Christmas themed macarons

[piracer]

So im thinking of making christmas themed macarons like perhaps a candy cane or peppermint ganache. Peppermint im thinking doing a white chocolate base with peppermint oil in it, simple and easy. Candy cane though im not too sure. I would think you could melt down candy canes over a baie marie and incorporate it into a butter cream. Ideas?

Also does anyone know how they do like swirls of color on the macaron shells?

[dhardy123]

Why not break the candy cane into tiny pieces and incorporate them into a peppermint buttercream?

[piracer]

oh thats not a bad idea. problem im thinking is how to keep the sweetness down a bit though, since buttercream i guess i can reduce the sugar but not the candy canes.

[Kouign Aman]

How do candy canes taste different from 'peppermint'?

[gap]

Also does anyone know how they do like swirls of color on the macaron shells?

Depends what you're after. There is a special piping tool which lets you pipe two different colours in swirls for a shell.

Alternatively, put two piping bags (filled with different colours) inside another one and snip the ends off and pipe away for a two toned colour but not the definite swirls achieved with the piping tool mentioned above.

Lastly, you can cook your shells per normal and then just use a brush to lightly brush with an alternative colour (use a food colouring) once they are cooked

Gingerbread macarons are also good for Christmas

[stuartlikesstrudel]

Helen from Tartelette has done candy cane macarons by rolling the finished cookies in candy cane crumbs, so they just stick to the outside of the buttercream. Looks pretty, I think.

Elsewhere on her site she's also played around with multiple colors and effects for the shells, i'm sure you can find them by looking through her index.

[FWED]

Over the years I have done Christmas themed molded chocolates. Many of the ganach fillings I have used could be adapted for macarons.

How about doing a white chocolate ganach and flavoring it with egg-nog flavoring or the ganach and, rum, a few drops of butter oil flavoring, and nut meg (as in Hot Buttered rum). Another combination that I have used is the white chocolate ganach flavored with butter oil and peppermint oil. This filling tastes like those soft pillow shaped butter mints of yester year.

On the chocolate side don’t forget the combination of orange and dark chocolate that seems so prevalent at this time of year. I could see chocolate macarons filled with a chocolate/bitter orange ganach. Oh yes and don’t forget the flavors of Almond Roca; almonds, milk chocolate, and toffee. For those of you that don’t know of Almond Roca it is small logs of semi brittle toffee covered with milk chocolate and rolled in toasted almonds. I am not sure how much of a national treat this is though; it may be just a West coast item. Cheers Fred

[piracer]

oooooo yes orange chocolate! thats a fantastic idea and chocolate oranges are awesome. Would a peppermint coated macaron with peppermint oil in the shell and orange chocolate ganache be too much? Im guessing its just orange zest and orange oil/essence in the ganache yes?

[FWED]

I am thinking that peppermint in the shell and orange in the chocolate ganach in the center might be a bit much and yes I infuse the cream for the ganache with orange zest and then add just a little orange oil if needed. Or you could do as Pierre Herme does with some of his Macarons and embed a small portion of orange jelly in the center of the chocolate ganache. In case you haven't seen it yet take a look at Pierre's book on Macarons. It really is eye candy!!!

Edited December 10, 2011 by FWED (log)