Dynamite Desserts: Coffee Sabayon with Cinnamon and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Chocolate Macaroons

This January as every year, my husband and I will not drink any wine all month. It’s the least we can do to cleanse our bodies of all of last year’s excesses. I used to dread it, but now I look forward to it. I’m still not very good at keeping it going after January, but each year the goodness goes a bit further!

So to divert my attention from wine and alcohol, I have ferreted out some alcohol-free desserts. The first is a delicious twist by Michel Roux on a classic recipe that usually contains alcohol. It is unbelievably easy in the Thermomix which does both the cooking and the whisking for you. The second is all the rage in London right now and, according to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, surprisingly easy to make.

In addition, Madame Thermomix has been very crafty because the first recipe uses egg yolks and the second uses the whites. Voilà ! No waste.

Coffee Sabayon with Cinnamon
Recipe adapted from Michel Roux’s Only the Best (Quadrille, 2002) with method from Janie Turner’s Fast and Easy Cooking
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 tablespoon instant coffee
60 g cold water
4 egg yolks
50 g caster sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

1. Grind some fresh cinnamon to give your sabayon an incredible taste: place four 2-inch long cinnamon sticks in your Thermomix bowl and grind 1 minute/Speed 10. Tip out. Use ½ teaspoon for this recipe and store the rest in an airtight container for your next cinnamon recipe, either savoury or sweet.
2. Insert the Butterfly Whisk into the bowl and weigh in all the ingredients.
3. Cook 8 minutes/80° C/Speed 3 until it becomes a thick and creamy foam which has greatly increased in volume. Serve immediately in dishes or champagne glasses.

Michel Roux advises serving the Coffee Sabayon with Cinnamon over poached pears drained of their syrup or with orange segments. What a great way to use the rest of those clémentines or satsumas you bought for Christmas!

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Chocolate Macaroons
Recipe adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s egg white recipes published in The Guardian on Saturday 10 April 2010
Hugh says, “These are rich, slightly chewy and surprisingly easy. They’re better made with egg whites separated, covered and left in a cool place overnight.”
Makes 12.

Ingredients
125 g icing sugar
10 g cocoa
165 g ground almonds
3 egg whites
55 g caster sugar
¼ tsp vanilla extract

For the ganache
100 g plain chocolate, in pieces
100 ml double cream

Method

1. Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a silicone sheet. Dip a 4.5cm circular biscuit cutter or small glass into flour, and use it to mark out 24 circles on the parchment set about 3cm apart (this will make it easier to make even-sized macaroons).
2. Weigh the icing sugar*, cocoa and almonds into your Thermomix bowl, and mix 15 seconds/Speed 10. Insert the Butterfly Whisk into your second Thermomix bowl** and add the egg whites. Put the lid on the Thermomix, place a small bowl or a glass on top, press the weighing scales button, and weigh out your caster sugar. Set aside.
3. Now whisk the egg whites about 4 minutes/37° C/Speed 3 to 4. After one minute, gradually add the caster sugar through the hole in the lid and continue whisking until the mixture is stiff and glossy. Keep watching your egg whites and turn off the Thermomix if they are done before the 4 minutes is up.
   *If you don’t have any icing sugar on hand, make your own by grinding the same weight of granulated sugar 15 seconds/Speed 10.  **If you don’t have a second Thermomix bowl, tip out the sugar/cocoa/almond mixture, clean the bowl thoroughly with hot soapy water, dry it well and proceed as above for the egg whites.)
4. Remove the butterfly whisk and gently scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the almond mixture and the vanilla into the bowl with the egg whites, and gently combine by stirring 15 seconds/Speed Spoon/Reverse blade direction.
5. Transfer the mixture to a plastic bag and cut a 1cm hole in the bottom, or use a piping bag and a plain tip if you have one. (I found this really messy but quite satisfyingly so!) Pipe on to the baking sheets using the flour circles as your guide. Tap the sheets hard on a worktop to eliminate air bubbles. Let dry 30 to 45 minutes before baking. During this time, self-clean your gooey Thermomix bowl, if you can resist licking out the rest of the luscious almond-cocoa mixture 😉 and then make the ganache so it has time to cool and set.
6. To make the ganache, put the chocolate pieces into the Thermomix bowl and chop 10 seconds/Speed 6. Weigh in the cream and cook 4 minutes/50° C/Speed 1, then allow to cool completely so the ganache thickens to a spreadable consistency.
7. Bake until the macaroons feel slightly firm, about 18 minutes. Remove, allow to cool slightly, then transfer on the parchment to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Spread some ganache on to half the macaroons and sandwich together with the remaining ones. Refrigerate, covered, until you’re ready to serve.

As you can see from the photos, this recipe makes 12 rather large macarons. Next time (and yum, yum there certainly will be a next time) I will make 24 smaller macarons by marking and piping out 48 circles, and making one and a half times the ganache.

The hardest part of this recipe is the last bit: leaving them alone long enough to let the flavours develop and until you’re ready to serve!

Bon appétit !

PRINT COFFEE SABAYON WITH CINNAMON RECIPE

PRINT CHOCOLATE MACARONS RECIPE

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