Lavender macarons

I’m one of those ‘safe’ macaron flavours person; if I begin to pick macarons out at a shop, I would naturally gravitate towards certain flavours like salted caramel, hazelnut praline, vanilla and  dark chocolate.

My chosen box of macarons would be in varying shades of creams and browns – not a palette of colours that one would associate with a box of macarons. Even when baking macarons at home, I find myself baking those same flavours.

This time, I decided to venture out of my comfort zone, to add another colour to that box. Lavender seems to be a natural choice since I really like the flavour that comes through in my baked goods like sable bretons, lavender and blueberry friands, and milk chocolate and lavender tarts.

I adapted the recipe for the shell from my basic macaron recipe and added blitzed up lavender buds. You would be surprised what a quarter of a teaspoon of lavender can do.

For the macaron fillings, I wanted something that would complement and enhance the flavour of the lavender shells. I decided to go with two flavours of buttercream for these macarons, filling half with vanilla and the other half with honey lavender. While you can almost always rely on a good vanilla buttercream to go with lavender, I think I enjoyed the more pronounced honey lavender buttercream. Honey a really fine partner for lavender and it should be used with lavender more often.

I’m really glad that I took that leap out of my comfort zone because I think these are likely going to be my new favourite.

And you have to agree the pastel purple of these macarons is so girly and sweet? I think these lavender macarons are befitting the Queen of macarons, Marie Antoinette, if I say so myself.

Can you imagine these sweet-looking little snacks making an appearance on her tea trolley amidst other chi-chi Parisien tea snacks?

Recipe: Lavender macarons
Makes 40 regular macarons

These lavender macarons have that subtle lavender and pleasant floral flavour. They taste wonderful paired with a plain, simple vanilla buttercream or a floral honey lavender buttercream.

For more tips and details on macaron making, refer to my previous posts – How to make chocolate macarons and Seeking perfection: Fleur de sel caramel macarons.

Macaron shells

Ingredients:

Group 1:
150g ground almond meal
150g icing sugar
1/4 tsp culinary lavender buds
60g *egg whites, room temperature (*aged if possible)

Group 2:
150g caster sugar
30ml water
60g *egg whites, room temperature (*aged if possible)
a few drops of purple food colouring, I use wilton colour paste (go easy on the colour!)

Method:

1. Prepare your baking trays: Place baking parchment on trays.
2. Dry the ground almond meal in a 50 degrees celcius oven for approximately 10 minutes. Then process it in a food processor with the icing sugar and lavender buds.
3. Sift the ground almond meal and icing sugar in a bowl and whisk with egg whites in group 1 until you get a smooth paste.
4. Place egg whites from group 2 into a greasefree* mixer bowl.
5. Heat sugar and water mixture in a clean stainless steel pot on medium heat. Just use a clean pastry brush and tap water to brush down the sugar on the sides of the pan. Once the sugar mixture reaches 105 degrees celcius, start the mixer and whisk the egg whites to soft peaks.
6. When the sugar mixture reaches 118 degrees celcius, remove pot from stove and add the colour paste before immersing the pot into a basin of warm water to halt the cooking process.
7. Once the sugar mixture stop bubbling profusely, wipe the bottom of the pot dry before you begin to pour the mixture in a steady stream into the egg whites while the mixer is on high speed. Whisk at maximum speed for about 5 minutes before turning down to medium speed for about 3-4 minutes. Then, let the meringue cool slightly at low speed.
8. Once the meringue has cooled, incorporate a large scoop of meringue into the group 1 ingredients. Fold to combine.
9. Then, add the rest of the meringue into the group 1 ingredients and fold through gently.
10. When it is well-combined, smear the mixture against the sides of the bowl with your spatula to achieve macaronage. This should be done about 10- 12 times to achieve a smooth, glossy mixture, without holding peaks. When you lift your spatula, the mixture should fall in about 5-6 seconds. The consistency should be similar to your choux pastry mixture.
11. When it is done, pipe the macaron shells onto a baking sheet. Stop piping once the mixture reaches the inner edges of the circumference. The mixture will spread a little.
12. Let the macarons rest for about 30-45 minutes in an air-conditioned environment  until they have form a skin and the batter does not stick to your fingers when you touch it.
13. Bake in a preheated oven on the center rack at 150 degrees celcius for about 15-18 minutes. You can remove them from the oven once the bases are dry. You can try lifting one shell out to test.
14. Cool the macaron shells before attempting to peel them off the baking sheet.

Vanilla buttercream
fills 40 regular macarons

Ingredients:
120g unsalted butter, softened
200g icing sugar, sifted
2-3 tbsp full cream milk
1 tsp vanilla bean extract/
or 1/2 vanilla bean, split

Method:

1. Start by creaming the butter on medium speed for 3 minutes. Butter should start to look pale and light. Add in half of the  sifted icing sugar and cream on medium-high speed until combined. Then add the remaining icing sugar and cream for 5 minutes.

2. Add in the vanilla bean extract/vanilla bean and milk and beat on medium-high speed for another 5 minutes. The buttercream should be smooth, fluffy and of spreadable consistency.

Honey lavender buttercream
Fills 40 regular macarons

Ingredients:
120g butter
160g icing sugar
1.5 tsp honey, prefably floral honey like clover honey
1-2 tbsp *lavender milk

*Lavender milk can be prepared by steeping 1/4 tsp of lavender buds to warmed milk for about 1 hr.

Method:
1. Start by creaming the butter on medium speed for 3 minutes. Butter should start to look pale and light. Add in half of the  sifted icing sugar and cream on medium-high speed until combined. Then add the remaining icing sugar and cream for 5 minutes.

2. Add in honey and the lavender milk and beat on medium-high speed for another 5 minutes. The buttercream should be smooth, fluffy and of spreadable consistency.

To assemble:

1. Pair up similar sized macaron shells together before you begin piping the filling.
2. Using a plain nozzle size no 8 or 10, pipe the buttercream filling onto the center of a macaron shell and place the second shell on top of it and twist it gently until the filling comes right to the edges of the macaron.
3. Place it into the fridge to allow the macarons to mature at least 24 hours before consuming. This maturation process is important for the macaron shells to absorb the flavours and moisture from the filling giving it a nice chewy center.

* Finish the matured macarons within 1-2 days otherwise the shell will be too soft.

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