A fruit which never seems to escape my interest are cranberries. I adore them in savory applications as well as in desserts. Their acidic bitterness is particularly welcome in desserts which are by nature sweet and are in dire need of a touch of balance. Think for example of wonderful baked meringue layered with cranberry marmalade and crème Chantilly. It’s a composition I often make for our guest since it is a house favorite.
This Holiday season I decided to fill some of my macarons with a cranberry ganache. At times I make this specific ganache without any cream, however it is slightly smoother with the cream, so this is the one I share with you today. If you decide to use this ganache as a soft filling for something that will be refrigerated, I suggest reducing the chocolate by 30%. Cranberries are loaded with natural pectin and the ganache will set with very little chocolate. The amount of sugar seems rather high, but it is correct, cranberries are indeed very bitter and require a good amount of sugar.
Getting it all together!
Gerbet Macaron can easily be filled a day ahead of serving. In fact it allows the filling to make the center of the macaron extra tender. Prepare the ganache a day ahead of using to ensure proper crystallization.
Cranberry Ganache
| 12 oz | Cranberries | 360 g | |
| 8 oz | Whipping cream | 240 g | |
| 8 oz | Extra fine granulated sugar | 240 g | |
| 6oz | Semi sweet chocolate | 180 g | |
- Bring the cranberries, whipping cream and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and blend to a super smooth puree. If seeds remain, strain to remove. Return to heat and boil for 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and pour onto the chocolate in 3 increments. Stirring with a spatula to obtain a perfect emulsion. Cover and store at room temperature. Use the next day.
Note: See above article on reducing amount of chocolate in this ganache.
In this article: decorated macaroons.
Cranberry ganache recipe
Wow – beautiful styling Chef Eddy . . . I love the look of those macarons for Christmas
Gareth,
Thanks a lot!
Eddy.
Exquisite, dear Chef Eddy. I think you have outdone yourself this time.
These are sooooooo PERFECT! Very cute presentation.
Carmen
Lovely as always, Chef! I am working at the Viking Cooking School in the Woodlands now, and taught a class yesterday on how to make Macarons. Excited to try the cranberry filling out for myself.
Exquisite! Clever you! and Merry Christmas Eddy 🙂
Chef Eddy,
These macaroons for sure look amazing, you always make the sweets look even sweeter, Thanks for sharing , Sending you my best christmas wishes from Jordan..
Chef Eddy,
The macaroons are simply beauitful not only beauitful as christmas oritment but most beauitful at a wedding. just wonderful chef
I like cranberries, too!
These are so fun looking! Can’t wait to try the ganache because it sounds simply amazing, Chef!! Thank you for posting this!!
So, just for fun and because I had at least twice as many cranberries as I needed for the Christmas turkey, I decided to make the cranberry ganache. Had it made and took a taste. Delicious…except for the endless little seeds. For me, seeds do not work in a ganache. DH agreed. I sieved the entire amount and then it was good and I’ll dip it tomorrow. You don’t mention the seeds. Do you find them acceptable in your macarons?
These are so amazing, and they taste wonderful!! Your photos are beautiful, but seeing in person was fantastic!!! Absolutley amazingly gorgeous!!! Great job!!!
Darienne,
Thank you very much for bringing this to my attention. I fixed it in the steps. What is wonderful about your comment is that others can benefit.
Have a great Holiday Season!
Eddy.
beautiful macarons, chocolate rings and gorgeous pictures!
perfect!!! I’ve never been able to get such smooth-surfaced macarons.. 🙁 Any tips ?
Hallo Eddy,
terwijl ik dit typ, kijk naar naar “Made in Belgium” met Lieve Blancquaert.
Ik die een boek van Pierre Hermé op mijn verlanglijstje had staan, heb daar bovenaan nu ‘On Baking’ staan.
Het is een hele leuke reportage, by the way.
Groetjes vanuit Limburg,
Liesbeth
Hallo Eddy,
Ik ben op slag fan geworden na het zien van de reportage op tv,als je ziet met hoeveel passie en swung je de patisserie steeds naar een hoger niveau tilt.
Zo zie je maar,ons Belgen,klein maar dapper.
Doe zo verder.
Vriendelijke groeten uit Oost-Vlaanderen
Steven
Dag Steven,
Wat een bijzonder mooi compliment! Thank you so very much. I love the line klein maar dapper… so very true,
nog het allerbeste voor 2011,
Eddy
Liesbeth,
Your comment is very kind of you! Thank you very much.
All the best for 2011,
Eddy
Your macaron shells are perfect, but I’m sure you know this. I used to make them when I worked at NoMI. The ornaments are so adorable!
Made two batches of these today, made them consecutively, and didn’t change any steps between the two batches. They were identical with the exception of colors. The second batch cracked, though. :0/ I’m using a commercial convection oven, much like the convection up at the school, with a digital temp display. I have found that 11:30 time-wise works perfectly for previous ones I have made.
Any thoughts as to why these cracked? I did need to mix colors – yellow and red for orange – but have mixed the colors before without issue.
Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated, Chef! Thank you!!
Hi Hilary,
For the second batch maybe the oven was getting a bit hotter? Or the batter could perhaps been have been folded just a bit more. Sorry you had trouble with the second batch. Great to hear from you.
Eddy
Thank you so much for getting back to me on this!!! :0)
I did make more yesterday and I backed the oven up a bit to 318 off of 320, but the oven did climb, ever so slightly, to 322. They didn’t crack. I made two batches today and backed the oven a bit more to 316, also for the 11:30, had no cracks, and still had a nice macaron when the timer went off. May keep the temp here for a bit and see how they do more continually.
I still haven’t tried this filling yet, but really want to! I saw frozen cranberries at Central Market on Monday this past week and should have grabbed them while I was there! I haven’t found them anywhere else just yet, but I have days off Monday and Tuesday this next week and may head back to CM and grab some then. I did make Chef Ana’s Honey Lavender ganache which makes an amazing filling for these!!
Will pay special attention to folding and will keep an eye on the ovens, Chef Eddy! Thank you again for getting back to me! Miss you!
Hil
I love the way you decorate the top of them and also love the color of them. They are so cute….
I prefer the ganache to be not flavored with anything. I think it tastes better with just the chocolate taste.
Macarons are in such high demand right now so knowing how simple they are to make is nice.
when I made this in class we used the rose and mint flavor and it wasnt to bad.
Thank you, thank you, thank you…
After so many attempts to make Macarons, and many varying recipes, this is the fail proof recipe!
I have made them everyday for the last week and I believe I have reached perfection!
God Bless
Very happy the recipe worked for you! thank you for the kind comments.
Eddy.
I’ve been baking for about 5 years now and until this day, I’ve not perfected the macaron. As usually, your macarons are beautiful. We need to make some in class!
I’ve had Gerbert Macaroons maybe twice. They taste okay but i like Coconut Macaroons a lot better. The first time i made them i forgot that i would have to match them up to make like the sandwhich, but the second time they came out perfect.
I love the Macaron but there are too sweet because almond flour.
I’m usually not the biggest fan of macarons. I find them to be intensely sweet. However, I had a the pleasure of trying a few from your class. One was a lavender infused macaron and the other one was a chocolate macaroon with peanut butter buttercream and they were both devine! Fantastic recipe, I can’t wait to try it myself!
they are so perfect, so expensive to make, and you really need a steady hand!! OH and good flat sheet pans!— the color is perfect not too red not too pink the cranberries are the perfect ganache to the color of macaroon! i would also like to fill them with a cranberry jam i have filled macaroons with jam and they hold together perfectly and the dryness and moistnes make a perfect mix.
This macaroon looks like something I would want at my wedding. And I will be there all summer at HCC If there is any spare time for you to teach me this recipe I am willing to learn.
I just love soft pink! Magnifique!