Matcha Green Tea Macarons
October 2, 2014
I've wanted to make matcha green tea macarons as soon as I churned out the salted caramel ones. So many people have told me they didn't like macarons because they were too sweet. I say, it depends on the flavors you make; thus the idea of a green tea variant (and others, which you will find out about soon enough). However, I couldn't find matcha green tea powder anywhere, not even on Amazon.
It was a good thing then that when Ina and I were wandering around Pike Place Market in Seattle, we happened upon Market Spice - a cornucopia of spices, teas and tea blends, and cute little thingamajigs, where I managed to get my hands on some matcha green tea powder.
White chocolate would pair up nicely with green tea, I thought. To take it up a notch, I flavored the white chocolate ganache with vanilla bean paste to add another dimension to the filling. This has to be the most successful macaron flavor I have to date. It's not too sweet and it's definitely not the ubiquitous kind, if I say so myself.
The macaron shells are quite nubby in the photos above because I sifted the dry ingredients only once. Hehe. Nevertheless, they tasted good. I don't know about M though. He's quite averse to green tea, so I ended up eating most of the macarons myself.
Matcha Green Tea Macarons
Print Recipe
makes 20-24 macarons
Ingredients
For the macarons
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsps almond flour
- 2 tbsps matcha green tea powder
- 2 large egg whites
- 5 tbsps granulated sugar
For the white chocolate ganache filling
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 oz white chocolate
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Instructions
For the macarons
- Preheat oven to 300F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.
- Sift the powdered sugar, almond flour, and matcha green tea powder together twice. If you don't mind nubby macaron shells, you can skip this step. But if you want smooth macaron shells, make sure to sift two times.
- In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the granulated sugar. Whip until very stiff and firm. If you're using a KitchenAid mixer, whip on speed #4 for 2 minutes, then increase the speed to #6 and continue whipping for 2 minutes. Increase the speed again to #8 and continue whipping for an additional 2 minutes. And for good measure, increase the speed to #10 (the highest speed) and whip for 1 minute. And then you're done.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. Fold and fold until the batter is the same consistency as "molten lava." Not too thick, not too thin, falling in ribbons. The mixture should fall onto itself if dropped from a spoon and reincorporate with the rest of the mixture in less than 20 seconds.
- Scrape the batter into the pastry bag and pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.
- Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons and let air bubbles out of the batter to prevent cracking. Let the macarons sit on the counter for 20 minutes or until the shells have set. When you press your finger on a macaron shell, the batter should not stick to your finger.
- Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake them for 16 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.
For the white chocolate ganache filling
- Chop the white chocolate into small pieces, place in a bowl, and set aside.
- Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan just until it starts to simmer, and then pour into the white chocolate. Let sit for a minute or two to let the chocolate melt, and then mix until smooth with no lumps.
- Add the vanilla bean paste into the ganache and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.
- When the ganache is cold enough, whip using a mixer until light and fluffy.
Assemble
- Spread a little bit of the whipped ganache on the inside of a macaron shell then sandwich with a similar-sized macaron shell. Repeat for the rest of the macarons.
- Let them stand at least one day before serving, to meld the flavors and soften the crunch of the macarons. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze. If you freeze them, defrost them in the unopened container, to avoid condensation which will make the macarons soggy.
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