Culture Clash

Passport & Plate - Baklava Macarons with Honey and Cinnamon Filling

Turkey | Wednesday, March 4, 2015 | 5 photos

Ingredients
For Macarons -
-3.2 oz free range egg whites
-2.8 oz caster sugar
- a few drops of pistachio extract
- a few drops of green food colour
-5.6 oz icing sugar
-2.2 oz ground pistachio nuts
-1 oz ground almonds
- 1.5 oz extra pistachio, roughly chopped
For the filling-
-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
-1 cup icing sugar
- 2 tbsp honey
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

 

How to prepare this recipe
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the whites until thy start to foam, about 1 minute. Add the caster sugar and whisk at medium speed until the whites are thick and glossy to stiff peaks. Whisk in the pistachio extract and food colouring.
Fold in the ground nuts, and icing sugar to the egg whites. Fold the mixture until the sugar and nuts have been incorporated. Don't over fold but make sure there isn't any streaks in the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a piping bag, pipe rounds on a a baking tray lined with parchment paper or a macaron mat on a baking tray. No bigger than 2" diameter and gaps inbetween to spread. Sprinkle a few of the chopped pistachio's over half of the macarons. Gently tap the tray a few times and leave for 30 minutes for the surface to dry.
Oven to 175C, bake for 10- 12 mins until the surface has hardened. Allow to cool completely on the tray.
Make the filling, in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the butter until softened. Whisk in the icing sugar gradually, scraping down the sides and beating in the honey and cinnamon. Scoop into a piping bag with a plain round tip, pipe some of the filling on to the flat side of the half macarons without nuts on top and sandwich together with a half the same size with nuts on top. Repeat with the remaining macarons.

 

The story behind this recipe
I've been fortunate enough to have parents who are as passionate about travelling. I got to explore some amazing places from a young age, one trip that particularly sticks in my memory is a holiday to Turkey and to be precise Izmir. Being a blonde haired child I was regarded as lucky for people to touch my golden hair. In return people kindly offered fresh juicy sun ripened figs and sticky diamonds of honey soaked baklava. Although bewildering for someone so small but I was introduced to a life addiction to baklava as well as making friends whilst travelling and learning new cultures. There is something special about the combination of warming cinnamon, earthy nuttiness from the pistachios and the honey drenched shards of pastry. I've made various variations of baklava over the years to fed my love for this sweet treat, even a pecan pie version but this recipe is my favourite. Baklava Macarons, the body of the macarons with a lovely green hue from the pistachios, sandwiched together with a fluffy honey sweetened buttercream with earthy warm from the cinnamon. I like how it brings something typically Turkish with a dainty Parisian delicacy. One bite teleports me right back to the buzz of the Izmir market with the sticky mountains of baklava.