Macaron Love: Earl Grey Macarons + Honey Buttercream

My absolute favorite tea is Earl Grey. And one of my absolute favorite things to eat straight from the jar is honey.

I'm also quite fond of macarons, so this is definitely one of my new favorite things to make. It tastes like a cup of Earl Grey with honey in it :-)

Earl Grey Macarons + Honey Buttercream

(Macaron recipe adapted from here)

Makes 14-15 Macarons

Earl Grey Macaron shells:

Ingredients:

• 80 g ground almonds, sieved to remove large particles
• 130 g powdered sugar
• 2 satchels of Earl Grey tea, ground to a fine powder
• 2 large egg whites, room temperature (~66-70 g)
• 20 g granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• Splash of vinegar

Method:

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift the powdered sugar and tea powder into the almonds. Stir to combine.
3. Wipe a large, clean bowl with a paper towel covered in vinegar.
4. Put in the egg whites, and whip until bubblebath-y.
5. Add the cream of tartar, and whip until doubled in volume.
6. Sprinkle in the granulated sugar, in 3-4 batches, and whip until stiffened (like shaving cream. Not quite stiff peaks, but stiff enough that if you held the bowl upside down, it wouldn't come out. Also, still moist and shiny and the peak will curl down a little)
7. Fold in the almond mixture in about 4 batches.
8. Fold until completely combined and the batter flows in a thick, slow ribbon.
9. Put into a piping bag, and pipe small, 1-inch circles on the baking sheets.
10. Poke down any points with a dampened finger.
11. Hit against a table, counter top, your knees, etc. so that the piped circles flatten a bit.
12. Let rest for 30-45 minutes.
13. In the last few minutes, preheat the oven to 300° F.
14. Place the baking sheets upon a larger one and place in the center of the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 8-9 minutes.
15. Turn down the over temperature to 290° F and bake for another 4-5 minutes, depending on size (take out when the shells are hard and dry).
16. Let cool completely and remove from parchment paper.
17. Pipe half of the cookies with honey buttercream and sandwich a plain cookie on top.
18. Enjoy!

Honey Buttercream

(adapted slightly from here)

Ingredients:

• 2 egg yolks
• 1/3 c. white granulated sugar
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1+1/3 sticks butter

Method:

1. In a medium sized bowl, beat the egg yolks with a mixer until they become pale in color.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, honey and water.
3. Without stirring, let the mixture reach ~230° F.
4. While mixing the eggs, slowly pour the sugar mixture into a thin steam.
5. Once all of the sugar mixture is added, turn the mixture to high speed and beat the mixture until it reaches room temperature (~15 minutes).
6. Turn down the mixer to low, and add in the vanilla.
7. Once combined, add in the butter, 1 tbsp. at a time, slowly. Mix to combine after every addition of butter.
8. Pipe into macaron shells, sandwich with a plain cookie, and enjoy with a cup of Earl Grey!

TA-DA!