Macarons are hard enough to pull off in the quietest of settings let alone under the pressure of an unpredictable sleeping baby who may wake up at any second.  These cookies filled the last slot on my party baking schedule.  Though they almost didn’t make an appearance on the dessert table, with fearless confidence and perfectly prepped ingredients, as soon as Atlas fell into a stable slumber I dashed to the kitchen and baked 2 batches without looking back.

With my impending baby alarm, I decided to keep things uncomplicated; and by uncomplicated that meant, 0f the 2 batches, 1 flavour was staying straight up chocolate.  The other flavour, however, was a little more exciting.  A while back, I purchased a bag of honeydew matcha powder from David’s Tea and have been saving it for a special batch of macarons.  So, for our first born’s debut into the world, I felt if fitting to bake a fresh new macaron flavour in celebration.

H O N E Y D E W  M A T C H A  M A C A R O N S

MACARON SHELLS

HONEYDEW MATCHA GANACHE

• 170g white chocolate chips | or chopped from a larger block
• 1/4c + 1/8c of whipping cream | you may need more depending on consistency once matcha is added
• 1.5tbsps honeydew matcha powder

in a sauce pan, bring cream to a simmer over a low-med heat
once simmering remove from heat, add in matcha powder and mix until combined 
add a dash more cream if mixture appears too thick
bring mix back to a simmer on stove, once simmering remove from heat and let sit for 10-15 minutes ensuring to stir midway to prevent a skin from forming
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
pour mixture into 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 a pipping bag
pipe onto macaron shells + sandwich and enjoy!

Dare I say it, baking for Atlas’ welcome home party was the most efficient baking I’ve ever done.  I can’t believe I was able to pull off 2 macaron batches let alone a full dessert table.  This accomplishment would not have been possible without careful planning and on-call baby sitters.  Yay, we did it!!!   The food + decor were hits, the desserts were devoured, and though we were completely exhausted zombies by the end of it, Mike and I were so happy to be able to welcome our little boy with his first party.