Fancy trying savoury Parisian macarons? Then have some delicious fun with these mini Mushroom Macarons. See the recipe below for the mushroom macaron filling with a little truffle oil. Top with a dusting of unsweetened cocoa powder for apéritif or pre-dinner drinks. Also great as an amuse-bouche.
Well, let's take that one again...
from another angle...
How to Make Mushroom Macarons
See printable recipe below.
- For the macaron shells, it follows the basic recipe from the savoury macaron chapter in my first book, Mad About Macarons (no longer in print).
- While beating the meringue to stiff peaks, add a good pinch of brown with a smaller pinch of yellow powdered colouring to match the cremini, chestnut mushroom colour. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper for that little kick!
- Pipe out the macaron batter into the smallest, cutest rounds you can. Using a smaller, 6mm plain tip makes this easier.
Top Tip for Cooking Mushrooms
Looking for a healthy way to cook mushrooms and bring out the best mushroom flavour? Fry the mushrooms in a dry, non-stick pan. There's no need for any butter or oil at first.
Keep sautéing them until the mushrooms give off all their liquid. You'll end up with healthy, natural mushrooms that are concentrated in flavour (and not dripping in oil!)
For more on mushrooms, see the market produce page on French mushrooms.
How to Make a Savoury Mushroom Macaron Filling
Follow the same principle as the other savoury mad macarons in my Mad About Macarons book regarding ratio of liquid and cornflour in the filling. I dry-fried the cremini and ceps mushrooms until they sweated off all their liquid and infused them into the cream, finally blitzing the whole lot and adding a dash of good quality truffle oil.
The chocolate dusting on the shells is 100% unsweetened cacao powder.
Macaron Tip: for the speckled dusted look, dust the shells after airing, just before they go in the oven.
Et voilà. I also added just a touch of cayenne in the shells to give it a kick. We all love macarons with feet but why not give a bit of a kick to them, too?
How do I Serve Savoury Mushroom Macarons?
These mini mushroom macs are great on their own served as an apéritif or as an amuse-bouche with a chilled white wine from the Jura, for example.
Alternatively, serve them along with this Creamy Mushroom Soup (façon Cappuccino). This will guarantee "mushroom for conversation" at the dinner table (groan!). Try mushroom with coffee: it's a flavour combination that goes surprisingly well.
Mushroom and Truffle Macaron Filling
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5oz) mushrooms (e.g. cremini, Parisian) chopped
- 100 ml (3.5fl oz) whipping cream (30% fat)
- 1 teaspoon truffle oil
- 1 organic egg
- 10 g (0.5oz) cornflour (cornstarch)
- 20 g (0.75oz) butter, salted softened
Instructions
Mini Mushroom Macaron Shells
- Follow the basic mini savoury macaron recipe from my book, Mad About Macarons (using less sugar - see page 97.) Precise details are given in the book with step-by-step instructions.
- While beating the meringue to stiff peaks, add a good pinch of brown powdered colouring with a smaller pinch of yellow powdered colouring. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper. Pipe out the macaron batter into the smallest, cutest rounds you can. Using a smaller, 6mm plain tip makes this easier.
Mushroom & Truffle Macaron Filling
- Sauté the mushrooms in a dry, non-stick pan until they sweat off all their liquid. There's no need for any butter or oil at this stage. Keep frying them until they give off their liquid. They will be concentrated in flavour (and not dripping in oil!)
- Add the cooked mushrooms to the whipping cream, infusing them (uncovered) over a low heat for 15 minutes. Blitz with a hand blender or food processor then add the teaspoon of good quality truffle oil.
- Whisk an egg with the cornflour in a small bowl then add to the cream and mushrooms. Keep whisking over a medium heat until the sauce thickens.
- Set aside to cool, then whisk in the softened butter using a balloon whisk. The filling is ready to sandwich your macarons together. Leave in an airtight container in the fridge for 24 hours.
thelittleloaf
This is SUCH an awesome idea - savoury macarons, wow! There's a restaurant we go to in italy that serves a wafer biscuit with a layer of nutella and one of foie gras - I love the way it confounds your expectations, and this is exactly the same. Great macattack!
Lisa McDonnell
Jill, you are always the clever one... I adore the mushroom photos. I almost missed the macaron because it blended in so well. I bet these delicious and light little bites would pair well with a glass of champagne. Ils sont delicieux!
Vicki Bensinger
It amazes me how you come up with such incredible creations based on natures bounty. Hopefully once I master Macarons I too will find myself more creative.
The Culinary Lens
These look so good. I am hearing good things around the web about your macaron methodology I have to check your book out.
These remind me of the "mushroom" decorations I often mae for Yule Logs
Angie @ Bigbearswife
oh my gosh those are so great! and to cute that it looked like a mushroom
Hester @ Alchemy in the Kitchen
Hehehe! You are obviously Mad About Mushrooms as well as Macarons, Jill. Lovely Autumnal post!
p.s. I laughed when I read about your dad throwing out the "dish water" Ooops!
Anne@frommysweetheart
Jill...I am always so blown away by your unique and creative inspirations! These are just amazing! Your photography, as always, is just stunning! (And thanks for the reminder about sprinkling the shells before baking! These are just wonderful!
Joanna from Chic & Gorgeous Treats
I'm always inspired by your macarons Jill. Seems like it's been awhile I popped by. You are indeed a macaron queen :D. I tried making my first batch of macarons that day, but toss them out.. will try again when I'm ready. Hehehe.. just need some focus and your blog helps me to stay mac focus. Hugs, Jo
Laz
You truly are a master. Fantastic work.
Bravo!
thoma
it stumps me every time i think of your macaron creativity....i think it stumps God too that the creation (you) who marched off His lap is tempting Him with sooooo many macarons hehe...
you're stuffing your posts with French at vital points and i cannae understand!
Jill
Thoma, you haven't missed much. Vraiment = really; n'est-ce pas? = isn't it?
dans le jardin = in the garden;