Earl Grey Macarons
My Earl grey macarons are absolutely to die for. I am just living for Earl Grey flavoured desserts at the moment. Buttercream, macarons, cupcakes, you name it Earl Grey Tea is just such a dainty, delicate flavour and adds a classy aroma to any dish.
Equipment
- Scales
- electric mixer
- Food Processor
- A fine mesh sieve
- Piping Bags & Nozzles
- A baking tray
- Parchment Paper or a Silicone Baking Mat
- Toothpicks
Ingredients
Earl Grey Macaron Cookies
- 2 Earl Grey Teabags see notes
- Dash of Vinegar or Lemon Juice
- 100 grams Egg White
- 130 grams Powdered Sugar
- 140 grams Almond Flour
- 90 grams Caster Sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Gel Food Colour (optional) see notes
Earl Grey Ermine Buttercream
- 4 Earl Grey Teabags
- 125 ml boiling water
- 220 grams Caster Sugar
- 50 grams All Purpose Flour
- 125 ml Milk
- 1/8 teaspoon Salt
- 250 grams Softened Unsalted Butter
Instructions
Optional Step: Age your egg whites
- For best results age your egg whites the day before you commence baking. To do this, separate egg whites from egg yolk. Place egg whites in a clean airtight container (that has been wiped down with a little vinegar or lemon juice) and store in the fridge overnight.
Prepare Equipment
- When your ready to make the macaron batter, remove egg whites from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature while you prepare the equipment & dry ingredients.
- Next prepare your baking tray & piping bag. Line baking tray with baking paper or a silicone mat, then put the baking tray to the side. Next place piping nozzle into your piping bag, and snip off the tip and also place this to the side.
- Wipe down a fresh bowl and the whisk attachment of your electric mixer with vinegar to remove any possible traces of oil.
Make Macaron Cookies
- Place the icing sugar and almond flour in a food processor. Tear open the bags of earl grey tea and pour the tea leaves into the food processor as well. Blitz in short bursts for 2-3 minutes, (stop occasionally to scrape down the sides and bottom of the food processor to make sure your blitzing the ingredients evenly.
- Transfer the dry ingredients to a fine mesh sieve and gently sift the mixture into a bowl. Discard any pieces of almond flour that do not pass through the sieve. If you are discarding a lot of almond flour weigh the amount that is being discarded and replace with the same amount of finely sifted almond flour.
- Place the egg whites into the bowl that was cleaned with vinegar/lemon juice and begin to whip on low speed using your electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
- Once the eggs start to look frothy, add cream of tartar.
- Continue mixing until eggs look foamy, then gradually add caster sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition until all the sugar has been incorporated.
- Turn the mixer up to medium-high and continue to whip the meringue until it reaches soft peaks.
- Add vanilla extract and continue whipping the meringue until it reaches stiff peaks.
- Once you have reached stiff peak stage it is time to combine the almond flour/icing sugar mixture with your meringue. You want to do this while keeping as much air in the meringue as possible. Best method to achieve this is to add half the almond flour to your meringue and gently fold in - aka use your spatula to scrape around the outside of the bowl until this first batch of almond flour has been mixed in). Then, fold in remaining almond flour using the same technique.
- Add the food colouring to each bowl, then mix it in. Gently press the batter against the side of the bowl as you mix in the food dye. Keep mixing the batter in this way until it reaches the consistency of hot lava, and falls off your spatula in a long ribbon shape.
- Once your batter is adequately mixed, transfer it to your prepared piping bag.
- Pipe your batter onto the prepared baking trays. To achieve even circles hold the piping bag straight over the tray with the tip hovering about a centimeter above the baking paper. Squeeze the bag so that the batter comes out the end, then stop squeezing and gently lift the piping bag away from the tray. If you find the baking paper is moving, you can place a dab of batter underneath the baking paper in each corner to stick it to the tray.
- Once you have piped all the macarons out, pick up your baking tray and bang it on the counter a couple of times. This will help the macarons to flatten out and encourage any air bubbles to rise to the surface.
- Check the surface of the macarons for any air bubbles. If you find any, pierce them with a toothpick, then use the toothpick to flatten out the surface of the macaron once again.
- Rest the macaron cookies by leaving the trays on the bench until the tops of the macarons feel dry to touch. The amount of time this takes will depend on the weather in your area. Where I am in Melbourne, it takes about 20mins most days. You'll know the macarons are ready to bake if they feel smooth and dry to touch.
- Preheat oven to 110 degrees. Transfer the tray of macarons to the oven. Bake at 110 degrees Celsius for 18 minutes (or a little longer if you are using a silicone mat instead of baking paper). You can check if they are cooked by gently lifting them off the paper, if they come lift up easily in one piece, then they are cooked.
- Leave the macarons on the tray until it has cooled completely, then transfer the macarons to a wire rack.
- Sort through macaron cookies to match them up into similar size/shaped pairs.
- Choose the "prettier" macaron in each pair and add any decorations you would like. You can try drizzling some melted chocolate over them and adding sprinkles or dried edible flowers.
- Once the decorations have set, place the macarons in a single layer in an airtight container. If you need to layer macarons on top of each other place a sheet of baking paper between each macaron so they don't stick together. Place this container in the fridge.
Earl Grey Ermine Filling
- Place the teabags in 125 ml of boiling water and allow them to steep for 4 minutes. Then remove the teabags so the tea does not become bitter.
- Next, place the flour, sugar & salt in a saucepan on the stove over medium heat and stir with a whisk for about 2 minutes until the flour toasts slightly.
- Add the earl grey tea & the milk a little at a time, stirring continuously with your whisk to prevent the mixture from burning at the bottom of the saucepan. Using a whisk will minimize any lumps forming.
- Add the vanilla extract and salt and continue mixing with your whisk until the mixture thickens.
- Once the mixture is thick and goopy (like custard), remove the saucepan from the heat, and transfer the mixture to a heat-proof container and allow it to cool completely.You can put this container in the fridge or freezer to speed up the cooling process, but make sure the mixture is room temperature before adding it to the butter.
- Once the pudding has cooled. Place your softened butter in a bowl and whip it up using an electric mixer until it's light and fluffy.If you are using a stand mixer, ensure that it is fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Gradually add the earl grey pudding mixture to the whipped butter, one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Make sure each tablespoon of the mixture is incorporated before adding the next tablespoon.
- Once all the earl grey pudding and butter is combined, transfer the buttercream to your piping bags.
- Assemble the macarons straight away. Pipe the buttercream onto the underside of one macaron cookie, then place the matching cookie on top.Store in the fridge until they are ready to be served.
Notes
- If using loose leaf earl grey tea, substitute 1 teaspoon of loose leaf tea per teabag.
- If using food colouring, highly recommend using gel food colour as it is more concentrated. Liquid food may destabilise the macaron batter causing the shells to crack and hollow.
Tried this recipe?Mention @Kylies_cakes_ or tag #theniftybaker!