hLavender and hibiscus have to be my favorite flowers to work with in food. When I think of lavender, what comes to my mind, immediately are the lavender fields in Napa Valley! Almost all wineries have the lavender bushes, and the smell is intoxicating. I have a few lavender shrubs in my garden as well, and I love to brush the lavender flowers between my palms and get the fragrant whiff!
I have been wanting to make this flavor combination for a long time, and I finally got around to doing it. There are so many fun flavor combinations to try and I will be showcasing a couple more flavors in the upcoming months. Itching to try them 🙂 Experimenting is always so fun and when the combination works it gets a place on my blog 🙂 .
These are Lavender Macarons with an Elderflower Liqueur Buttercream! I used culinary grade dried lavender, that I purchased from Amazon, and lavender extract ( from @mesonutso – love this brand) in the shell. I always like to flavor the shell too, along with the buttercream for double the fun! The buttercream has elderflower liqueur – I used St. Germain. I simply love the fragrance of this liqueur and it makes fantastic cocktails as well! You just need a tab bit in cocktails to impart the taste/fragrance! The combination works, and I loved it so much!
I streaked them with edible glitter paint on top of each macaron to give it a luxurious and elegant feel. My daughter saw the edible paints and started painting a scene on the macarons! She did like an underwater ocean scene on one of them and it was so pretty! I will have to try her idea next time I make macarons! 🙂 She is such a little artist, and comes up with really fun ideas on decoration and very original! Always so fun to see budding artists doing wonderful things.
These macarons are so delicious with a cuppa cappuccino or espresso, as the sweet complements well with the bitterness of the coffee.
Well, I hope you get to try them, and if so, please do not forget to tag me on Instagram with #thejamlab and/or leave a comment on my blog post.
Much love and light.
XO
Amisha
Ingredients
- 7 ounces confectioners sugar
- 4 ounces almond flour
- 4 large(4 ounces) egg whites, room temperature
- Pinch of cream of tartar
- 3.5 ounces granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon lavender extract
- 1 1/2 tbsp dried lavender flowers
- few drops of purple color
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
- pinch of kosher salt
- 2 tbsp Elderflower Liqueur
- 4 cups confectioners sugar ( the buttercream should not be runny, it should be firm, but pipeable at the same time)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 310 degrees. Line baking sheets with the paper templates, and top with the parchment paper.
- Grind the dried lavender in a coffee grinder to a powder form.
- In a bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse confectioner's sugar with the almond flour, and the lavender powder until a fine powder is formed. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl. Using a drum sieve, sift mixture three times into a large bowl. Set aside.
- To make the meringue: In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add granuated sugar. Once all the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is thick, scrap down the sides of the bowl, add the vanilla and lavender extract and the drops of purple color and increase the speed to high, whipping until stiff, firm, glossy peaks form for atleast 10 minutes.
- To complete the macaronnage step: Sift the almond flour mixture, one-third at a time, over the egg white mixture, and fold using a large spatula until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Once all the almond flour mixture is incorporated check for the correct consistency, the batter should be firm, have a glossy shine and drip smoothly from the spatula. Make sure that the entire almond mixture is incorporated. This step is very important. If you overwhip the batter will be too runny so do not overwhip. It should flow like lava, slowly but form ribbons.
- Transfer the batter to a pastry bag filled with a 1/2 inch plain round tip(#12), and pipe 1 1/3 inch rounds on parchment-lined baking sheets. Gentle tap the bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Do this step atleast 5-7 times. If they have a tip, gently pat it down with your wet finger. Let stand at room temperature for 45 minutes atleast. Check for a slight crust to form on the macaron. The macarons should not stick to your finger when lightly touched.
- Bake one sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macarons are crisp and firm, about 15 minutes.
- Allow macarons to cool on the baking sheets for 30 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.
- In a stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment, add the butter and salt and whip until light and creamy about 2 minutes.
- Add the sugar, elderflower liqueur and vanilla to a whipped butter and mix until the ingredients are well combined and the mixture is smooth about 2 minutes.Use a pastry bag to pipe the macaron shells, one at a time, and top with another macaron shell gently.
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