Matcha Macarons with Almond Cream Filling

I have been obsessed with making Macarons lately (as obvious by my Espresso Macarons and my first attempt) and I have been wanting to work on different flavors which is the fun part of Macarons. So since I got off  work a little early this past Friday for Good Friday I thought it would be perfect to make some Macarons for Easter. I have had some Culinary grade Matcha kicking around my apartment for a little while now and I thought this would be the perfect application for it. Some how the more Macarons I make the crazier they are starting to look… I need a lot of practice which my pastry bag skills and maybe grinding the almond flour a bit smoother could have helped these look less crazy, but as with anything practice makes perfect and as long as they still taste good all is well!

MATCHA MACARONS

For the Macarons I used the technique and recipe from Brave Tart, same as my last 2 attempts.

4oz Sifted Almond Flour

8oz Powdered Sugar

1 Tbsp Sifted Culinary Grade Matcha Powered

1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt

5oz Egg Whites

2 1/2 oz Sugar

For the filling wanted to do a Almond Cream filling for the Matcha cookies because I thought it would be a good compliment to the Matcha and since Macarons are made with almond flour it made sense that the flavors would go together. When I was researching types of almond cream on the internet I decided to do a traditional French Frangipane (Almond Custard Filling) and decided to use the recipe from ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, Simone Beck.

FRANGIPANE

Adapted from ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’

This makes way more than you will need for 1 batch of Macarons, use extra for a filling for a Gâteau de Crêpes (a crepe cake like I did with the left overs check out the recipe here)  or a tart

1 Egg

1 Egg Yolk

6oz Granulated Sugar (approx 3/4 Cup)

2oz All Purpose Flour (approx 1/2 Cup)

1 Cup Almond Milk (Boiling Hot)

3Tbsp Butter

2 Tsp Vanilla

2oz Ground Almonds, more chunky than that ground for almond flour (approx 1/2 Cup)

Mixing Bowl

Whisk

1 Medium Sauce Pan

Wooden Spoon

TO ASSEMBLE

Beat the egg and the yolk with the whisk in the mixing bowl, slowly adding the sugar while mixing and continue mixing until the mix is pale yellow and the sugar is fully incorporated.

Mix the flour into the egg and sugar mix until fully incorporated then slowly pour in the boiling almond milk while whisking.

Pour the mix into your sauce pan and set over medium heat. Stir slowly until the mix begins to thicken and then beat it quickly until it smooths outs and becomes a thick paste.

Once thickened mix with a wooden spoon over low heat for 2-3 minutes allowing the flour to cook through, being careful to make sure that the mix does not burn.

Take the pan off the heat and mix in the butter and vanilla extract until incorporated, then mix in the ground almonds until everything is fully incorporated.

Use as desired, if saving for later cover tightly with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze.

If using for Macarons pipe or spread the filling into the cookies and sandwich them together.