using.

rose white chocolate cream: (this can be made ahead of time)

6. Make the ganache: In a small saucepan, heat up 50 g of the heavy cream until simmering. Pour over the chopped white chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds before stirring together into a smooth chocolate ganache. Mix in the rose water, and cover and let the ganache firm up in the fridge.

7. Finishing the cream: In a stand mixer with whisk attachment, whisk the white chocolate ganache on medium speed for 2 - 3 minutes. The ganache may look liquid at this point. Slowly pour in the rest of the heavy cream (50 g) and whip until cream firms up to desired consistency. Be careful not to overmix.

putting it all together:

8. Prepare lychees: Roughly chop the lychees and pat dry any excess liquid.

9. Building the macarons: Build the macarons by arranging the raspberries and layering the cream and lychees. Refer to the images above for a detailed description. Make sure to store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.

matcha macarons

While I’m lucky enough to live in the vicinity of both Ladurée and Pierre Hermé (which is my personal favorite) here in New York, I still love taking the time to make my own macarons. There’s a certain joy in clearing an afternoon and embarking on a challenging baking project. It can take some time to figure out the technique but after all that work, you’re left with these incredibly light meringue treats which are the perfect vehicle for any flavor.

The flavor from the matcha white chocolate ganache imparts a lovely bitter undertone to the inherent sweetness of macarons and the adzuki beans add an earthiness to complement the matcha. The flavor combination of green tea + adzuki beans is commonly found in Asian desserts, but if you can’t locate any, feel free to omit and stick with the green tea white chocolate ganache.

The recipe below calls for the french macaron method, which is typically my go-to as I sometimes get annoyed by the extra steps and clean up of making the sugar syrup for the italian method. I’m always looking for ways to minimize the number of dishes I have to wash!

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Matcha Green Tea Macarons
makes 12 macarons

ingredients

for the macaron shells:

50 g almond meal

50 g powdered sugar

5 g matcha green tea powder, plus extra to sprinkle

40 g egg whites (1 egg), room temp

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

40 g sugar

for the matcha white chocolate ganache filling:

50 g white chocolate, preferably Valrhona

50 g heavy cream

1 tablespoon matcha powder

for the adzuki bean filling (optional):

1/4 cup adzuki beans

boiling water

1/4 cup sugar

steps

1. Mix dry ingredients: in a medium sized bowl, sift the almond meal, powdered sugar, and green tea powder together.

2. Make the meringue: Using the whisk attachment of a stand, start beating the egg whites and vinegar, which helps stabilize the egg whites. Once large bubbles start to form, slowly pour in the sugar as you continue beating the egg whites until the meringue is glossy with medium peaks.

3. Combine: Using a spatula, fold 1/3 of the meringue into the almond mixture until well mixed. Continue 1/3 at a time until all the meringue is incorporated. In the initial stages of mixing the meringue, you don’t have to be as gentle.

4. Macronage: This is where you have to take your time. Gently fold the mixture, making sure scrape from the edge of the bowls. As you continue folding the mixture and the meringue deflates, you will see the meringue become glossy and form ribbons when you lift the spatula. Stop mixing when the ribbons last for around 20 seconds before sinking back into the batter. I personally like to stop mixing one or two folds short, knowing i’ll deflate the mixture a bit more when I go to fill the piping bag and as I’m piping out the macarons.

5. Piping the macarons: Pipe the macarons on a half sheet lined with silpat/parchment paper using a piping bag with a piping tip similar to the Wilton 2A tip. If using parchment paper, use a little of the meringue in each corner to stick the paper in place. Let the macarons rest until a dull skin forms on top (this can take anywhere between 15 min - 1 hour depending on the humidity). Preheat the oven to 350 F as the macarons rest.

Optional: Sprinkle some more matcha powder over the macarons using a sieve.

6. Baking: Slip an empty baking sheet in the rack below to help moderate the temperature. Bake the macarons for 5 minutes, or until you see the feet start to form around the edges. Bring the temperature down to 300 F, and rotate the pan to avoid lopsided macarons from uneven heat zones in the oven. Bake for another 8-10 minutes, until the macarons no longer move when gently nudged. If you’re unsure, it’s safer to err on the side of slightly overbaking as it’ll self correct once you add the filling and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Let macrons cool completely before filling.

7. Ganache: Melt white chocolate over double broiler. Simultaneously, heat heavy cream until almost boiling. Pour a little bit of the heavy cream into the matcha powder and mix to create a paste. Once you have an even paste with no lumps of matcha powder, stir in the rest of the heavy cream. Combine with the melted white chocolate, and let it cool until it reaches a pipable consistency.

8. Adzuki bean filling: In a sauce pan, add the adzuki beans with just enough boiling water to cover the beans. Bring water to a boil again, and simmer until beans are tender and start to lose their shape. Mix the sugar, adjust to taste. Make sure all the liquid has cooked off (or else it’ll make the shells soggy) and let it cool.

9. Construction: Pipe the white chocolate ganache in a circle on one macaron shell, with some of the adzuki beans in the middle if using. Top with second macaron shell. Best served at room temp after refrigerating overnight in airtight container.