Lavender Earl Grey Macarons with that "Easter Speckle"
I've always loved the speckled Easter egg effect on a macaron and after my Easter Egg macaron tutorial two years ago, I wanted to recreate this effect again but this time, the speckles would be embedded inside of the macaron instead of splattered on top with food colouring. We can achieve this effect naturally by adding some earl grey tea and lavender buds into the macaron batter. The resulting batter is one that looks neatly speckled without colors that will rub off on your fingers, and the bonus is that it's also packed with flavour.
Easter Bunny Macarons with their Speckled Eggs
Since I had a chance to show you how to make Easter egg macarons already, I decided to make this year's Easter macarons into a shape of an Easter Bunny. To pipe them, just print out the two brand new macaron templates I created for you: Sitting Bunny and Bunny Face macaron template. They are available exclusively for my newsletter subscribers. Just sign up for the newsletter and wait for the double opt-in confirmation email. Confirm your subscription and you’ll be sent the password to the Subscriber’s Only Area.
A Chocolate Ganache Infused with Lavender and Earl Grey
To finish off these bunnies, I created this chocolate ganache infused with lavender and earl grey tea. It's one of the easier macaron fillings in my recipe box but yet oh so good! And who says there's anything wrong with easy? After spending so much time piping these macaron bunnies with macaron batter, easy is welcomed! Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time (preferably, the night before) to macerate the heavy cream with the tea leaves and lavender buds. I think the ratios in this recipe work perfectly with the lavender earl grey macaron shells. It has just the right amount of both ingredients, which is especially important when working with lavender since too much of it can make your desserts taste like soap. If you plan on making the ganache for use in a plain unflavored macaron shell, I would recommend increasing the amount of lavender and tea leaves in the maceration process.
Naturally speckled Lavender and Earl Grey tea infused macarons shaped like the Easter Bunny.
- 1/2 tsp. Earl Grey Tea Leaves
- 1/2 tsp. lavender buds
- 65 grams heavy cream (only 50 grams is needed after maceration)
- 50 grams semi-sweet baking chocolate
- 10 grams butter
- 1 tsp lavender buds
- 1 tsp earl grey tea leaves (preferably from tea bag)
- 65 grams almond flour
- 55 grams powdered sugar/icing sugar
- 45 grams granulated sugar
- 50 grams aged egg whites
- 1/8 tsp Cream of tartar
- A few drops of purple gel food colour
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In a small pot bring the heavy cream, lavender buds and Earl Grey tea to a light simmer. Take off heat. Once cooled, place in the fridge to macerate overnight.
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The next day, pour the mixture through a strainer. Keep 50 grams of the macerated cream for our current use.
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Chop up chocolate into small pieces, place in a bowl with the butter.
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Bring the 50 grams of macerated cream to a light simmer.
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Pour over chopped chocolate and butter, let it sit for 1 minute.
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Stir until incorporated. Let it cool to set before transferring to piping bag.
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Print out the bunny macaron template provided in post.
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Set aged egg whites out at room temperature.
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Pulse Earl Grey tea leaves, lavender buds, almond flour and powdered sugar together in a food processor.
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Sift dry ingredients. Discard big pieces of almond that can't be sifted.
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Split up the dry ingredients into two equal parts to make two different colored macaron batters.
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IF YOU ARE NEW TO MAKING MACARONS, please read the instructions to my BEST MACARON RECIPE before attempting to follow the rest of the instructions since it is condensed for the advanced macaron baker.
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With the balloon whisk attached, whip the room temperature egg whites on low-medium speed.
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Add cream of tartar when it becomes foamy.
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Turn up the speed to medium.
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Once the whisk starts to leave tracks in the egg whites, add sugar a little at a time.
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Turn the speed up to medium-high and whip until stiff peaks.
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Split up the meringue into two equal parts.
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Add the purple gel colour to one set of meringue. Leave the other set uncolored for white.
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Fold the almond flour and meringue together until the batter becomes a "lava" or honey-like consistency.
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Transfer batter into 2 piping bags fitted with a #6 round piping tip.
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On parchment paper or silicone mats, pipe the round head first with the "main" color. Do this part for every bunny first, this will allow time for the different parts to develop a thin skin. Do not attempt to pipe one whole bunny at a time.
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Pipe a small dab of batter with the inverse color for the center of the bunny's ears. Do this for every bunny before moving onto next step.
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Pipe the bunny's main body with the main color. Do this for every bunny before moving onto next step.
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Fill in the rest of the ears with the main color. Do this for every bunny before moving onto next step.
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Pipe the bunny's tail with the inverse color.
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Wait until the shells become completely dry before baking. This is critical to prevent cracking.
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Bake at 325F for 16 minutes. Every oven is different, you may need to adjust your own temperature settings. Please read How to Use Home Oven Properly for Baking Macarons if you are unsure.
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Once baked, let cool completely before removing from the baking mat/parchment paper.
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Pair two similar sized bunnies, fill them with the Lavender Earl Grey Chocolate Ganache filling. Place in an airtight container in the fridge and wait for it to set before decorating.
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Add eyes, nose and wreath with some 15-second royal icing (recipe below). Place in an airtight container in the fridge and wait for it to dry completely before packaging.
The lavender Earl Grey filling was created to pair with a flavoured macaron shell. If making this filling for a non-flavoured shell, increase the amount of lavender and tea to 1-1 1/2 teaspoon, respectively.
A small batch of royal icing with the consistency that is perfect for piping minor details onto macarons.
- 40 grams icing sugar
- 1 tsp meringue powder
- 3 tsp water
- Small spray bottle filled with water
- Gel food color of your choice
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Sift icing sugar and meringue powder into a mixing bowl.
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Add 1-2 tsp of water to the dry mixture and stir with a spatula to get the mixture going. If it's still lumpy, add another 1 tsp of water and stir again.
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With the spray bottle, slowly spritz water onto the mixture until it reaches the proper consistency of a "15 second" icing. When a knife cuts through the icing, it will take 15 second for the cut to disappear.
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If it's still too thick, spritz more water. If it's too runny, add more icing sugar.
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Optional: Split up the icing and add gel food color to the mixture and mix gently until fully incorporated.
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Place in a piping bag and seal the ends so the icing doesn't dry out.
Details of the Big Easter Macaron Cake
If you want to take your Easter macarons to the next level, try building this big macaron cake. I used the basic principles in How to Bake a Big Macaron Cake to bake the big macaron shells. Then I filled it with Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream which you'll find in my Sakura Macaron Cake tutorial. For the green "leaf" effect, I piped the cream with a Atecco #352 or Wilton#68 leaf tip.
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This is Part 1 of 2 of what I shared with Deborah Moore on AM1470 on March 27, 2018, Part 2 Afternoon Tea at H Tasting Lounge in the Westin Bayshore is here.
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Mimi says
Cute interpretation of carrot macarons using the carrot template.
Mimi says
Super cute bunnies made by Marvin Vierman with bunny template.
Mimi says
Reader's interpretation of bunny macarons using the bunny macaron template provided in post:
Mimi says
Beautiful reader work with the bunny macaron template:
