Cricket Macarons
Our James Beard Foundation Award nominated video for cricket macarons.
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
- 150 g powdered sugar
- 100 g coconut flour
- 50 g cricket flour
- 55 g egg whites
- 55 g egg whites
- 120 g sugar
- 40 g water
Lime Curd
- 2 tbsp lime zest
- 175 g lime juice
- 200 g sugar
- 3 eggs
- 125 g butter
Dehydrated Lime Tequila Crickets
- 250 ml water
- 250 ml sugar
- zest and juice of two limes
- 20 g dried crickets
Instructions
Macaron Shells
- Sift together powdered sugar, coconut flour and cricket flour. Add in 55 g of egg whites and mix until mixture is soft and wet.
- Take second addition of egg whites and whisk in mixer until they reach soft peaks.
- At the same time, bring sugar and water to a boil and cook until it reaches 116 C or 240 F.
- Stream hot sugar in the mixer with the whipped egg whites while mixing on low. Once streamed in, switch the mixer to high and whisk until cool.
- In three additions, add the whipped whites to the coconut and cricket mixture and fold in gently.
- Once no white streaks remain, add macaron batter to a piping bag and pipe immediately into small rounds on a lined baking sheet. Bang the trays to remove any air bubbles from the batter.
- Leave to rest 1-2 hours until a matte skin has formed on top. Once skin has formed, bake at 150 C, 300 F, for 12-17 minutes.
Lime Curd
- Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, and eggs over a double boiler. Whisk continuously until thick. Once thick, add in cubes of butter.
- Whisk again until thick. Remove from the heat, cling film the top so a skin doesn't form and place in the fridge to cool. Once cool, transfer to a piping bag and pipe into the macaron shells. Use a dab on top of each macaron to secure the crispy golden crickets.
Tequila Lime Crickets
- Simmer simple syrup, add in crickets and continue to simmer for fifteen minutes. Strain and place on lined dehydrator sheet. Dehydrate at 45 C until crisp. Mix tequila and gold powder to create gold edible paint and paint the crickets until nicely coated. Add to top of macarons for garnish.