Earl grey tea macaron

macaroons-large-2You can not have missed the macaron madness that is going on pretty much everywhere. They are so pretty in all their colours and flavours. Do you know what though? Every time I make an attempt to bake macarons I spend hours in the kitchen making a complete mess. Do not be fooled by the pretty picture above. My kitchen has meringue stuck to everything and I must have put on an extra kilo just from tasting, tweaking and then tasting again. But the effort is absolutely worth it.

To succeed in the elaborate task of making macarons a few little tips and tricks might come handy. Do pay attention to these as they can save you from pulling your hair out wondering what went wrong (speaking from experience).

Macaron tips and tricks:

1. Use egg whites that are a little bit old, and make sure they are at room temperature.

2. Let the macarons dry out before baking, this will help them to rise beautifully and get their “pied”. In macaron language that means the frilly little rim around the edge of the base of the macaron. In french it means foot.

3. The macaron batter should drop of a spoon but still be thick, somewhere between whipped cream and pancake batter.

4. A macaron should mature for at least 24 hours in the fridge after they’re filled. This lets the middle of the macaron soften a little, while keeping it’s crispy outer shell.

When it comes to flavours you can go almost as crazy as you wish. It is easier to keep the base simple and go a bit wilder with the fillings, this way you don’t have to worry about the texture of the meringues changing depending on what you’ve flavoured them with.

I love tea, so I ground some loose leaf Earl grey tea into a fine powder and mixed it through the meringue/almond mix. For the filling I infused cream with Earl grey tea over night. The cream was strained, heated and poured over chocolate to create a smooth ganache. I also added a bit of honey and butter for extra creaminess and a glossy finish.

 

Earl grey tea macaron
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: baking
Cuisine: French
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 2 egg whites
  • 150g icing sugar
  • 60g ground almonds
  • 100g dark chocolate
  • 100ml double cream
  • 10g salted butter
  • 5g honey
  • 5g earl grey tea, loose leaf
Instructions
  1. Mix half of the icing sugar with the ground almonds and pass through a fine sieve.
  2. Beat egg white until soft peaks appear, slowly start to add icing sugar bit by bit while beating. Continue to beat to a firm meringue.
  3. Gently fold in almonds and icing sugar, stir just so all is well blended and has lost a bit of its volume, be careful not to stir too much.
  4. Drop or pipe small rounds of the mix on a tray with baking paper. If small peaks or bubbles appear gently tap the tray against your work top and they will even out and look smooth. Let dry for 30 minutes before baking on 150C for 12-15min. Let cool down completely before removing from the baking paper.
  5. Bring the cream and earl grey tea to a boil. Take off the heat and let cool down. Leave the cream in the fridge over night to infuse.
  6. Strain the cream and bring it to the boil together with the butter and honey.
  7. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.
  8. Let the chocolate ganache cool down until thick enough to pipe.
  9. Fill half of the macarons and put them together with another. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge.

Oh my world, they are to die for. Forget about the mess it will create, just go ahead and give macaons a try.

 

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