Egg Nog French Macarons

"Mummy, can you bake some macarons again?" asked my son.

Again? ...ok!

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Today is the first day of December and all I am thinking now is Christmas!!!

I'm thinking of making egg nog for our Christmas but now, I have an alternative idea!!! I'm baking egg nog macarons instead.

To start, I have to make some egg nog. Ok... Which egg nog recipe should I use? Some recipes claim that they are classic, original or the best. Seriously, I don't know which is the best? At first, I was attracted to this highly reviewed Alton Brown's eggnog recipe at Food Network but realised that it uses lots of raw egg white in its mixture. Then, I kept looking and saw more egg nog recipes at Martha Stewart website at here, here and here plus heaps of other egg nog recipes everywhere. Geez!

Actually, I'm not going to eeny, meeny, miny, moe with the egg nog recipes that I saw as I actually know what I want. Actually, all I want to cook for Christmas is an egg nog recipe that is safe from any food contamination and I choose this eggnog recipe because the egg yolks used in this recipe are cooked thoroughly.

Then, I used the egg nog to make the buttercream filling in these macarons... 

Egg nog French macarons

These macarons were baked using my fav Italian meringue method. 

This extra step will make the macaron shells pretty with extra fragrant.

After baking

Making the egg nog - This recipe cooks the egg thoroughly.

Making the easy egg nog buttercream filling

Pipe a generous dollop of cream on each shell and sandwich it with another.

I love my Christmasy macarons!

We love our egg nog macarons and hope that you like them too. 

Seeing these egg nog macarons, are you in the mode of counting down to Christmas?
Yes??? Join us and start cooking / baking for Christmas!!!

Here are the recipes that I have used to make my Egg Nog French Macarons.

This is the Always-Successful-Italian-Meringue macaron recipe that I always use. It is mostly adapted from here including what I have also learned at William Angliss.

Makes about 18 macaron or 36 shells
(number can vary depending on the sizes that you made)

100g almond meal (ground almond)
100g icing sugar
75g egg whites, divided into 2 portions
100g caster sugar
25ml water
finely ground nutmeg to sprinkle
yellow colouring gel to create a swirl on each macaron shell

Preheat the oven to 150°C (NO fan forced).

Combine almond meal and icing sugar and sift them three times or more and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat one portion of egg whites at medium low speed at first for about 10 mins. While beating, combine water and caster sugar in a small saucepan. Place the saucepan over medium high heat and cook the sugar water syrup to 118°C but not over 125°C.

Increase the mixer speed and continue to beat the egg whites while pouring syrup into the egg whites slowly in a steady and fine stream. Continue beating until the meringue is glossy and near-stiff peaks. Allow the meringue to cool to about 40°C.

Place almond meal-icing sugar mixture in a mixing bowl and mix in the remaining portion of egg white to form a thick paste.

Fold in half of the cooled meringue first into the almond paste, scooping it up from the bottom of the bowl until the mixture is well-combined. Then, fold in the rest of the meringue into the almond mixture until the mixture is well-combined again.

Continue to mix in order to "deflate" some fluffiness of the meringue in the mixture and this step is usually referred as "Macaronner". In the book, I love Macarons by Hisako Ogita, it suggests scooping the batter from the bottom and turn it upside down for nothing more or less than 15 times but I like to gauge this stage by the look of the batter. I reckon it is ok when it looks firm and dripping slowly from a spoon.

Attach a 1 cm tip (I used Wilton tip 1A) to the pastry bag. Place the pastry bag, tip down, inside a cup or container and pour the macaron batter into it.

Pipe out the batter onto baking tray lined with silicon mat in circles and any shapes that you like. Gently tap the baking sheet firmly against flat surfaces to allow the batter to settle. Using a toothpick, pick a small amount of yellow colouring gel and make a swirl on each of the piped batter. Then, sprinkle pinches of finely ground nutmeg on the piped batter and allow them to set at room temperature, uncovered, for 5 mins. Bake for 15 mins or until dried and slightly crisp.

Note: My oven doesn't have bottom heat function and had to bake for another 5 mins at 130°C with NO fan forced to get the bottom of the macarons crisp.

Allow macarons to cool on baking mat as they peel off easily only when they are completely cooled.

Eggnog (made with no raw egg) mostly adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes enough to make the buttercream (about 1 cup)
2/3 cup (160ml) milk
30g caster sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tbsp bourbon or rum (optional - I used only 1/2 tsp for a bit of taste and not too much to feed the kid)
2-3 tbsp chilled and whipped cream - Either light or regular works too. If you are using reduced fat cream, it can't be whipped and you will need to use the ready-to-use-nozzle kind.

In a saucepan, whisk milk and sugar over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, 1-2 mins. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks. Whisking constantly, pour hot mixture into yolks in a slow and steady stream.

Return mixture to pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until thick enough to coat back of spoon, 20-25 mins - Do not let simmer! Quickly strain into a bowl. Stir in bourbon or rum, if desired, and cream. Cool completely; cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled.

Easy Eggnog Buttercream Filling mostly adapted from South Beach Primal

150g unsalted butter softened
150g icing sugar
a pinch of ground nutmeg
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp (140ml) eggnog

Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment or a wooden spoon, beat butter, icing sugar and nutmeg until mixture is creamy. While beating, add eggnog gradually and beat until well combined.

To assemble:
Transfer buttercream into piping bag. Pipe dollops of cream onto the macaron shells.

Sandwich with another macaron shell. Press it slightly to secure. As these macarons are made with the firm kind of buttercream, they taste better after resting in the fridge on the next day.

Enjoy!

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This post is linked to Cook and Celebrate: Christmas 2014 organised by Yen from Eat your heart out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and me from Bake for Happy Kids.

Please link your post with us if you are also cooking something special for your Christmas celebration for the whole of December 2014.

To use this linky tool, please make sure that: (1) Your post must be a current post. (2) Please mention Cook and Celebrate: Christmas 2014 in your post and link back to us, Yen from Eat your heart out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids.

Here are my blogging friends that have joined me cooking / baking for this event. Please visit their blogs for more of their Christmasy food.