I absolutely love baking. I love how it calms my mind after a stressful day – the precision of the measuring and technique distracts me from all the worries and life’s to-do lists. In the moment, it’s just you and the recipe and the wooden spoon. One of my favourite things to do lately when baking, is it create hybrid desserts. It sounds sciency, but it’s basically ‘smooshing’ two recipes together to create one super dessert. In the big food world, they call these ‘Double Desserts’ and I have written about them before. What’s better than one dessert? Well, two. Duh. There is no logic in the world, that could find fault in that conclusion.
Now it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that my favourite holiday is Easter. Chocolate AND fluffy bunnies? Who doesn’t like chocolate and bunnies! But I also love hot cross buns and even though we get them all year round, I flat out refuse to eat them at any other time, except the month leading up to Easter. Toasted with oozy melty butter, thanks. This got me to thinking what else I could infuse with delicious hot cross bun flavour. So, I give you, the hot cross bun macaron!
Hot Cross Bun Macarons
Makes 50 A LITTLE EFFORT
150g almond flour
150g Natura Sugars Demerara Icing Sugar
Pinch of fine salt
55g + 55g egg whites
150g granulated white sugar
40ml water
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
Orange White Chocolate Ganache:
125ml cream
15g butter
zest of 1 orange
250g The Kate Tin White Baking Chocolate, chopped
Extra white baking chocolate, melted for the crosses
- Line 2 x baking trays with baking paper (not silicone baking mats).
- Place the ground almonds, icing sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until fine. Sift the mixture twice and pulse any remaining lumps until they pass through the sieve.
- Add 55g egg whites to the ground almond-icing sugar mixture along with the spices. Do not stir. Set aside.
- Place the remaining 55g egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Simmer until the syrup reaches 115 degrees Celsius on a sugar thermometer. Start whisking the egg whites until they reach soft peak stage. When the syrup reaches 118 degrees, pour the hot syrup down the side of the bowl into the egg whites in a steady stream. Continue whisking until the meringue is thick, glossy and still warm to the touch.
- Fold the almond icing sugar mix into the meringue in two parts, using a metal spoon or spatula.
- Keep folding until the batter is glossy and forms a thick lava-like ribbon when dropped off the spoon (to test, drop a blob on the baking tray and tap 3 times – it should spread nicely).
- Place in a piping bag and pipe 5 cm rounds, leaving enough room for spreading (use my template for best results!).
- Tap the baking tray firmly on the work surface 3 times to remove the bubbles and for the macarons to spread slightly. Allow to stand at room temperature for 45-55 minutes or until the surface of the macaron no longer feels tacky to the touch (it shouldn’t stick to your finger).
- Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius and move your oven rack to just below the middle rack.
- When the oven is ready, place one tray of macarons in the middle of the oven and bake for 12-13 minutes. They are ready when the feet feel firm. Allow them to cool on the baking tray before removing them.
- To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate, butter and zest in a bowl. Heat the cream to just below boiling point and pour over the chopped chocolate. Allow to stand for 5 minutes then stir until smooth. Cover with cling wrap and allow to set at room temperature. Depending on how hot it is, this may take a few hours. You can speed up the process by refrigerating it for 30 minutes and checking the consistency every now and then. It should be spreadable.
- Use the melted white chocolate to pipe crosses onto half the macarons.
- Pipe a blob of white chocolate ganache on the other half the macarons and sandwich the macaron shells together.
- Leave them for a day after filling (refrigerated) so they absorb the moisture from the filling and become chewy.
- Filled macarons freeze exceptionally well. Layer them in an airtight container with baking or wax paper in between each layer and freeze. Simply defrost and allow to come to room temperature before serving.