Caramel Jasmine Macaron Filling
Let’s celebrate International Tea Day by adding some tea to one of the macaron recipes from Teatime in Paris to make a caramel jasmine macaron filling.
I love adding tea to baking and cooking: it’s my lazy gourmet way to make certain simple recipes sophisticated. As ever, Paris has been my inspiration, as many fancy pâtisseries and tearooms offer tea-infused pastries for that extra chic Parisian teatime.
Tea-infused Recipes
Some tea-infused recipes on le blog have not been confined to teatime. One of my favourite main dishes is this easy yet elegant fish recipe with a beurre blanc sauce infused with Lapsang Souchong smoked tea. Try it and you’ll see how it takes a simple John Dory fish dish to another level. I love the crispy topping but the sauce is the always the winner of compliments at dinner parties – so thank you Chef Vincent David for this one!
Top: Herb-hugging John Dory with Smoked Tea Beurre Blanc; Below: Tea-infused chocolate macarons; Green Tea Rice Pudding
I had so much fun remembering these One Night in Paris-Bangkok (Mariages Frères) tea-infused chocolate macarons and partying with a wig. Moving on to more recent comfort food was this rice pudding recipe infused with Theodor’s latest aromatic green tea called Little Bear, with notes of ginger and mandarine. I see the Insolent Parisian has yet another delicious tea-infused vanilla cream recipe.
Tea-infused recipes are also included in my new book, Teatime in Paris, such as these Honey, Rose and Green Tea Madeleines from the first chapter – and ending with the final Tea Party recipes, made to mix-and-match, including this Chocolate-Earl Grey Tart with Cointreau Crumble Puffs.
Now, thanks to Waverley Books, I can share the recipe for the salted caramel cream filling from the new book – although instead I infused jasmine tea into the cream and omitted the salt to let the tea shine through to make this Caramel Jasmine Macaron Filling.
Caramel and Jasmine macaron filling – with a cup of Jasmine tea …
Caramel Jasmine Macaron Filling
Recipe adapted from Salted Caramel Macarons in Teatime in Paris by Jill Colonna - the salt has been omitted and the cream is slightly increased to allow for the infusion with the Jasmine tea. First, follow the basic macaron recipe (pages 146-150 in Teatime in Paris - or from Mad About Macarons) and add caramel colouring. The macaron recipe makes 70 shells (35 macarons).
- 110 g (4oz) cream warmed
- 12 g (0.5oz) jasmine tea
- 1 2g sheet gelatine
- 100 g (3.5oz) sugar
- 60 g (2.5oz) butter
- 150 g (5.5oz) mascarpone
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan and add the jasmine tea. As soon as the cream boils, take off the heat, put a lid on and leave to infuse for 20 minutes. Filter out the tea, pushing as much of the cream out of the tea as possible using a wooden spoon. Set aside.
- Soak the gelatine in cold water for 10 minutes and reheat the cream.
- Heat the sugar with a tablespoon of water over medium heat in a small saucepan until a golden, syrupy caramel forms. Stir only when it starts to change colour and watch that it doesn't colour too much (i.e. it can burn quickly - and there's nothing worse than bitter burnt caramel, so keep you're eye on it!). This should take no more than 10 minutes in total. Turn down the heat and add the warmed cream gradually (ensure it’s warm, otherwise you’ll have the boiling caramel spitting at you!)
- Take off the heat and melt in the butter, stirring the tea-infused caramel with a wooden spoon.
- Add the gelatine (squeezed of excess water) and stir. Leave to cool on the counter for 15 minutes.
- Whisk in the mascarpone vigorously (or use an electric whisk) until you have a smooth texture.
- Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Transfer the caramel cream to a piping bag, pipe on the filling to each macaron couple, topping off with the other macaron shell to assemble.
I’ll leave you with this Caramel, Walnut and Maple tart, another of the recipes from Teatime in Paris I made this weekend to accompany the macarons (I did say I was looking for excuses to bake!). Here I also infused Jasmine tea into the cream before pouring into the caramel. I also infused the tea into the melted butter for these almond tuiles, another of the recipes. It’s easy to adapt so many varieties of your best recipes to celebrate your favourite teas.
All that’s missing is a cup of tea and some company. So, what’s your favourite tea and do you bake or cook with it?
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