Gingerbread Macarons
Welp, I finally took down my December calendar today and replaced it with one that starts with "January 2019" so I guess you could say 2018 is officially over. That may seem so, but the holidays are still going strong here in my apartment. I won't give into this non-holiday nonsense until my wreath tells me it's ready to come down off the lantern, and she hasn't given any hint to that just yet. So, I'll commence with the holiday season recipes for just a weeee bit longer over here, and today we're talking about something super flavorful and delicious: this gingerbread macaron recipe!
I have soooo many macaron recipes on this blog (seriously just search 'macarons' and you'll be able to pull them all up) but I'm always looking for new macaron flavors to experiment with. I've been following the baker Bryony Cooks for over a year now and I'm such a huge fan of her creative recipes. Bryony is a fellow macaron aficionado and I've had my eye on this gingerbread macaron recipe of hers for a while.
Yes, gingerbread is typically a very holiday flavor, but I'm going to start a petition to make gingerbread macarons a year-round treat. These are really good because there are distinctly warm, spicy flavors baked into the macaron cookies and there are bits of chopped crystallized ginger in the chocolate ganache. Overall it's one of the best macaron recipes I've had the pleasure of tasting, if I do say so myself. Many thanks to Bryony!
So, if you're as big of a fan of gingerbread as I am, you'll be ready to make these macarons during the spring, summer, and all year long. If this is your first time baking macarons, I recommend taking a peek at this blog post with tips on how to make gorgeous macarons. Keep in mind that it took me about 5 months to make semi-presentable macarons, so you likely won't get them absolutely perfect on your first try (and if you do, wow), but keep on trying. Being able to whip up macarons for fun is one of my proudest baking feats, and once you get the hang of it you'll become addicted, too!
Recipe
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
137g almond flour
125g powdered sugar
105g sugar
105g egg whites
1 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
Filling
100g dark chocolate, chopped
4 tbsp almond milk
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. crystallized ginger, finely chopped
Optional: Hershey's fudge, to decorate the shells
Directions
Shells
Put the almond flour, powdered sugar, and spices in a food processor and blend thoroughly until well combined. Sift into a bowl, and discard any lumps that remain in the sifter.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the egg whites on medium until they begin to foam. Slowly pour in the sugar and continue to beat. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase speed to medium high and beat the meringue until it forms stiff peaks (this can take upwards of five minutes, keep a close eye on it and don't step away from the mixer).
Dump the dry almond flour/sugar mixture into the meringue and fold with a rubber spatula until combined. This process can be tricky, as you want to make sure the batter is well incorporated but not too runny. You'll know when to stop when you're able to form a ribbony figure-8 with the batter that flattens back into the rest of the mixture. The texture will be a lava-like consistency that you'll be able to recognize after a bit of practice (read: trial and error).
Pipe the batter onto a macaron baking sheets so you can get those perfect circles. Drop the tray on the table a few times from all directions to remove air bubbles. Let the shells sit for about 30 minutes before baking. The shells should be smooth to the touch and no longer sticky.
Preheat your oven to 300°F, and bake the shells for about 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.
Filling
Place the chocolate in a medium bowl.
Heat the almond milk in a sauce pan until just boiling, then pour over the chocolate. Add the spices and crystallized ginger and let the mixture sit for a few minutes until the chocolate softens.
When it's ready, thoroughly mix the chocolate together until a smooth ganache is formed. Let it sit in the fridge for a few minutes just so it can regain a bit of shape.
When ready to create the macaron sandwiches, start out by pairing your shells together. Next, spoon generous circles onto half of the shells, and then top them with the remaining shells. At this point I brushed a small bit of Hershey's fudge onto the top shells to decorate.
Refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to fully develop before enjoying.
Adapted From: Bryony Cooks