Creme Egg Easter Macarons

A while ago I came across a site that had a recipe for Cadbury Creme Eggs.

Wow I though Cadbury Creme Eggs on tap that could be cool! But as I'm no longer 8 there are really only so many I can eat these days so I didn't end up making them. I stored away the idea for a maybe one day closer to Easter kinda thing.

Anyway as it's closer to Easter I realised that it might be fun to take the recipe and incorporate it with some macarons to make Creme Egg Macarons.

For some reason I felt a bit odd marring a dainty macaron with something so commercial and highly processed as the Creme Egg, but hey it tastes good so I'm gonna ignore that funny feeling.

I based the fondant filling on this recipe (Click here) but reduced the amount of sugar. I also used liquid glucose instead of corn syrup, simply because I know that everyone in Australia will ask what they can use instead of corn syrup.

I get my liquid glucose from Coles in the baking aisle near where the cake decorations, colours and flavours are in a clear jar with a red lid. You can also get it from deli's and incidently most good deli's will also sell Karo corn syrup here in Australia.

Also I dipped the eggs in chocolate thinned with a little vegetable oil once again as people ask me if you can do it. Yup I usually use copha melted with the wilton melts but it seems vegetable oil works as well and actually seems to make it melt a little easier. I didn't like the taste as much but that's a personal thing. The macarons in the picture had been sitting out at room temperature for a day and not refrigerated at all and it's quite hot and humid here at the moment so yes they do set using vegetable oil.


I wanted to mention one of my blog friends ButterSugarHeart had a similar idea and made the macarons using real Cadbury Creme Eggs so for a different version pop on over and have a look.

Creme Egg Macarons for Easter

French Macarons

190g (6  5/8 ounce) ground almonds
190g (6  5/8 ounce) Icing (powdered) Sugar
140g Egg Whites, (5 ounce) aged at least 3 days, separated into 2 lots of 70g (2 1/2 ounce)
190g (6  5/8 ounce) Granulated Sugar
48g ( 1 5/8 ounce) Water

1. Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together and pulse a few times in food processor to make almond meal finer. Do not over process as the meal can become oily. Sieve into a large bowl. Add  70g (2 1/2ounce) of the egg whites to the sugar/almond mixture but don’t mix in.

2. Place remaining 70g (2 1/2 ounce) of egg whites in bowl of mixer fitted with the whisk.

3. Pop granulated sugar and water into saucepan stir to combine and cook without stirring to 118C. If required brush down the sides of the pan to stop crystallisation from occurring. Once the mixture reaches 115C start mixing the egg whites on high (The eggwhites should be quite stiffly whipped before the syrup is added). Once the sugar syrup reaches 118C remove from heat and immediately pour in a thin stream down the side of the mixer bowl continuing to whisk on high.

4. Continue to whisk the meringue on high until the side of the bowl is only a little warm to touch, around 50C.

5. Add meringue mixture to almond mixture and using a large spatula fold the mixture together until it starts to shine and forms a ribbon that stays visible for about 30 seconds.

6. Add the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a plain tip and pipe small circles in lines onto parchment lined baking sheets. To make the macarons as even as possible I apply a constant slow pressure to the piping bag and count a few numbers like up to 3 for each one.

7. Set aside for about 30 minutes or until the macarons have formed a skin that doesn't stick to your finger. If the weather is humid this will take longer. If the weather is very humid it is best to make these in an area with an air conditioner which reduces humidity.

8. Preheat oven to 140C (285 F). Once ready bake the macaroons for around 13 to 15 minutes depending on size, they should not be browned. To test if the macaron is cooked you can open the door and gently press on the side of the macaron. If it jiggles on the 'foot' it is not cooked close the door and cook for another minute or 2 and repeat the jiggle test.

Remove the baking trays and immediately slide off the macarons and the parchment onto the work surface and let cool completely before removing the shells.

Fondant Filling

1/4 cup liquid glucose
30 g unsalted Butter (1 oz) at room temp
1tsp vanilla
1 cup icing sugar sifted (powdered sugar)
Yellow food colour

Combine liquid glucose, butter and vanilla and mix well. I used a hand held beater. The mixture will resemble condensed milk in appearence and consistency. Add icing sugar (at this stage my hand held beater was struggling a little so I mixed by hand) and add enough food colour to achieve the desired colour. Cover until needed.

Assembly

Match the macarons into like sizes (when you are piping macarons by hand you will end up with different sized macarons. They look best if you can find similar sizes to join together)

Dollop fondant onto macarons. The mixture is very thick but if you allow it to rest it will kinda sink and spread over the macaron half and then you can join it with another.

Melt around 400g chocolate and if required add vegetable oil to make the chocolate into a dip-able consistency.

Using a dipping fork or normal fork dip the joined macarons into the chocolate and place on trays covered with baking paper until set.

If you have left over chocolate you can pour it onto baking paper and allow it to set. It can then be stored in an airtight ziplock back and be used next time you need dipping chocolate.