I was reading a food article which mentioned using sumac as a citrus substitute. They described a sour, tangy lemony flavor. I have never cooked or baked with sumac, but the taste possibilities intrigued me. My mind began to wonder how I could use this unique flavor in a macaron.
Sumac Haiku
bright red berries ground
sour lemony taste surprise
spice to curl your tongue
I used the basic macaron recipe found in the Bouchon Bakery cookbook for the shells.
I added two teaspoons sumac powder to the almond flour and powdered sugar mixture. Also, zest from one-half of a lemon. You can see the deep red color of the sumac powder.
The egg whites and yellow food gel were incorporated into the almond flour and powdered sugar mixture. The sumac powder adds a red speckled color.
Incorporate the meringue into the dry ingredients, and then develop the macaronage for the macaron shell.
The piped macaron shells drying, waiting to be placed in the oven.
The lemon curd was then prepared using a recipe in the Bouchon Bakery cookbook.
The lemon curd was piped in a circle on the macaron shell with bullseye of strawberry preserves added.
The sumac macaron has a very distinctive tart lemony taste, which almost puckers your mouth. This version was very tart, almost to the extreme. Before I sampled this macaron, I gave a few to a friend who was not impressed. I told her that I should have listened to the advise Emeril Lagasse gave on his cooking show to taste what you are cooking and not experiment on friends and family. Live and learn!
The sumac macaron is a work in progress. I was hoping that the sweetness of the strawberry preserves would balance the tartness of the sumac and for the lemon curd to accentuate the lemon flavor. If I bake this macaron again I will only add one to one and a half teaspoons of sumac powder to the shells. This should give an extra tartness to the macaron without it being overwhelming.
The macaron adventure continues!