Green Tea Macarons....

I loved green tea...in fact I loved to drink any teas! Learnt about them whilst I was studying in the UK and now there is always a constant supply of Lady Grey, Peach and Lipton dust (to make teh tarik) teas at home.....and naturally when I know about macarons, I want to make Green Tea Macarons! The bitter taste of green tea coupled with chocolate ganache and the sweet whiff of strawberry buttercream....they are pure bliss...divine!

The only limitation with this flavoured macaron is that, all the recipes that I know either uses the Italian Meringue technique or the French Meringue method....how lah? They are too daunting, now that I am confortable with the Swiss Meringue method!

But, I thought I'd better give it a shot last weekend...I couldn't hold back anymore! So, here's the recipe:

Matcha Green Tea Macarons

modified macaron recipe from Tartelette

110g blanched almonds ( I used almond meal from Bagus, and grind them with a food processor)

200g powdered sugar

2 tsp matcha (green tea powder)

100g egg whites, aged a day and brought to room temperature (mine was aged for four days in the fridge)

50g sugar

1/2 cup strawberry swiss meringue buttercream, 1/2 cup chocolate ganache

1.Prepare your baking tray with Silpats...loved them! Prepare the piping bag.

2.Pulse almond powder, powdered sugar and matcha powder in a food processor until finely ground. Sift and set aside.

3.Whip the egg whites until foamy (like shaving foam). (I also added a pinch of cream of tartar) Gradually add in the caster sugar while whipping until a shiny meringue is formed. Take care not to overbeat, you want a soft peak but not dry!

4.Add the almond mixture into the meringue, I did it in three batches. Fold them quickly, then stop to check the consistency. You want the batter to drop like a ribbon but not runny.

5.Pour the batter into the piping bag, I did not use a piping tip, just cut off the tip of the piping bag! Pipe small round about the size of 50 cents coin at least an inch apart, the batter will spread a bit.

6.Gently tap the baking tin on your worktop to rid of excess air in the batter.

7.Let the macarons sit for an hour, and you will see a 'skin' form on the batter, err the batter is dry to touch.

8.Preheat oven at 150Celcius, well your oven is like your car, you know how it works! When I slot in the macarons, I turned the oven to 135Celcius, and bake the macarons for about 15 to 20 minutes.

9.Let the macarons cool completely, with Silpat, they lift easily once cooled!

The macarons were for Aida, I also made the usual macarons and filled them with Strwberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream for her...pictures will follow....soon.....

Now, I'm not afraid of making macarons anymore, I hope you give them a shot and feel the thrills like I went through :p