Macarons

Rose, Lychee and Strawberry Macarons

I made these in the weekend. They turned out well and weren't to crunchy and had a nice soft chewy center (just how I like them). The shell was made from just a simple plain recipe, coloured with pink. The filling is a white chocolate, lychee and rose ganache, made with lychee puree and rose extract. It also had a little cube of homemade strawberry jelly in the middle, my recipe called for raspberries, instead I used the same amount but with strawberries. The jelly was nice and tart, and not too sweet. I made mine quite small but you can make them as big as you want.

White chocolate, Lychee and Rose Ganache

205g white chocolate (I used Whittaker’s)
200g canned lychees
30g cream
4 drops rose essence (depends how strong you like it)

Drain the lychees.  Blend them until you get fine purée. Set aside. Chop up the chocolate and melt it in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Bring the cream and lychee purée to the boil.  Pour over the melted chocolate in two batches and whisk till all the chocolate is melted.  Add the rose essence and stir.

                    

Pour the ganache into a bowl and place gladwrap over the top of.  Set aside in the freezer for the ganache to thicken and become a piping consistency.

To assemble, place a cube of the strawberry jelly in the middle on the flat side of the macaron shell. Pipe the chilled ganache around the cube of jelly then sandwich together with another macaron shell.