Batch #16 - Morello Cherry White Chocolate Ganache & Lime-Lemon Macarons

We haven't made a batch of macarons for ages!  Partly due to laziness, partly due to the busy end of year social activities involved with having 3 kids, but mostly because my good old Mixmaster has gone to mixer heaven (actually it's in a box of old broken kitchen appliances waiting to be disposed of....)  This batch was made both to impress for my colleagues at my new work (yes, I'm the new kid bringing lollies to the new school to make friends!), and to celebrate the arrival of my niece into the world (and hence the pink macarons!)

Thanks to some internet research, DJ's new price matching policy, and a few seredipidous gift vouchers, Christmas has arrived early and we are the fortunate owners of a new Kitchen Aid!  I am still amazed at how efficient this machine is, and what a great job it does!  (And yes I am still entranced by it's "planetary motion"!)  No excuses now for not baking! 

My main problem this time was still due to a struggle with variable oven temperature.  Having to bake 7-8 trays, and requiring frequent opening and closing of the oven door, meant that I had to keep a really close eye on the shells and vary the baking time by 2-5 minutes each tray.  Unfortunately that's not so easy while entertaining my 3 busy kids, so I had some nicer shells, and some slightly darker ones with funnier feet. 

Blah, the shell on the right got more heat, and appears darker with
messier feet, whereas the one on the left is a tad undercooked, with
stickier, softer undersides.

For this batch I experimented with food coloring to create a splatter effect.  This is probably the cheapest and coolest way of decorating macaron shells I've come across yet - all you need is food coloring of your choice, and a (preferably!) unused toothbrush!  Short of dropping the whole bottle of coloring on the shells, you can't really go wrong, and I love the look of these shells, with the randomly artistic splatters giving each of them an individual look! 

Despite the variation in the shells, once you match, and sandwich the shells together with the filling, the product still looks pretty good, if I should say so myself! 

For the pink macarons I made a white chocolate ganache with Yarra Valley white coverture chocolate and double cream, and sandwiched some Sunny Ridge Morello Cherry Jam at Little One's request.   The kids tend to like the pink macarons more, whereas the adults all seem to prefer the zingy lime-lemon ones!



Pretty pink macarons for my niece!



Lessons Learned -

• To achieve the splatter effect, place a small amount of colouring into a small bowl.  Dip the tip of a new toothbrush into the colouring, and gently flick the bristles with your finger over the top of the shells after you've piped all the shells (so that they have had about 5-10 minutes to rest.)  I would recommend using a glove on the hand you're flicking the toothbrush with, or you'll end up with a green finger for a few days like I did!