I hadn’t baked macarons in quite some time and with Toronto’s notorious summer humidity, I was extremely nervous to even attempt but, what better a reason to bite the bullet than for your good friends’ baby shower.   Though I brought pistachio macarons to the event, and not the ones I’m about to share, with a well air conditioned condo I managed to successfully bake a batch and decided to test another.

In search of a new flavour, I decided to go floral and made up a recipe for Elderflower + Lemon macarons.  If you have been following along my macaron journey, you know that infusing flavour largely comes from flavouring the ganache.  With a few additional tweaks to my basic ganache recipe, I created new macaron to add to my repertoire.

E L D E R F L O W E R   +   L E M O N   M A C A R O N S

COOKIE RECIPE
+ add yellow food colouring to batter
+ add white sparkling sugar to piped shells before they are left to dry

{how adorable is this mini St-Germain bottle!?!}

GANACHE
[enough to fill 35-40 macarons]

170g of white chocolate chips
1/4c + 1/8c whipping cream
3/4 to 1 Tbsp of St-Germain liqueur or an elderflower syrup{add more or less to taste}
Zest from 1/4 of a lemon

in a sauce pan, combine cream + liqueur {or syrup} + lemon zest
bring to a simmer
once simmering remove from heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes
bring cream mixture back to a simmer and remove from heat
pour cream over chocolate chips and let sit for 20-30 seconds | proceed to mix
add mixture to a food processor to further smoothen and combine if needed
pour into shallow dish | let ganache cool to room temp
cover with plastic wrap directly touching ganache surface | place in fridge for 2hrs [until mix thickens] to overnight
when ready, whip ganache with mixer until light and fluffy
transfer to pipping bag and start filling macarons

I’m convinced that these elderflower macarons taste best when paired with a glass of Prosecco; better yet, a glass of Prosecco mixed with a bit of St-Germain.  Bake a batch and crack a bottle or just crack a bottle and enjoy!