Lavender Macarons with Lemon Honey White Chocolate Ganache

I originally wanted to make this recipe because I have been craving the Macarons from La Patisserie in Austin on Annie St. Not actually having the first clue about French baking, I have been more than reluctant to give French Macarons a try. To add to my reluctance, my friends had tried to make the temperamental cookies, and they ended up hard as rocks; definitely not what I want to eat, much less write a blog about. Somehow, I managed to get the courage to attempt the infamous French cookie.

The process, while it sounds intimidating, is really rather easy, and relatively flexible with the flavours you can add. I kind of made it up, as I couldn't find the exact recipe I wanted online. So I followed a recipe off YouTube from HoneySuckle Catering (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nsanqYnvis) and guesstimated how much lavender to put in the mix. I decided on 1 tablespoon of lavender and about 2 teaspoons worth of lemon zest. I decided this would really balance the lavender and add a nice citrus balance. I figured I couldn’t mess it up too badly by adding flavor, so I took a chance.

The first thing you need to do is sift almond flour and powdered sugar together in a 3/4:1 cup ratio respectively. This yields about 16 cookies which makes 8 macaroons. Next you need to make a meringue using sugar and egg whites by beatings the eggs on high until they form stuff peaks. After that, you want to add some food coloring in the color you choose. For the color I used, you need 2 blue and 4 red drops of food coloring. Finally, we are going to fold the meringue by thirds into the dry mix making 50 total turns. Then cut the tip of a Ziploc bag and pipe 1 1/2 inch circles on to a parchment lined tray and bake at 300 degrees for 17 minutes. To make the ganache, (http://www.marthastewart.com/316714/white-or-dark-chocolate-ganache), simply boil cream and poor over finely cut white chocolate with 1tbsp of lemon juice, the zest of 2 lemons, and 1 tbsp of honey.

The cookies will come out light and fluffy with a lavender smell that will fill your house. It may have been the second most gratifying thing about this recipe. The cookies themselves have what are called "feet" which is basically where the cookie rose during baking. They are smooth and shiny purple circles at this point, waiting for filling. Some will crack, but don't be discouraged, they still taste the same. Only about half of mine came out correctly. After the cookies have cooled, fill them with the ganache and have at them!

The taste of the cookie has a very present lavender taste, almost like a floral version of rosemary. The lemon zest really pulls the whole thing together, so I am really glad I decided to add it. The citrus balanced out the floral taste perfectly. The cookies are not overly sweet, but the ganache is. When put in the middle, it really ties the flavors together, and it tastes like a summers day in your mouth. The sweet white chocolate with the zing of the lemon and the floral sweetness of the honey (I used GoodFlow Honey, a local option from Austin) balanced out the heavily scented cookie. The ganache did need a bit of a thickening agent, so I sifted about 1 cup of powder sugar to firm it up. The cookies are chewy yet crunch from the oven. Take a chance and try it out. You’ll be glad you did.