Doughnut Macarons

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. I've had doughnuts on the brain. I blame you Lisa! I've been in a macaron-making mood. And then I had one of those *ding* lightbulb above the head moments. Doughnuts...macarons...dougharons...macanuts?! I'm not sure what to call them but I made them. Doughnut macarons, flavoured with a hint of cinnamon and brown sugar, with strawberry jam buttercream. I have to tell you, these are the BEST tasting macarons I've ever made.

They were probably not my best/prettiest batch technique-wise, my oven temperature was low which meant they had a big ugly space under the shell, and I forgot to add an extra baking sheet so they overcooked slightly, but ohhh my god the strawberry jam buttercream is so good. How have I never thought of adding strawberry jam to buttercream before?

Yes, I did pipe them so they had little holes in the middle. And yes, trying to do this was a total pain in the a**. I did it by hand, piping spirals/circles with a slightly narrower piping tip than usual, but even then, most of them spread out and the holes in the middle disappeared. I eventually gave up halfway and settled for piping mini macaron shells. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to top them with sprinkles or cinnamon. So I did both!

To be honest, even though the ones covered with sprinkles were so cute that they made me squee as I saw them rising in the oven, the cinnamon ones tasted more awesome. I think it was just that extra bit of baked cinnamon on top that made them taste just like jam filled doughnuts. Even my brother, who really doesn't like macarons, said that he could eat more of them and they were his favourite macaron flavour so far. I usually can't handle eating more than one or two of my own macarons, but I kept sneaking back to the kitchen to have another one of these little babies.

I'm not going to lie, I had SO much fun making these. I love ideas like these that randomly come to me and it's so satisfying when they are actually edible, haha! And though it was messy and difficult to pipe them so they looked like doughnuts, I think it was worth it, and it looks better coming out of the oven than it did going in. But I totally don't blame you if you just wanna try regular macaron shells, I still thought the mini round ones looked just as cute. I'm still a semi-beginner when it comes to macarons, and I have a long way to go in terms of improving my technique, so I'm just happy when my shells have feet.

It was my first time trying brown sugar in my macarons, I was worried about the moisture in the sugar so I dried it out in the oven the same way I dry out my almond meal, which I think helped a lot. Plus it was one of those perfectly dry days when you just have that feeling that your macarons are not going to fail completely. I've gotta tell you, if you don't even like eating macarons, but you feel like making them, just try these without the silly piping and they might be enough to make you like them. They are so cute and yummy!

I feel like a repeat myself a lot with the little tips and tricks in my macaron recipes (and I tend to forget to write down a lot of the little things I do), so I'm thinking of just writing up a list of things that I always try to remember when making macarons. But I feel a bit lame trying to give out advice about macaron making when I am still a total amateur. So for the moment, if you have issues or questions about the recipe below, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email :)

Doughnut Macarons with Strawberry Jam Buttercream
(Makes approximately 35 small macarons)
110g almond meal, dried in a cool (100 degrees C) oven for 10 minutes and sifted
200g icing sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
25g brown sugar, dried in a cool (100 degrees C) oven for 5 minutes and sifted
25g caster sugar
100g egg whites (frozen+defrosted to room temp or aged for 48 hours) (you can use fresh eggs too, just make sure they are room temperature. I always use fresh these days, and zap it in the microwave on defrost for 10 seconds)
Optional: 1 tsp egg white powder
Extra cinnamon or sprinkles for topping

For the buttercream:
100g unsalted butter
120g icing sugar, sifted
2 1/2 tbsp strawberry jam

Line two baking sheets with baking paper. Place icing sugar in food processor and pulse for a minute to remove any lumps. Stir in almond meal and pulse a few times to combine. Place in a large mixing bowl and sift in powdered cinnamon.

Beat egg whites and egg white powder in a medium mixing bowl until the egg white powder dissolves and it reaches soft peaks. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add brown and caster sugar and beat until it reaches stiff peaks. This mixture will be slightly darker than your usual macaron meringue.

Add meringue to your dry mixture and mix, quickly at first to break down the bubbles in the egg white, then fold carefully as the dry mixture becomes incorporated. Take care not to overmix, the mixture should flow like lava and a streak of mixture spread over the surface of the rest of the mixture should disappear after 30 seconds to a minute. Place in a piping bag and pipe small 2cm rounds for mini macarons. If you are attempting to create the doughnut shaped shells, use a smaller round tip and pipe in a circle (3cm diameter), leaving a 0.5cm diameter hole in the centre of each. Gently rap your baking sheets on your bench top to remove any extra bubbles from your piped shells. Dust tops with cinnamon or sprinkles.

Preheat your oven to 140-150 degrees C (temperature varies depending on your oven). Leave shells on bench to dry for about an hour, so that when you press the surface of one gently it does not break. Place on top of an overturned roasting tray or another baking sheet if they are not professional grade. Bake for 13-15 minutes, depending on the size of your shells. Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for a few minutes, then gently remove from the sheet and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Remove the butter 30 minutes before you prepare the buttercream. Beat butter until smooth in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer and then add icing sugar and beat until combined. Add strawberry jam and beat until combined, you can adjust to taste. When smooth, it can be spooned on to shells and sandwiched. Refrigerate in an airtight container to store, serve at room temperature.