Pear + Chestnut Macarons : Chef Jean Michel Raynaud

My favourite Sydney macarons are made at Baroque The Rocks by head patissier Jean Michel Raynaud. His exciting new range of winter seasonal macarons are to be released for sale to the public for the first time today!

Jean Michel Raynaud’s macarons are just stunning, the ganache is beautifully bound as they should be and the macarons are are light and airy perfection. I love them.

Chef Jean Michel Raynaud has generously shared a macaron recipe from his new Baroque winter range: Pear and Chestnut Macarons. You can try my favourite macarons at Baroque or have a go at Chef’s recipe at home. Enjoy!

Pear & Chestnut macarons

For the Chestnut filling:
7 eggs
7 egg yolks
360grams sugar
320 ml milk
350 ml sugar
1500 grams butter
800 grams chestnut puree sweetened

First mix eggs and yolks until light. Heat up milk and first batch of sugar; pour gently on the eggs whilst beating (appareil a bombe). Add the chestnut puree. Cook the second batch of sugar to 118°C and pour onto the bombe mix whilst beating. Continue whipping until cold. Add the butter at room temperature slowly until the cream become shinny and smooth.

For the Pear filling:
500 Grams of poached pears blended to a puree
50 gram caster sugar
80 ml of Pear Liquor
15 gram of Pectin

Mix the Pectin in the sugar, boil the pear compote with the pear liquor, boil (to evaporate the alcohol). Once boiled, take away from the stove, mix in the sugar pectin mixture, pour into a container and freeze (will become a pear jelly)

For the shells
600g sifted TPT*
120g egg whites
300g Caster sugar
75g water
120g egg whites
Food colouring

To make the meringue shells, add the colouring to the first batch of egg whites and TPT*, mixing vigorously until you have a smooth, thick paste. Cover with a wet cloth.
Mix the caster sugar and water in a cooking pot, commence cooking.
Place the second portion of egg whites in a Kitchen aid mixer with the whisk attachment. Once the sugar has reached 115°C commence whipping your egg whites until they reach “soft peak” consistency. When the sugar reaches 118°C remove from the stove and pour slowly on the still mixing egg whites. Turn the speed to maximum for around 1 minute and return to medium for another 2 minutes and then let the meringue cool to around 50°C whilst mixing slowly.
Using a spatula, incorporate the meringue into the TPT and egg batter. Work the mix gently from the sides to the middle until you reach a homogenous, shiny texture.
Using a plastic piping bag with no. 11 tip, pipe the shells onto a sheet of baking paper. The size of you Macaron should be around 4.5cm prior to baking. It is important to take your time and be as consistent as possible; every Macarons will have to be match with another one of similar size.
Cook the macarons at 155degrees Celsius for 10 minutes with the door slightly ajar, then another 10 minutes at 150 degrees. Once cooked, slide the paper off the tray and let the shells cool (preferably on a wire rack).

Assembly of the macarons

To assemble the macarons, pull the shells from the paper gently and turn them upside down. Pair them according to size and lay them out on the bench. Fill one half of the paired macaron shells generously but keeping a space of approximately 3mm from the edge of the shell.

For the addition of the pear filling, simply cut a 1cmx 1cm square of the frozen pear mixture, push onto the chestnut filling and close the macaron by gently twisting the two shells together from left to right. Remember to let the filling spread regularly all the way to the edge of the shells. This jelly of pear is design to melt in your mouth at room temperature, so that you get a strong burst of pear initially, that is going to be softened by the sweetness of the chestnut and butter filling.

Place the finished them on a tray and leave them in the fridge for at least 24 hours prior to serving. To get the best out of the texture and taste of your filling, we recommend your macaron should be eaten at room temperature.

*TPT: Translated as tant pour tant or as much as. It always refers to equal amount of almond to sugar. In the case of the macarons, we are using pure icing sugar and whole almonds blended finely in a blender.

Baroque Bistro
88 George Street, The Rocks, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
+61 2 9241 4811