Lavender & Blackberry Macarons with Crystallized Ginger
Lavender macaron shells filled with blackberry buttercream and a piece of crystallized ginger.
Servings 30 macarons
Calories 86kcal
Ingredients
Lavender Macaron Shells
- 133 g powdered sugar
- 133 g almond flour
- 2 tsps dried lavender buds
- 127 g egg whites room temperature (about 4 eggs)
- 127 g sugar
- 3/4 tsp egg white powder optional
- 4 drops violet gel color
Easy Blackberry Buttercream
- 1 oz pasteurized carton egg whites
- 4 oz powdered sugar sifted
- 4 oz unsalted butter softened
- 3- 5 drops blackberry flavor
- 2 drops violet gel color
- 1 drop black gel color
Filling
- 1 oz crystallized ginger chopped
Instructions
Lavender Macaron Shells
- Prepare 2 baking sheets with silicone mats, teflon, or templates and parchment paper. Fit a piping bag with a round piping tip. Set aside. Preheat oven to 285°F.
- Pulse the almond flour, powdered sugar, and lavender buds in a food processor and sift into a bowl. Discard any large chunks. Whisk the dry ingredients and set aside.
- In a clean stand mixer bowl, add egg whites, sugar, and egg white powder (if using). Whisk to combine and place bowl over a double boiler. Heat, whisking regularly, until the sugar dissolves, about 90 seconds. Remove the bowl from the double boiler and carefully dry off the bottom.
- Place the bowl in the stand mixer and whisk on a medium speed (KitchenAid 4) until you almost have stiff peaks, 7- 10 minutes. Add your gel color. Beat until you have stiff peaks, another 3- 5 minutes.
- Add the dry ingredients to the meringue and begin folding the ingredients together. Once everything is combined, continue folding until the batter flows slowly like lava.
- Pipe macaron shells onto prepared baking sheets. If you'd like, top some of the piped macarons with pieces of lavender buds. Let the macarons dry until you can lightly brush the tops with your finger (15 mins for me). Bake for 20- 22 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Gently poke a shell, if it is firm, remove the tray from the oven to cool. If they wiggle, add another minute or two.
- Let the macaron shells cool on the sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Easy Blackberry Buttercream
- Whip the egg whites and powdered sugar on a high speed for 3- 5 minutes.
- Bump the speed down to medium- high and begin adding the butter one tablespoon at a time, letting each piece incorporate before adding the next. Once all the butter has been added, scrape the bowl down and whip on high for 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- Add 3 drops of the blackberry flavor and whip to combine. Taste and add more flavor one drop at a time until you are satisfied with the taste.
- To color the buttercream, remove roughly a ¼ cup of the buttercream. Add the gel color and mix to combine. For a darker color, you can microwave this portion until just melted, about 5 seconds. Then add the colored buttercream to the rest of the batch and beat to combine.
Assemble
- Pair up the macaron shells. Fill a piping bag with buttercream and pipe a generous blob onto one shell. Add a small piece of crystallized ginger and top with the other shell. Continue until all of the shells are filled.
- Place in an air tight container in the fridge overnight to let them mature. Remove 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- I was able to pipe 60 shells, which made 30 macarons. You could have a few more or a few less depending on how large you pipe your shells.
- I like to make the buttercream at least 2 days in advance to give the color time to develop.