Η συνταγή και στα ελληνικά στο τέλος της ανάρτησης!
Once upon a time, there was a small, poor child. It was Christmas time and more particularly Epiphany. As he was sitting with his grandmother he asked her:
“Grandma, is it true that skies open tonight and anyone can ask anything from God?”
Grandma replied: “Yes my boy only you have to ask for only one thing and it will be done.”
The little child decided to stay up all night, so he took his quilt and pillow and went out to watch the sky. Everything was quiet and the city was sleeping serenely. The sky was like black velvet embroidered with diamond ornaments. He was waiting and waiting eagerly.
At an instant the skies opened and a strong, vivid glow blew out all stars in the sky. The boy was really astonished and he thought that he saw angels flying here and there. A golden river flowed from one side to the other and everything was really impressive. The child was so blown away that he completely forgot to make his wish, just watched. Only at the last moment and before the last glow went away he managed to whisper one word:
“Wealth.”
He returned to his bed with only one thought in his mind; did God hear his wish? Did he manage to make it in time? He was so poor and wanted desperately some wealth in his life. With all these thoughts, sleep came and took him in his arms. And then he saw the most vivid and weird dream. If he wanted to be honest, he wouldn’t know if it was a dream or reality.
A man entered his bedroom! A young, handsome man dressed in the most luxurious clothes. His clothes were made of golden threads and were decorated with diamonds and rubies. He was standing on a white cloud and held a golden wand.
He said to the boy: “Here I am what would you like from me?”
The boy thought that he was an angel, but the man told him that he was Wealth. The man said to the boy: “Since you were late to make your wish, I came here to make sure that you still want me to accompany you.” The boy without second thought said: “Of course I want you. We can be rich and have all the glory and happiness in life.” The man sulked and stopped laughing. He said to the boy: “Oh, I am so sorry, but I cannot promise you that you will always be happy and joyful with me. Who told you that I can protect you from pain, betrayal, death, sickness, lying, malice and jealousy? I cannot give you all that, you made a mistake and asked me instead of asking for Happiness. Happiness is the one for you. She is a small girl with an army of small, happy children who follow her everywhere she goes.”
The child thought for a minute everything Wealth said and replied: “I am so terribly sorry sir, now I realize that Happiness is the one I want.”
Wealth replied:” So, I am leaving now and you must consider yourself very lucky, because I am doing so only because you made your wish late. Otherwise, you would have been stacked with me.”
The child felt so lucky he wouldn’t even speak and he blessed God for giving him the chance to decide. Next year he would definitely ask for Happiness.
This fairy tale is written by a very important Greek writer Gregory Xenopoulos (1867-1951).
These macarons were supposed to be up last year, but after trying many recipes, they were all flops. I did an extensive research on the internet and tried so many recipes, I cannot even remember and then I came up with this one which worked for me. I wanted to combine French flavors and Greek in one sweet. Melomakarona are Greek, Christmas cookies and I love them very much. So I took all the spices we put in them and made a preserve with exactly the same taste.
These macarons are just perfect and if you want something completely different from the ordinary I highly suggest them.
Don’t forget to enter to the giveaway for two books, one for cooking with herbs and the other one for cooking with olive oil from Myrsini Lambraki. All the details are here.
Μην ξεχάσετε να λάβετε μέρος στο διαγωνισμό για δύο βιβλιάρια με συνταγές από τη Μυρσίνη Λαμπράκη και τον Εξωραιστικό Σύλλογο Λαμίας. Αφήστε σχόλιο εδώ για να συμμετέχετε.
- 250 ml / 8.5 fl oz. water
- 8 gr. / 1 ½ tsp pectin
- ¼ cup sugar
- Scant ½ tsp cinnamon
- Scant ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 154 gr. / 5.5 oz. caster sugar
- 70 gr. / 2.5 oz. almond flour
- 2 egg whites
- 40 gr. / 1.5 oz. granulated sugar
- Food color
- One day before you make the filling.
- In a pot add the water, sugar and spices and bring to boil.
- Add the pectin and whisk to dissolve completely.
- Remove from fire let it cool and refrigerate to stabilize.
- Shift the almond flour along with the caster sugar at least twice.
- In your stand mixer add the egg whites and whisk.
- When they start to form soft peaks add the granulated sugar and continue to whisk until stiff peaks are formed.
- Remove and throw the flour/sugar mixture into the meringue.
- With a spatula mix until the batter has the texture of the lava, not too runny not to steady.
- Divide the mixture in two different batches and add food coloring.
- I added 6 drops of red and 6 drops of blue color.
- Take pan and put a silicon rack on top either a special on for macarons or a simple one for cookies.
- With a piping bag pour enough batter to form circles of 4 cm / 1.5 in. leaving a distance among them of 1 cm / 0.5 in.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 150°C/300°F for about 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, let them cool and take them off the silicone.
- With a piping bag add the filling to half of them and cover them with the rest half.
- 250 ml νερό
- 8 γρ. πηκτίνη
- ¼ φλ. ζάχαρη
- Σκάρτο ½ κ.γ. κανέλα
- Σκάρτο ¼ κ.γ. γαρύφαλλο
- 154 γρ. ζάχαρη άχνη
- 70 γρ . πούδρα αμύγδαλου
- 2 ασπράδια αυγών
- 40 γρ. κρυσταλλική ζάχαρη
- Χρώμα ζαχαροπλαστικής
- Μια μέρα πριν μπορείτε να κάνετε τη γέμιση.
- Σε μια κατσαρόλα προσθέστε το νερό, τη ζάχαρη και τα μπαχαρικά και φέρτε σε βρασμό.
- Προσθέστε την πηκτίνη και ανακατέψτε να διαλυθεί εντελώς.
- Αφαιρέστε από την φωτιά, αφήστε να κρυώσει και βάλτε το στο ψυγείο να σταθεροποιηθεί.
- Κοσκινίστε τουλάχιστον δύο φορές την πούδρα αμυγδάλου μαζί με τη ζάχαρη άχνη.
- Στο μίξερ σας προσθέστε τα ασπράδια αυγών και χτυπήστε.
- Όταν αρχίσουν να σφίγγουν, προσθέστε τη ζάχαρη και συνεχίστε να χτυπάτε μέχρι να γίνει σφιχτή μαρέγκα.
- Ρίξτε στη μαρέγκα το μίγμα αμύγδαλου/ζάχαρης άχνης.
- Με μια σπάτουλα ανακατέψτε μέχρι το μίγμα να αποκτήσει την υφή της λάβας, ούτε πολύ ρευστό ούτε πολύ σφικτό.
- Μοιράστε το μίγμα σε δύο διαφορετικές παρτίδες και προσθέστε χρώμα ζαχαροπλαστικής.
- Πρόσθεσα 6 σταγόνες κόκκινο και 6 σταγόνες μπλε χρώμα.
- Στρώστε ένα ταψί είτε με σιλικόνη για macarons είτε με μια απλή σιλικόνη για μπισκότα.
- Με ένα κορνέ ρίξτε μίγμα τόσο ώστε να σχηματιστούν κύκλοι με διάμετρο 4 cm, αφήνοντας μια απόσταση μεταξύ τους 1 cm.
- Ψήστε σε προθερμασμένο φούρνο στους 150° C για περίπου 15 λεπτά.
- Βγάλτε από το φούρνο, αφήστε να κρυώσουν και ξεκολλήστε τα από τη σιλικόνη.
- Με ένα κορνέ βάλτε λίγη από τη γέμιση στα μισά macarons και σκεπάστε τα με τα άλλα μισά.
