Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Lime curd macarons

I got to know a new buddy, who is a sour lover (cheers!) and her birthday falls in the month of May. I decided to make her some macarons for her birthday, and the flavours I then decided to make were quite obvious, isn't it? Something sour.

Lime curd macarons


I made a basic (Italian method) macaron base recipe, and added some finely grated lime zest and green colouring (but cos I used liquid, I feared adding too much, thus the colour was not noticeable at all). Then I sprinkled more finely grated lime zest atop the macaron shells before leaving them to dry in a warm oven for a few minutes.



Anyway, back to these lime curd macarons. I sandwiched the macarons with some limey goodness - lime curd. I was going to make a lime curd buttercream, then decided that using straight curd is the way to go - it'll be ultimately a sour fest in the mouth (and I was right!). The macarons can last refrigerated for max 3-4 days before the shells get overly soggy from the thick lime curd filling.
*Pssst, I find them at their best 12-24 hours after being sandwiched with the lime curd.

The lime curd was brilliantly easy to make (as all curds are), and tasted mouth puckering tart (in a good way of course). Recipe as stated below.

Lime Curd (adapted from Laura at Honest Cooking)
3 XL eggs
75g sugar
Zest of 1 lime
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
85g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Whisk the eggs and sugar in saucepan until a light yellow color. Add in the lime zest and juice.
Place saucepan over medium heat and constantly whisk mixture until it starts to thicken (about 3-5 minutes). Allow it to come to a simmer for a couple of seconds and remove from heat. Whisk in butter cubes tablespoon by tablespoon. Sieve the mixture into a clean bowl to remove any cooked egg bits. Cool to room temperature and then place in a container and store in the refrigerator.

13 comments:

  1. haha, now u just announced my method to the whole world, its supposed to be a secret u know :(

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  2. Mmm this looks fantastic!  I just did a raspberry curd but it wasn't thick enough and so the macarons didn't have the pretty shape with visible filling.  Will you share what macaron recipe you use?

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  3. thanks, i normally go to kitchenmusings for her base recipe and then adjusted the proportion to suit my taste. u can refer to hers for starters (if u haven't that is!) ^^

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  4. actually, del first, cos im on course today and wont have access to comp in case u want to del lol.

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  5. haha actually no need to delete la but since u deleted i dont mind oso hehe. anyway if im not wrong i THINK the feet when u dry like that vs. when u let it dry naturally will look different. i experimented it with my friend last time and it seemed that way. not sure whats yr observation.

    btw i totally adore yr pics nowadays, they're all so lovely. yr photography skills just get better each time! :)

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  6. Ooooo... You're makes are perfect! I wish I could make them as good as this!

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  7. hmmm, i donno wor, cos lately i keep using italian method, so the feet always consistent. ^^ french ones, the natural dried one was flatter compared to when i oven dry them?

    really? haha thanks. im just playing around as usual (:

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  8. lovely shells! I still don't have the guts to try the italian meringue method due to the sheer number of macs one has to make each time! What's the mininum number of shells you have to bake to make a decent sucre cuit? I tried it before and ended up burning the syrup for the italian meringue when i downscaled the recipe by too much :(

    drying shells in a pre-heated but turned off oven is a known technique used especially amongst the taiwanese. its featured in Carol's 烘焙新手必备的第一本书. or did I missed out on the secret method? :p

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  9. u dont actually have to use too many egg whites. my usual batch only produce about 20ish~30 macarons?
    oh really, is it a known technique? i have no idea but it's surely a really good one. (:

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  10. I usually make just a dozen or so for "sampling" purposes. honestly speaking, i still find macaron shells from recipes a tad too sweet. That's why i usually favour a sharp filling e.g. raspberries, passionfruit or lemon, and of course the lime ones you used here! Tahiti limes are in season now so they seem like an excellent choice to experiment with! 

    The recipe from Carol's book calls for the oven to be pre-heated to 200C and then turned off once the tray is added. This supposedly aids in the drying and pied-forming process. I'd not tried this method before but if its good for you and Evan, it should be good for me!

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  11. Hi Michelle.  I know it's supposed to be a secret, but I was wondering if you might email me the method anyway as I don't always have the full amount of time for drying.  Also, after you overdry it and while you wait for the oven to come up to baking temperature, do the macarons deflate and wrinkle from having formed a skin and expanding from hot air then losing it?  Thanks!

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  12. Going to try this recipe tomorrow! Looks great! 

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