TASTEscape: French Riviera

Information

Course: Petit Four 
Difficulty: Medium 
Serves: 30 
Time: 2hrs 15mins

Ingredients

Ground almond base

• 300g of ground almonds 
• 300g of icing sugar 
• 110g of egg white

Italian meringue base

• 110g of egg white 
• 300g of caster sugar 
• 55ml of water 
• 1g of purple food colouring 

Lavender and honey ganache

• 155g of whipping cream 
• 2g of lavender 
• 62g of honey 
• 140g of 64% dark chocolate 
• 20g of trimoline 
• 56g of unsalted butter, softened

Recipe

1. To make the macarons, begin with the ground almond base. Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of a food mixer and mix together to form a smooth paste. Set aside while making the Italian meringue 
2. Place the egg whites in a clean bowl of a standing mixer and start whisking on a low speed 
3. Meanwhile, place 280g of the caster sugar and the water in a pan over a medium-high heat to create a syrup. Heat through until the syrup reaches 'soft ball' stage, or 118°C on a sugar thermometer 
4. As the thermometer reaches 105°C, add the final 20g of caster sugar to the whisking egg whites to help stabilise the meringue, increasing the speed of the mixer at the same time 
5. As soon as the sugar syrup reaches 118°C, reduce the speed of the mixer and slowly pour the hot syrup down the side of the bowl into the egg white mixture. Once all of the syrup has been added, increase the whisking speed again for 1 minute 
6. Add the purple food colouring and whisk gently until the meringue has turned an even colour and has cooled to blood temperature – it should be thick and fluffy 
7. Gently fold the Italian meringue into the almond base a third at a time, mixing gently with a spatula until each third is fully incorporated before adding the next 
8. When the mixture is smooth and shiny, transfer to a piping bag with a plain 1cm nozzle and pipe 4.5cm rounds onto baking trays lined with silicone paper. Set aside to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow a dry skin to form 
9. Preheat the oven to 130°C/gas mark 1/2 
10. Once the macarons have dried, bake in the oven for 17–18 minutes – the discs should be just starting to peel off the paper. Allow to cool completely before filling 
11. To make the ganache filling, place the cream in a pan over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Take the pan off the heat, add the lavender then set aside to infuse for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, place the chocolate and trimoline in a blender 
12. Place the honey in a pan and cook over a medium heat until caramelised and gently smoking. Strain the infused cream into the hot honey (discarding the lavender) and bring the mixture to the boil 
13. Remove from the heat and pour the hot cream over the chocolate and trimoline in the blender. Leave for 30 seconds to start melting the chocolate then begin blending to create a smooth mixture 
14. Add the softened butter a little at a time, continuing to blend for at least another minute until glossy and smooth. Transfer to a piping bag and allow to cool and set before using 
15. When ready to assemble, pipe mounds of the ganache filling onto half of the discs then sandwich together with the remaining plain halves, pressing down gently so that the ganache just spreads to the edges