Macarons are a very delicate and beloved pastry that comes from France made of egg whites, sugar, and almond flour. Typical fillings are buttercream or ganache. They’re most popular during high tea or at baby and/or wedding showers.
Amy Lu, a self-taught baker and the creator/owner behind Charming Desserts, an online dessert shop based in Markham, Ontario was asked to create a tea-infused recipe using one of teAlchemy’s signature blends and she created the below macaron recipe using the Dung Ti Oolong.
“I was attracted to its delicate, aromatic and sweet taste,” says Lu who infused the tea into the ganache filling along with white couverture chocolate and cream.
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Oolong Tea Macarons Recipe
For the shells ~
42g almond flour
75g icing sugar
45g egg white (room temperature)
25g granulated sugar
Method
Sift almond flour and icing sugar together into a bowl.
Mix egg whites in an electronic mixer at speed 6 until it becomes foamy. Gradually add the sugar to the egg whites and then increase the speed to 7.
Continue mixing the meringue until it reaches a medium-stiff peak. Fold in half of the almond/sugar mixture into the meringue in a circular motion.
Incorporate the remaining half of the almond/sugar mixture into the meringue. Continue folding until the batter falls back slowly. When the spatula is lifted, the batter should create a ribbon, but disappear within 5 seconds.
Transfer the batter into a piping bag with a 1-cm circle tip. Pipe out circles onto a piece of parchment paper on a baking tray, around 2-inch in diameter. Rap the bottom of the baking tray to remove air pockets and to flatten the batter. You may add chopped tea leaves on top at this time, if desired. Let piped out macarons rest for 45 minutes before placing them into the oven.
Preheat oven to 250F and bake macarons for 24 minutes, rotating the tray half way through.
Allow macarons to cool on the baking sheet. Once fully cooled, you may pipe a dollop of oolong tea white ganache onto every other shell and sandwich two shells together.
For the white ganache filling ~
7g Dung Ti oolong tea leaves
50g boiling water
60g white couverture chocolate
45g whipping cream (35%)
Method
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave in 25 second intervals until completely melted. Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate over a double boiler if preferred.
Place the whipping cream into a sauce pan and remove from heat once it boils.
Add the boiling water to the oolong tea leaves and let steep for 2 minutes. This will allow the leaves to open and let out its flavour. Place the tea leaves into the hot cream with a lid on, and allow the cream to infuse the oolong tea for 5 minutes. Strain the leaves and add the cream to the melted white chocolate half at a time, until fully incorporated.
Cover the oolong tea white ganache with plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator to set. If the ganache becomes too firm to pipe out, place it into the microwave for 5-10 seconds until it is a spreadable consistency.
