Azuki Bean Purée

Even if I knew that there were sweets made out of red beans, I was not familiar with this flavor.

I first really paid attention to azuki beans in New York.

And I got even more curious reading that people who like chestnut purée would love it.

I'm a crème de marron (chestnut purée) fanatic.

So I decided to give it a try.

I used this recipe, and I followed the method step-by-step.
I did the Azuki Beans Purée (Koshi-An), which is smooth, as opposed to the Tsubushi-An, which is crunchy because of bean skins.

These are the changes I made:

Azuki beans	2 ½ cups	7.8oz
White sugar	1 cup	7.8oz
Dark brown sugar	1 cup	7.8oz

And I added (at the same time as the sugar) some fresh ginger (I squeezed like a teaspoon of its juice), and the same amount of lemon zest without forgetting a pinch of fleur de sel ("flower of salt").

This purée was less sweet than the original recipe, but you can adjust the sugar according to your taste.

This combination of flavor (azuki purée/ginger/lemon) is used by Pierre Hermé in his pastry, "Depayse."

This "crème d'azuki" is tasty, delicate and fabulous. I will use it soon with macarons.

Enjoy !