Did you know the macaron cookie has Italian origins despite being a French dessert. It was supposedly invented by the chef of Catherine de’ Medici. Bakers spend years perfecting the technique of making a macaron. Each cookie must be perfectly crispy on the shell and soft and chewy on the inside.Not only is it an art, it’s a science if you want it to look perfectfill it with ganache.
Macarons have been the craze for some years now and still going. If you put a buffet of food in from of people with different age groups and watch which one empties the quickest? Macarons are a delicious dessert or snack but when you look at ingredients I won’t call them healthy. Additionally, the French macaron is not easy to make so I have been experimenting to make it simpler and healthier.
With my experimentation of with recipes I scrutinise every ingredient and assess how can I substitute it with something healthier. So with this recipe the bulk of the base is almond meal which lends to the overall texture of macarons. I always substitute refined sugar with a healthier alternative for example maple syrup, agave , coconut nectar, rice malt syrup or brown sugar to name a few. Important to remember though, is that the colour of the sweetener will impact the outcome. Since my focus with this recipe was to perfect the basic vegan macaron recipe I didn’t care too much about the colour, I used maple syrup for the earthy flavour which I love the most. Hence the brownish colour.
Loads of almond meal and some spelt flour to make the macarons shell the crisp while ground almonds maintain the chewiness of the centre.
The delicate vanilla infused cashew cream is best used only during serving and on the top of the macarons. I tried different berries and other fruits but passion fruit is just spot on. Drooling as I type this J
The shape is very rustic in the pics because I just randomly dropped a spoonful of the dough on the baking trays for each macaron, however feel free to use moulds or piping bag to give them a bit more definition.
I posted these on Instagram and they were the most popular dish to date (the day I’m posting this recipe 🙂
Vegan Almond Macarons with Passion Cashew Cream
Ingredients
- 2 flax or chia eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1/3 cup spelt flour
- 1 tbsp vanilla paste
Icing :
- ½ cup cashews soaked and drained
- 1/4 cup water chilled (You may not need all of it, use little by little until the desired consistency)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or agave or to taste
- 4 passion fruits
Instructions
Icing:
- Place all ingredients in a blender and refrigerate. Note this can be done a day in advance. Allowing the cashew cream to rest for few hours or even overnight gives it a thick creamy consistency.
Macarons:
- Preheat oven at 150° C
- Whisk the chia eggs, sugar and vanilla until life and fluffy.
- Add almond meal and spelt flour, mix to form cookie dough consistency
- Drop large spoonful (s) on a lined baking tray.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
- Allow to cool. Serve topped with cashew cream and passionfruit pulp.
Video
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