Pistacchio Macarons with Black Tea Lychee Chocolate Ganache

Pistacchio Macarons with Black Tea Lychee Chocolate Ganache

I was into making macarons for a very very short period quite a while ago. It is not difficult, but I am impatient and lack material for baking and cooling in bulk. Each time I would ruin them during the cooling process by stacking them one on top of the other.

I had a bar of Black Tea Lychee Chocolate from Carrefour from our ski trip in France last winter. I have a few packets of peeled pistacchios and almonds waiting to be used. I also have 2 opened packets of icing sugar that couldn't be used normally as they have formed huge lumps. Perfect for making Pistacchio Macarons with Black Tea Lychee Chocolate Ganache. Especially when the MIL had been complaining that I have never made her any.

I am still packing up for our short trip. Not that there is anything to pack as I have every intention of leaving with 2 empty luggages so that I could fill them up when we're there. I am currently just checking our flight, train and hotel reservations, directions to the museums we are going to visit, my booking for a musical, cinema screenings in case we would like to catch a movie...

Pistacchio Macarons with Black Tea Lychee Chocolate Ganache :

The Macarons :

200g Icing Sugar

60g ground peeled Almonds

65g ground peeled Pistacchios

3 Egg whites

A pinch of Salt

30g Sugar

A few drops of green food colouring

The Ganache :

100g Chocolate (minimum 50% cocoa butter)

60g Butter

25g Crème fraîche

Pulse the icing sugar, almonds and pistacchios together so as to remove any lumps.

In a big bowl whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt till they are firm and snowy. I usually use older eggs for this, sometimes even separating the yolks from the whites 3 days before and storing the latter in a tupperware container in the fridge.

Slowly add in the sugar and continue whisking till stiff peaks form. Add a few drops of green food colouring if desired.

Gently fold the nuts mixture into the egg white mixture. Let it rest for a few minutes.

Prepare a piping bag with a large round tip.

It's better to use silicon mats, but you'll be able to draw circles on baking paper if you use the latter instead.

Fill the piping bags with the dough and pipe out circles on the mats or baking paper.

Ideally, it's best to let the piped circles rest for at least 30 minutes if not overnight so that the tops have a chance to dry ("croûter"). The macarons may "grow legs" too if they were properly rested.

Heat the oven to 150°C. Place 2 empty trays in the bottom shelf. Bake the macarons on top of them so as to ensure that their insides remain soft and moist.

It will take 10-15 minutes depending on the size of your macarons. Hang around to make sure that they do not burn. I baked mine around midnight so they were not properly rested and I also burnt my first batch because I couldn't see clearly!

Let them cool a little before filling them with the ganache.

The ganache is very easy to make. I microwaved the chocolate pieces with the butter for 2 minutes and stirred with a spoon to mix them together. Then I stirred in the cream. Set aside to cool before filling the macarons with it.

Chill the filled macarons for a while before serving them.