Macarons are probably the hardest thing a found to bake. It took me around 2 years until I made the perfect batch of macrons. I like infusing different kinds of teas into macarons shells give the macarons a lot of flavour and the white chocolate orange ganache provides extra flavour without over powering the early grey. To make these macrons taste even better, leave them in the fridge overnight. This will make the macarons chewier and moister. This recipe has been adapted from: http://laurencariscooks.com/earl-grey-tea-macarons-with-orange-infused-white-chocolate-ganache/
Ingredients:
Earl Grey Macarons:
120g Icing Sugar
100g Ground Almonds
40g Caster Sugar
2x Egg Whites
1x Earl Grey Teabag
White Chocolate Orange Ganache:
200g White Chocolate
150ml Double Cream
1 x Orange
1. Cut open the teabag and place the earl grey tea leaves, icing sugar and ground almonds into a food processor and pulse for 2-4 minutes.
2. Next place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl and whisk using a stand mixer until the egg whites reach soft peaks.
3. Once the egg whites reach this stage start slowly pouring in the caster sugar. Whisk until the egg whites reach stiff peaks.
4. Sieve the dry ingredients into the large mixing bowl and fold into the egg whites using a figure of eight motion.
5. To see if the macaron mixture is ready to be piped, the mixture should be at the ribbon stage or the mixture will fall off a spatula quickly.
6. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag. Line a tray with parchment paper. Snip the end off the piping bag and pipe the mixture into circles. You can download a macaron template to use as a guide to get the macarons all the same size if you want.
7. Tap the tray on the worktop to burst any large air bubbles in the macarons. Leave the macarons to dry for 30-60 minutes. Pre heat the oven to 150C/Gas Mark 3.
8. While the macarons are drying, start making the white chocolate orange ganache. Zest and juice the orange. Place the orange zest, double cream and 2 tablespoons of the orange juice in a pan and heat till simmering.
9. While the mixture is simmering break up the white chocolate into small pieces. Once the cream starts to simmer take the pan off the heat. Pour the cream through a sieve (to remove the orange zest) over the white chocolate and mix together until fully incorporated and leave in the fridge to set.
10. To see if the macrons are ready to bake, touch the macarons gently; if no mixture sticks to your finger then the macarons are ready to bake. Bake for 15 minutes.
11. Once the macrons have baked, leave to cool for 20 minutes. Then take off the macrons off the parchment paper and place on a wire rack to cool.
12. Once the macarons have cooled and the ganache has set, place the ganache into a piping bag and snip off the end.
13. Pipe the ganache onto the flat side of the macaron and place another on top.