Earl Grey & Mango Macaron Project
Macaron Project = 54 Macaron Sandwiches = 108 Macaron cookies
So a couple months ago, my mother qualified to represent our province in a national bowling championship. In old bowling fashion, the competitors exchange club/city/provincial pins. While my mother hummed and hawed trying to figure out what to do, I raised my hand thinking it’d be a good opportunity for me show them I’m relatively serious about this whole food thing like a good daughter that I am, and suggested a little package or macarons with our “Provincial colours”. When she said yes to my little idea and when I said ok I’ll do it, don’t change your mind, I forgot how many I have to put together! She plays in the Triples (team of 3) category and there are 9 other teams she’ll play against. So, 27 sets of macarons.
So here goes, I need to find a little box that would fit these macs, and I found them…the box you see are 3 x 3 x 3 – thanks Paper Mart. In hindsight, I probably could have gone with a 2 x 2 x 2). Instead of ribbons, I opped for something a little more…newbie friendly, Japanese Washi tape which I found on Etsy. The circle 2″ printable labels I just got from Walmart.
So, in reality, in order for me to put together 108 decent looking macaron cookies, I baked a total of about 200 macaron cookies all together. I baked 5 batches of each flavor.
Here are the recipes:
The Yellow Macaron – Mango Macaron with Mango Buttercream
I used the same recipe as the Strawberry Macarons, switching out freeze dried strawberries with freeze dried mangoes.
Mango Buttercream:
6 Tbsp fresh or frozen mango puree (if you use the frozen mango, defrost them overnight in your fridge)
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
pinch of salt
1.5 cup powdered sugar
¼ cup sweetened flaked coconut
What you want to do, beat butter, room temp mango puree, and salt in a your stand mixer with whisk attachment on speed 4/6 (medium speed) until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to speed 2 (low) and gradually add powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time. Once the sugar’s well incorporated, increase speed back to medium/high and beat until light and airy.
The Blue Macaron – Earl Grey Macaron with Honey Earl Grey Buttercream
Again, I used the same recipe as the Strawberry Macarons, switching out freeze dried strawberries with pulverized loose Earl Grey tea. If you have earl grey tea bags at home, 1 tea bag’s about 1 teaspoon of tea.
Honey Earl Grey Buttercream
4 Tbsp puverized earl grey tea
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp honey
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter using the whisk attachment until smooth. Slowly add the confectioner’s sugar (¼ cup at a time), and whisk until everything is incorporated. Do the same with the honey. Beat another minute or so, then add the earl grey, beat for another minute to get everything well incorporated.
When ready to assemble, fit a large disposable pastry bag or ziplog with a round tip and fill it with the buttercream (sit the bag in tall glass before filling, it makes life easier!). Pipe the buttercream onto one of the macaron cookie, sprinkle with toasted coconut, then sandwich with another macaron cookie. Store in an airtight container in the freezer up to three days. Bring to room temperature before serving.
I included a shot of my freezer cause I made the cookies every night, doing 3 batches a night (each batch yield 20 cookies at 2.25 inches in diameter), I stored them in air tight containers and stuck it in the freezer. The day before competition start, and again mid week (it was a week long comp.) I made my butter cream, removed just enough cookies (24) and assembled enough the night before for the opponent (6 players a day) my mother faced the next day. Then after assembling it and packaging it, i stored the 6 favors in an airtight container and made daily deliveries. Gotta ensure I keep the quality of my macrons as best as I could 🙂