White vanilla macaron with sakura tea ganache recipe

This is a recipe from Sakura at Sake No Hana

For the tant pour tant:

Ingredients:

600g ground almonds
600g icing sugar
220g egg whites

Method:

In a mixing machine bowl, mix all the ingredients together until smooth.

For the macaron:

Ingredients:

1 batch tant pour tant
220g egg whites
600g caster sugar
120g water
8g white colour
1 vanilla pod seeds scraped

Method:

1. Place the egg whites into a machine mixing bowl, begin to whisk on a low speed.
2. Place the caster sugar and water together in a pan and cook the sugar to soft ball 118°C. When the sugar has reached 105°C, increase the speed on the egg whites and stabilise the meringue with 20g caster sugar.
3. Once the boiling sugar has reached 118°C, reduce the speed of the egg whites and pour the sugar gently over the egg whites.
4. Increase the speed and mix for 1 minute, stop the machine and add in the white colour and vanilla pod seeds. Turn on the speed again and whisk until the meringue has cooled to blood temperature.
5. Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the tant pour tant base and mix gently until smooth then fold in the remaining meringue and mix until smooth and glossy.
6. Place into a piping bag with a 10mm piping nozzle.
7. Pipe 4 cm diameter rounds onto a tray lined with a non stick baking mat, allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
8. Pre heat the oven to 130°C, place the macarons into the oven and cook for 16-17 minutes, until they just start to peel off the baking mat.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

For the sakura tea ganache:

Ingredients:

150g milk chocolate (35% cocoa solids)
150g dark chocolate (66% cocoa solids)
210g whipping cream
8g sakura tea
25g unsalted butter

Method:

1. Place the whipping cream in a pan and bring to the boil, add in the sakura tea and allow to infuse for 20-30 minutes.
2. Strain the whipping cream into another pan.
3. Place the chocolate into a mixing bowl.
4. Bring the infused cream back to the boil, pour over the chocolate mix gently until a ganache consistency is formed. Gradually add in the softened butter, mix until fully emulsified.
5. Allow to set, at room temperature.

To build the macaron:

1. Match the macarons to create a top and a bottom.
2. Place the sakura ganache into a piping bag with a 10mm piping tube, pipe a bulb into the centre of one half the macarons.
3. Stick the top to the bottom of the macaron.