It was my best friend’s birthday last week and I made these Earl Grey Macarons for her. For my birthday, she baked me this incredible Snickers Cake, so I had to return the favour. She loves Earl Grey tea and when flicking through my Macarons cookbook, I knew I had to make these Earl Grey Macarons for her. The tea in the shells adds a lovely fresh hit of bergamot and the tea infused cream gives a real fresh brewed flavour to the ganache.

I first tasted Pierre Hermé’s macarons in Paris. They were so amazing, I dragged hubby back there the next day for more! And we were only there for 3 days. I am always amazed how much flavour can be packed into one tiny treat.

His book Macarons is fantastic and full of all his classic recipes. The book gives you step by step instructions and plenty of photos to ensure you get a good result. I have tried one other of his recipes, Macaron Eden (Peach, Apricot and Saffron) and they do not disappoint.

The ingredient list is ordered a bit strangely, but it’s the order you need to use the ingredients. There are two lots of egg whites listed.

The amount of tea leaves in the shells differs to the original recipe. I misread and added the amount meant for the cream, but it turned out to be a delicious mistake. The powdered leaves give a lovely speckled pattern to the shells so I don’t think they need any food colouring.

 

Pierre Hermé’s Earl Grey Tea Macarons
makes about 72

For the ganache:
385g thickened cream
20g Earl Grey tea leaves (I used Twinings)
400g milk chocolate (I used Cadburys)
70g butter, chopped into small cubes

For the macaron batter:
300g ground almonds
300g icing sugar
20g Earl Grey tea leaves (I used Twinings)
3 vanilla beans

110g aged egg whites
300g white sugar
75g water
110g aged egg whites

To make the ganache, bring cream to a boil, remove from heat add the tea leaves. Cover. Let steep for 5 minutes. Strain cream into a jug. Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Add the cream into the melted chocolate in 3 batches, stirring to combine between each addition. My chocolate looked a little like it had seized when I added the first batch, but it was fine by the end. Add the butter and stir to combine.

Transfer the mixture into a shallow dish. Push cling film onto the ganache to cover. Chill in the fridge until ready to use. The ganache can be made several days in advance. You will need to let it warm to room temperature when ready to pipe.

To make the macaron shells, sift ground almonds and icing sugar together. Grind up the 20g Earl Grey tea leaves with either a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Add to almond/sugar mix. Split the vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds. Add to the almond/sugar mixture and stir though. Pour the first batch of egg whites over almond/sugar mixture but do not mix.

Put the white sugar and water into a medium saucepan and start to bring to 118°C on the candy thermometer. When it gets to 115°C, start beating the second batch of egg whites. A stand mixer is preferred, but handheld will do just as good. When the sugar syrup gets to 118°C, switch the mixer to high speed and pour sugar syrup in slowly, continue beating on high speed for 2 minutes, the whites will get thick and glossy. Beat on medium until it cools to 50°C.

Add a third of the meringue to the sugar/almond/egg white mixture and fold in thoroughly. You can be pretty rough with this first batch. Add the remainder of the meringue and fold gently. The batter should be thick, but slightly runny. If it’s too thick, whip it a little more. My mixture was slightly too stiff, so my shells are a little smaller and taller than they are meant to be.

Prepare a piping bag with a plain tip (I used a #12). Put the batter into the bag and pipe circles onto baking paper. I printed out this template and put it under my baking paper. Rap the baking sheets on the bench to get any air bubbles out of the shells.

Leave the shells to sit for 30 minutes to 2 hours to allow a skin to form. I left mine for 30 minutes, they were just fine.

Bake in a preheated oven at 150°C to 180°C. Bake for approx 12 minutes, opening and closing the oven door at the 8 and 10 minute mark. This lets out any steam. When done, remove from the oven and transfer the baking paper from the tray to your work bench. Repeat with your remaining trays. Leave the shells on the baking paper until completely cool. They should then come off the paper easily.

PH recommends testing the oven temp with a few shells. To get my oven to read 150°C, I had it set on a temperature of 112°C. I baked my shells for 14 mins. If I had my oven any higher the shells browned a bit. The shells are not meant to take on any colour. Once the cooked shells are cooled, it’s a good idea to pair them up for filling. 

To assemble the macarons, put the ganache into a piping bag fitted with a plain tip (I used a #12). Pipe a generous amount of filling onto one shell and top with its partner. Keep in refrigerator for 24 hours. Remove from the refrigerator 2 hours before serving.

This recipe does make a huge amount, but the filled macarons freeze really well, so I recommend making the full amount. That way, when you feel like a macaron, you can just pull one out of the freezer. Hubby has advised me that they taste good straight from the freezer. I prefer to let them thaw out first.