The Grey Wolf and The Two Wolves Macarons
These special Grey Wolf and Black Wolf macarons were inspired by the story of the two wolves in the final scene from The Beautiful Mystery, as well as The Grey Wolf.
Drawing the wolves on the macaron shells
“One of the elders told him that when he was a boy his grandfather came to him one day and said he had two wolves fighting inside him. One was gray, the other black. The gray one wanted his grandfather to be courageous, and patient, and kind. The other, the black one, wanted his grandfather to be fearful and cruel. This upset the boy, and he thought about it for a few days then returned to his grandfather. He asked, ‘Grandfather, which of the wolves will win?’
The abbot smiled slightly and examined the Chief Inspector. ‘Do you know what his grandfather said?’
Gamache shook his head. . . .
‘The one I feed,’ said Dom Philippe.”
Take a close look at the first photo below! There are two different fillings for the two wolves, representing what’s inside the grey and the black wolf.
The black wolf macaron with black sesame ganache ring and black sesame praline centre. The black the black sesame praline reflects the darkness of fear and cruelty. To represent the brightness of courage, kindness and patience, the grey wolf macaron is filled with a black sesame ganache ring and a lemon yuzu cream curd centre.
Both macaron shells contain black sesame, ground to a fine powder, but one shell contains a higher concentration of black sesame, resulting in the dark, black macaron shell. Both macarons have the unmistakably nutty flavour of black sesame. The black wolf macaron has an extra punch of nutty goodness from the black sesame praline, while the grey wolf macaron has a punch of bright, tart lemony flavour that balances the black sesame ganache.
Both macarons are wonderfully aromatic and delicious.
More Photos From Book Club Friends (click to enlarge)
Recipe:
Macaron shells:
100g egg white
100g fine granulated sugar
50g almond flour
50g black sesame powder
100g powdered sugar
Sift together the almond flour, black sesame powder and powdered sugar and add in two batches to the whipped egg whites/sugar. The meringue should be whipped to stiff peaks. Mix all ingredients to appropriate consistency where batter melts back into mass after 20 seconds. Bake at 325C for 10-20min.
Lemon Yuzu cream curd
3/8 cup lemon juice
3/8 cup yuzu juice
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon zest
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup butter
Mix together sugar and zest and heat until fragrant. Add juice, sugar and beaten eggs. Heat to 175F, stirring constantly. Let cool to 140F and add room temperature butter that has been divided into cubes. Added a few cubes at a time. Mix with immersion blender. Strain out zest. Refrigerate with cling film over surface to prevent a skin from forming.
Black sesame ganache
178g high quality white chocolate (we used Valhrona Opalys)
200ml black sesame paste
100ml 36% heavy cream
Mix the black sesame paste with the melted chocolate with an immersion blender, add the heavy cream and emulsify the solution. Let sit overnight in the refrigerator.
Black sesame praline
100g granulated sugar
200g black sesame seeds
5ml grapeseed oil
Caramelize the sugar until a deep golden brown. Mix in sesame seeds and allow to cool completely. Blend in a food processor until smooth or slightly textured, adding oil to reach the consistency of choice.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such striking macarons. They are definitely worthy of serving at Gabri’s bistro. They look delicious, and the time you must have put in to draw those wolves on top!
How creative! They should appear on the Bistro menu! They look wonderful!
Before I read the recipe, I thought there might be licorice in them!