Earl Grey Macarons (Chocolate Ganache variety)

My love for baking macarons is still raging. I was inspired to bake some Earl Grey Macarons last night and even though I was 'free' only at 9pm after cleaning the house (Boy do I love clean floors!), I decided to get baking! 

These darlings were great to eat.. love the little bit of Earl Grey flavour in each bite.. 

This recipe takes about 2 hours in all to bake and I'd rate it a difficulty level 4 out of 5. 

Earl Grey Macaron Recipe

This recipe yields about 18 - 20 small macarons

55g almond meal

100g icing sugar

18g castor sugar

50g egg whites

blue gel food colouring (optional)

2 bags of Earl Grey

100g dark couverture chocolate

100ml whipping cream

2 bags of Earl Grey

Method

In a food processor, prepare the almond meal and icing sugar.

Add in 2 packs of tea leaves

Blitz the mixture

Sift the mixture and set aside

In a clean and dry mixing bowl, add in egg whites. Whisk whites till slightly frothy and add in castor sugar.

Add in food colouring and whisk whites till stiff peaks are achieved

Scoop 1/4 of the meringue into the dry ingredients. Fold 3 - 5 times.

Add in remaining meringue and fold mixture till mixture is ready. Refer to this video tutorial for the folding method.

Should the batter be ready, it will fall off the spatula in a nice 'V'

Pipe onto baking tray lined with baking paper. Tap the tray gently to remove air bubbles. Allow macarons to dry completely till surface is dry to the touch. I usually do so for 20 - 30 minutes in an air conditioned room. 

Bake in a pre-heated oven of 150 degree Celsius for 17 - 19 minutes. 

Allow macarons to cool completely before removing from baking paper. If the macaron is cooked through, it will come off easily and cleanly. If it doesn't, pop it back into the oven for 2-3 minutes or as necessary till macarons are cooked through.

Each oven has its own temperament so you'd have to figure out what works best for you.

Love those feet!

Weigh out 100ml of whipping cream

Add in 2 sachets of tea leaves and stir well

Double boil whipping cream till it's lightly bubbly at the side of the bowl. 

Turn off heat and add in chocolate. Allow it to rest for 5 - 10 minutes before stirring.

Stir gently

All combined. The ganache is too soft to be used at this stage. Place it into the freezer and check every 5 minutes or so for it to set. 

You would want a consistency fudge-y enough for piping

Pipe onto macarons that have been matched for best fit

Sandwich macarons together and store in an airtight container overnight or for 24 hours for the flavours to come together.

Enjoy! 

As macarons are really tricky cookies, the failure rate is rather high. You'd need to work out what works best for you and your oven (they have temperaments!) Watching this video tutorial would give you a clearly idea of what to expect. Have fun! 

Here are some notes for the making of macarons..

1) Ingredients must be of room temperature

2) Bowl for whisking of egg whites must be clean of dust/yolk etc

3) Only use gel food colouring for the best colours

4) If the dry mixture is too coarse, blitz it. You won't want rough macarons do you?

5) Use silicon paper or baking paper for lining your baking trays (this has worked the best for me so far)

6) Ensure that macarons are dried before baking. You want pretty feet don't you? Refer to this blog post for drying of shells using the oven. I usually leave mine next to a fan for about 30 minutes or even under the air-conditioner at times. 

7) Make sure your macaronage is in the right stage, one/two whips too few or too many will cause your macarons to be grainy/too smooth (macarons will be flat)

8) If your macarons are cooked, they will be easy to remove. If they are not, pop it back into the oven for a minute or two.

9) Macarons are meant to be sweet and sugar is pretty much essential for the pretty feet/smooth top so NO you may not cut down on the sugar drastically like you would for other bakes. Go find something else to bake if the sugar puts you off. In fact, the sugar allows the macarons to grow taller in a way... go figure.