Thursday, June 23, 2011

Nutella Macarons—And a confession…

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I have something to confess.  A love affair, to be exact.  I guess it’ll be easier to admit it, than try to hide my true feelings.  My husband probably should know by now, after he caught me a few times sneaking out of the bedroom in the middle of the night.

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Yes, that is bad. I know, really really bad.  He also noticed I daydream throughout the day, all day long, just to think of this affair.  Of course, the affair is with something sweet.  Don’t you know me by now that I daydream about food all the time?  Well, now you know.

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No, my love affair is not with the macarons!   That’s more of a love-hate relationship.  My love is all sweet, soft and gentle.  No fuzziness or attitude like how I described them here

Making 1

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Yes, my love affair is with Nutella.  My husband should know when he saw me picked up the extra large, double packed tubs of Nutella from Costco.  Nutella and I go way back to my childhood.  It’s truly my childhood sweetheart.  Back then, I usually get Nutella in a sandwich, a crepe, or by the spoonful (and I still do)!  Now, I love to enjoy it most with salty pretzels!  If you haven’t try that, you just simply don’t know what you’re missing out on.

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These Nutella Macarons are heavenly.  I used some hazelnuts along with almonds for the shells to tie back the nutting flavor of the Nutella fillings.  The macaron shells are slightly crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, just how a perfect macaron should be.  I made some Nutella buttercream for the fillings, but I preferred it straight out of the tub.  The hazelnut flavor is more intense.  My hubby love the hazelnut buttercream fillings, which is more fluffy and creamy.  Either way, I’m a happy girl with these Nutella macarons. 

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Note: I also used some vanilla powder to add more flavors on the shells.  It works much better than liquid ones since macaron doesn’t like moisture.

For more tips on making French Macarons, please refer to this post.





Nutella Macarons:
Makes: 35 to 40 filled macarons


For the macaron shells:

90 grams egg whites (about 3) preferably aged 3-5 days in the fridge
pinch of kosher salt
30 grams granulated sugar
185 grams powdered sugar
55 grams almonds
55 grams hazelnuts
1 teaspoons of vanilla powder
Nutella for filling



In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites and salt on high, gradually add the sugar until stiff peak forms.

Place the powdered sugar, almonds, hazelnuts, and vanilla powder in a food processor and process until the nuts are finely ground.

Add them to the meringue. Fold the mixtures carefully until you obtain a batter that falls back on itself after counting to 10. The whole process takes about 40 to 50 strokes.

Test a small amount on a plate; if the tops flatten on its own after counting to 10, the batter is ready. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple more folds.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds (1 inch to 1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper or silicone mats lined baking sheets.  Here, I pipped them into heart shape instead of circles.  You can do whichever way you preferred.

Preheat the oven to 280F. Let the macarons sit out at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on their size. Rotate baking pans once half way through baking. Cool completely on wire rack before removing macaron shells from baking sheets.

Fill a shell with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of Nutella, top with another shell, repeat until all shells are filled.  If the filling gets too soft (especially here in California during summer time), keep filled macarons in the refrigerator.  When ready to serve, remove from fridge and leave in room temperature for 3-5 minutes.  Enjoy.

This recipe is linked to:

Foodie Friday
Full Plate Thursday
Sweet Tooth Friday
Friday Favorite
Fresh Food Friday
Sweets for Saturday

31 comments:

  1. I love those heart shapes you made. Nutella and pretzels sounds like something I'm going to have to try.

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  2. These are fantastic macarons. Love the heart shapes and how you combined the flavors.

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  3. This is a sweet post about your love with Nutella.
    The heart shapes macarons are so pretty :)

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  4. It's an affair not be ashamed of (though hidden is good or else you'll have to share). These are precious!

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  5. Love those cute Nutella holders!! lol I'll have to send this recipe to my daughters - they're both Nutella addicts.

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  6. Beautiful, Amy! Love the heart shapes and we have a similar adoration of Nutella =D

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  7. Yum! Sounds wonderful, and the heart shape of your macaroons is just too cute! Thanks for sharing.

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  8. These are beautiful! And I know what you mean about Nutella - I grew up in England where it was a treat we'd often have for after-school tea. It took a while for the U.S. to catch up, but at least you can find it all over the place, now!

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  9. The heart shapes make me giddy. So cute. Yummy!

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  10. These macs are so cute! (BTW, I plan to try the pretzels with the nutella tonight.) :)

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  11. Oh how I would love to have one of your macarons! They sound delicious and I love the hearts!

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  12. heart-shaped macarons - how adorable!!! :)

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  13. We are having an affair with the same sweet love!! These sound SOOOO good!

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  14. Now this is MY kind of macaron. Actually, anything with chocolate is my kind of recipe. :-)

    I hope you'll stop by Sweet Tooth Friday and share this yummy recipe. http://alli-n-son.com/2011/06/23/maple-bacon-cupcakes/

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  15. I've never made macarons. Maybe I should give it a try with this wonderful recipe.

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  16. oh, yum. i just finished off the jar of nutella with a spoon while the hubs was working late!

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  17. You are the "Queen of Macaroon" ;) They are adorable - the recipe sounds delicious - I can see why you are so enamored with them!

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  18. Your nutella macaroons looks wonderful! Love the cute heart shape too!

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  19. You had me at Nutella! (well, and macaroons don't hurt either). These look amazing and perfect with a cup of coffee. Yum!

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  20. Love the nutella~ So cute! Your photos were beautiful!

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  21. My son loves nutella......great post:)

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  22. Hi Amy,
    I am having my afternoon tea and I would really love to have one of these wonderful Macarons to go with it. The addition of the nutella puts it over the top. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and I look forward to seeing you again real soon. Hope you have a great week end!
    Miz Helen

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  23. Hi Amy, I share your addiction to Nutella! I'd like to invite you to share this post over on my weekend foodie blog hop: Fresh Food Friday or Seasonal Saturday going on right now. These are delightful!

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  24. i love this post, not only because these macaroons look divine, but because I share this same love affair! i can eat nutella by the spoonful! I have a nutella cupcake recipe on my blog that is one of my favorite purely because it has nutella in it! :) I found your blog while surfing the web and I love it! I am your newest follower and would love it if you checked out my blog and followed me too! Thanks so much!
    -Nikki
    http://chef-n-training.blogspot.com/

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  25. Hi Amy! thanks for visiting my site and liking my chicken recipe!
    Wow! What a sweet site you have here.. Me, my husband and daughter loves cakes,cookies and chocolates.And you all have that stuff here! i love it. I'm now your follower. Hope you'd follow me too. See yah! Happy blogging!

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  26. @ Rachel: I grew up in Hong Kong (a British colony) so Nutella was very popular back then. It was my favorite after school tea treat as well! :)

    Amy

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  27. @ Moogie: Don't be afraid to try making Macarons! They are delicious...just be very careful, they are extremely addictive! hahaha...

    Amy

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  28. If Nutella is your worst vice I don't think there is cause for concern :-) I love the heart shape of your macarons.

    Thanks so much for stopping by to leave a comment!

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  29. NO WONDER WE ARE FRIENDS...besides your genius with food and warmth you love Nutella! I made Nutella wontons recently and will send you a post!!

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  30. Hahaha very funny! I also have a romantic relationship with nutella, I absolutely love it; the taste, texture, everything lol it tastes great on everything, so I'm sure these macaroons are delicious

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