Derby Pie Macaron

My favorite pie turned macaron. I love how the pecans smell when these Derby Pie Macaron come out of the oven.

These Derby Pie Macaron are the last of the two types that Mom and I made. They’re the more traditional version macaron; sweet.

I flooded work with macaron for a good couple of days. Some people missed the pizza ones because they were out on that Friday. One of those “people” is S, a colleague who LOVES it when I bring in macaron. She loves it so much, she sent a text to her sister bragging about it because her sister, I think, has tried to make them? But has just given up and now just goes out and buys them.

She sent me the first one, which I thought was hilarious but then she sent me the second one a little later. S wasn’t here on Friday to try the pepperoni pizza ones, so I brought in the fixins and whipped up a couple for her and for A, my boss, who wasn’t here to try them either.

I did bring in the rest of these Derby Pie Macaron for people to sample. I don’t know about you, but I love the mix of chocolate and bourbon, so it was difficult for me NOT to snarf the whole batch of ganache down as I was piping it onto cookies that morning.

Derby Pie Macaron

For those of you who DO NOT know what Derby Pie is, Derby Pie, in my house, is short for Kentucky Derby Pie. Imagine a delicious pecan pie. Now add semisweet chocolate ships and some bourbon. Oh yeah. It’s THAT GOOD! It’s so good that I wanted to try to capture those flavors in these macaron.

Derby Pie Macaron
The trick I learned from the class about making your own nut meal; freeze the nuts before you try to grind them. My own trick? Add some of the powdered sugar to the food processor. Even though my pecans were frozen, they still started to have the look of nut butter. So, I remember from my first attempt at pistachio ones that I added the powdered sugar when I processed them and that helped. IMMENSELY!

Next on the list? Possibly macadamia nut….stay tuned.

Derby Pie Macaron

We could honestly smell the sweet pecan aroma as these babies came out of the oven! I know I undercooked one try slightly, so I let them sit a little longer than usual before filling and bringing them in to work. It was not easy seeing them laying there and not eating them. Honestly. They smelled so delicious! And DSD, A, said they were very good! Mom and I did sneak a few as she was packing up to leave. YUM! The chocolate, the bourbon, the pecans. They really did have the flavor of Derby Pie!

Just look at those pretty feet and that tasty chocolate. YUM! Honestly, just get in the kitchen and try them already!! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Even if they don’t turn our perfect, they’re still going to taste delicious!!

Yum

Derby Pie Macaron

My favorite pie turned macaron. I love how the pecans smell when these Derby Pie Macaron come out of the oven.

Ingredients

2 ounces pecans, frozen
7 ounces powdered sugar, divided
2 ounces almond meal, divided
4 ounces egg whites, room temperature
6 ounces dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup fat free half and half
1 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons bourbon

Instructions

Place the frozen pecans in the bowl of a food processor with 1 ounce of powdered sugar. Process until the pecans are ground into a fine powder. The addition of the powdered sugar should help the pecans grind up fine enough.
Add half of the almond meal and half of the remaining powdered sugar; pulse until combined and processed. Sift into a large bowl and repeat process with remaining almond meal and powdered sugar. Sift the mixture two more times and set aside.
Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the cream of tartar over the eggs and hand mix the two together with the whisk attachment for the stand mixer. Fasten the whisk attachment and beat the mixture on medium speed until foamy. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
Sift 1/3 of the almond mixture into the bowl with the meringue. Fold the ingredients together with a large spatula until incorporated. Continue sifting and folding until all the almond mixture is incorporated into the meringue and the mixture should drip slowly off the spatula; like lava flowing.
Transfer the batter to a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2" tip and pipe 1 1/3 inch rounds onto a silpat covered baking sheet. There are several different templates out there. Two that I liked are here and here.
Preheat oven to 325.
You’re going to LOVE this next part! Once all the batter has been piped or your sheets are full, grab the edges of the pan, secure the silpat with your thumbs (or any extra batter) and rap the pans on the counter. This releases any remaining air bubbles in the meringue. Continue rapping the sheets, turning occasionally, until no more air bubbles surface. Allow the macaron to rest on the counter at least 30 minutes.
Once they’ve rested and the tops are no longer sticky to the touch, bake at 325 for 5 to 7 minutes. Rotate the pans front to back and top to bottom and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes. Do the wiggle test to see if the meringue is cooked. Carefully grab the top of the shell and if it moves easily from side to side when wiggled, indicating the meringue isn’t completely cooked, then continue to cook in 4 to 5 minutes intervals until they no longer wiggle.
Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before filling.
While the macaron cool, make the ganache.
Microwave the chopped chocolate and half in half in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Stir and then continue to heat in 30 second intervals until the chocolate is melted.
Add the bourbon and stir with a whisk until combined. Pour into a pastry bag fitted with a round tip and cool until thickened.
Pipe a dime sized round of ganache onto a macaron and top with a second macaron; making sure to match the size and shape of each pair.

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