Valentine’s day is coming fast. For this macaron recipe, we partnered with the French chefs at Pastreez, an online macaron bakery where you can order custom macarons for delivery.
This adorable heart-shaped purple macaron recipe features our lavender extracts.
SHELLS
INGREDIENTS
300g of powdered sugar (ultra fine if possible)
300g of almond flour (12x fine)
110g of egg white (room temperature)
Carefully sift all dry ingredients to eliminate lumps, as moisture is the enemy of macarons, then mix in egg whites to create a smooth base.
For Italian meringue
INGREDIENTS
110g egg whites
80g water
300g sugar (for syrup)
Few drops of food coloring (any color you’d like) - Here we used a light purple to match
the lavender filling taste
Directions
1. Boil water and sugar to 117°C (precisely)
2. Whip egg white until you reach a cloudy / airy texture
3. Pour the hot syrup while continuing to mix at highest speed
4. Whip at max speed for 5 minutes
5. Stop the mixer, and add the meringue into the almond paste base in 3 additions
6. This is now the macaronage step. Mix from outside to inside until you can draw the
number “8”
. The fact that you can see it, means you have the proper batter texture
7. Pour the batter into the piping bag
8. Pipe shells into the heart silicone molds.
9. Rest for 30-45 minutes, then bake at 290°F for 15 minutes
10. Let it cool down for about 1-2 hours. Shells must be completely cold before retrieving it from the mold.
CHEESECAKE FILLING (GANACHE)
Ingredients
500g Philadelphia cream cheese (room temperature)
250g white chocolate
Few drops of Culinary Lavender extract
Directions
1. Warm white chocolate over a bain-marie (double boiler) until the chips are melted
2. Add few drops of Culinary lavender extract
3. Once the texture is smooth and homogeneous, pour ganache filling into piping bag
4. Refrigerate the bag until completely cold, for a better texture when piping.
5. Retrieve from refrigerator, and whip again to get a soft texture
6. Pipe the ganache on a macaron shell, then “sandwich” it
Assembly
Once the macarons are assembled, they are not ready to serve yet.
To get the signature crunch / soft balance of a macaron, you must wait at least one day prior to
serving. Because the filling will spread to the hard shells, creating that unique balance.
Pastreez shares their best tips on how to store macarons on their blog, if you are baking for a bigger event it might be helpful. Happy baking!
Culinary Lavender Extract from Lavender Life Company
