Kaffir Lime Leaves and Raspberry Macaron

Ingredients

Ingredients for Kaffir Lime Leaves powder (recipe)

• 1 punnet Kaffir Lime Leaves 

Ingredients for Kaffir Lime Leaves Macarons - makes 24 macaron halves 

• 36g aged egg whites at room temperature (from real separated eggs, not pasteurised from a carton or reconstituted eggs)  
• 48g ground almonds - blitz with the icing sugar in a blender (eg Thermomix) 
• 48g icing sugar (don’t use icing sugar with maize starch in it, use the type with tricalcium phosphate as the anti-caking agent) blitz with the almonds in a blender (eg Thermomix) 
• 4g Kaffir Lime Leaves powder  
• 50g granulated sugar  
• 13g water  
• Cocoa nibs (optional) 

Ingredients for Raspberry Confit  

• 80g raspberry purée 
• 40g caster sugar to boil with the raspberry puree 
• 10g caster sugar to mix with the pectin 
• 3g NH fruit pectin powder 
• 3g lemon juice 

Ingredients for White Chocolate and Raspberry Ganache  

• 100g Xoco Gourmet 40% white chocolate 
• 30g raspberry puree  
• few drops of raspberry oil  
• pinch beetroot powder to add colour (optional) 

Method

Method for Kaffir Lime Leaves powder 

• Place the Kaffir Lime Leaves on a plate. 
• Place them in the microwave for 3 minutes until they are crispy and dry, checking after each minute. 
• Place the crispy Kaffir Lime Leaves in a blitzer and blitz them for 1 minute to powder. 
• Remove the powder from the blitzer and reserve in an airtight container. 
• To avoid discolouration and flavour loss, store in vacuum liner bags in the freezer. 

Method for Macarons 

• Preheat oven to 170˚C (NO FAN) - or oven can be put on when macarons are drying. Place a 3.5cm diameter circles printed guide on a flat baking sheet, with a silicone mat on top, so you can see the circles through the mat.  
• Place the finely blitzed almonds, icing sugar and Kaffir Lime leaves powder in a bowl with half of the egg whites (18g), don’t mix at the stage however and set it aside. 
• Place remaining 18g egg white in a bowl and connect the whisk attachment to your electric mixer/hand whisk. 
• Put the granulated sugar and the water in a pan, bring to boil to make a syrup. 
• While making the syrup, whisk the egg whites on high speed. Once egg whites are stiff peak, set aside until syrup is ready. Bring syrup to 118ºC, immediately and gradually in a thin steady stream pour the syrup on to the egg whites while whisking.  
• Once all the syrup is added, keep whisking until the Italian meringue temperature comes down to around 35ºC. Place one spoonful of the Italian meringue into the almond/icing sugar/Kaffir leaves mix and beat in until it looks smooth.
• Gently fold the remaining Italian meringue in with a spatula until colour is even, with as few turns as possible. The macaron mix should only very gradually sink into itself. If it is too liquid, and drizzles vanish quickly, it may be too thin to pipe and make the macarons too thin.  
• Cut off the tip of a large disposable piping bag, place a plain 8-9mm nozzle in it. Pipe mixture on to silicone mats to size required using the printed circles as a guide underneath the silicone mat.  
• Lift the tray up a few inches above the worktop, and drop down several times to get rid of any air bubbles and settle the macaron mixture. Take out guide paper once macarons are piped. Sprinkle on a few cocoa nibs per macaron at one side (optional). 
• Dry macarons at room temp for around 30 mins (test to make sure skin is forming on the surface - if it sticks to your finger, it is not ready). On a damp day you may need a dehumidifier to help this process, or leave for longer. The warmer the room, the quicker this will happen.  
• Bake 14 mins 170˚C (no fan), only one tray at a time on middle shelf (high quality commercial ovens may be able to cook more trays at once). Different ovens may vary in time and temperature, the size you have piped your macarons will also affect cooking time. Open the oven door a tiny bit very briefly a couple of times during baking to release steam.  
• Remove from oven and leave macarons to cool completely on the tray and mat then lift off and store in an airtight container for use within 2 days (can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks if required) or sandwich with filling.  
• Best eaten at room temperature after a few hours, or up to a day after filling, not immediately. 

Method for Raspberry Confit 

• Mix the pectin with the 10g caster sugar in a bowl. 
• Heat the fruit purée in a pan with the 40g sugar, warm lightly, and rain in pectin and sugar mix, stirring constantly.  
• Add the lemon juice and bring back to boil to 100˚C. 
• Remove from heat and place confit in a container in the fridge until required. Warm slightly in microwave to piping consistency when needed.  

Method for White Chocolate and Raspberry Ganache 

• Place the white chocolate in a plastic bowl. Heat the fruit puree in a pan until it reaches boiling point and pour this over the chocolate. Stir until smooth. Boost flavour and colour with raspberry oil and beetroot powder. 
• Cool to a pipeable consistency, and pipe a circle on one side of each pair of macaron halves. Pipe a little of the raspberry confit in the centre, and sandwich the two halves together. 
• Macarons can be filled a few hours or the day before consumption and kept in a patisserie/chocolate fridge. 

Recipe: Shona Sutherland