Sunflower Seeds-Ginseng Macarons

I still remember the first time I tasted these macarons, I thought I was having a transformation, an awakening, a eureka moment. I found the recipe in an amazingly beautiful and inspirational book called Wild Sweets by the Canadian couple Cindy and Dominique Duby, who later authored Wild Sweets Chocolate. Their book contains many interesting recipes of so called savory desserts, which incorporate ingredients normally used in savory dishes, not to mention the beautiful photos. With titles such as Concord Grapes Clafoutis with Sweet Savoy Cabbage and Warm Grapes, or Red Curry Squash Flan with Gnocchi and Coconut Curry Foam, you can't help but salivate.

Wet and shiny macarons

The trick to these macarons is to substitute some of the almond meal with finely ground sunflower seeds and add some ginseng powder. The best part...they are gluten and dairy free, so I can eat as many as I want, which is not a problem as they are so delicious.

Dry and ready to be baked macarons

I don't like to sandwich them with anything since the delicate taste of ginseng really hits you at the end and a filling too sweet would most likely mask it. If you can't find ginseng powder, which is kind of expensive, you can easily omit it.

Sunflower and Ginseng Macarons
adapted from Wild Sweets
4 dozen cookies

225 gr/8.1 oz powder sugar, sifted
50 gr/1.9 oz sunflower seeds
72 gr/2.7 oz whole almonds
5 ml/1 teaspoon pure ginseng powder
100 gr/3.6 oz egg whites (about three large)
25 gr/0.9 oz granulated sugar

Grind powder sugar, seeds, and almonds in a food processor. Set aside. Beat egg whites until foamy, then start adding the granulated sugar slowly until egg whites form soft peaks. Gently fold the whipped whites into the sugar mixture until throughly combined. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a plain round tip. Pipe into 2.5 cm (1") mounds on a silicone mat or a parchment paper lined baking pan. Let the macarons dry at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to an hour before baking (the book doesn't include this step and it is a mistake as they need the top to dry for the typical macarons foot to form). Bake at 180C (350F) until light golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Store in an air tight container.

Daring Bakers-French Macarons

I remembered the first time I tasted a French Macaron, it came all the way from Paris via a family friend, and it was from Pierre Hermé, of all places. It was a revelation, the flavors were amazing, so was the texture. After I switched my career to the Art of Pastry I decided I had to master these delicate morsels. The first recipe I tried was from the Chocolate Desserts book by Pierre Hermé, and obviously they were chocolate macarons. They were truly amazing, and for a while I was making them as part of the cookie platter at the restaurant where I worked. After a while I stopped making them, mostly because of laziness, and because I have a hard time not eating then non stop. But soon I discovered a sunflower seeds and ginseng recipe in the gorgeous book Wild Sweets and I was hooked again.

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

For this challenge I had left over egg whites from all the challah bread I make for the farmers' market, so I had plenty to work with. To be daring, I wanted to compare recipes and try different flavors so I chose to make the sunflower seeds recipe, Fleming's recipe with the addition of cocoa powder, and Tartelette's recipe to which I substituted half pistachios and added a little cardamom. I also made some macha macarons using Helen's recipe, because I have been wanting to make those for ages, and I filled them with red bean paste butter cream, YUM!

For the complete recipe please check Ami's blog Baking without Fear here.

The daring kitchen has a forum for the Daring Bakers and I had read many posts complaining of the lack of feet using Fleming's recipe, which has less sugar than more traditional recipes, including Helen's of Tartelette. Helen was wonderful and helped by sharing her expertize with macarons, but still the recipe was at fault, I believe. After trying one batch using Fleming's recipe I have to agree with the other DBs, mine got no feet and they all cracked. Plus they were not soft, but quite hard.

The other macarons all had feet and looked like they are supposed to look. The eggs whites were the same, aged the same, the only difference, beside the cocoa powder, was the ratio of almonds and sugar. I will stick with the other recipe from now on since it worked for me.

Thanks Ami for challenging us with this recipe and to all the other daring bakers for their talent and inspiration. Check their work here.

Sunflower Ginseng Macarons

225 gr icing sugar (sifted)
50 gr sunflower seeds
75 gr almonds
1 tsp ginseng powder
100 gr whites
25 granulated sugar

Grind the sunflower seeds with a little bit of powder sugar in a coffee grinder. For the method, follow Tartelette's recipe.