I launched a new Carrot Cake macaron recipe this week because it was warming up outside and Easter is coming, which means its Carrot Cake season, right? Well, this morning it was rather chilly on my way to the bus stop with the two older kids, BUT we can still enjoy carrot cake in colder weather!
Carrot cake is a classic and easy cake flavor to make, but translating it into macaron form is a little more complicated. I am a firm believer in my macarons (and all my bakes) being as full of flavor as possible.
For example, this is what I strive to avoid: have you ever been to a cupcake shop and gotten a cookies and cream cupcake, and its just a chocolate cake with crushed oreos mixed into the frosting? I'm not here for that.
Now look at my Ultimate Cookies and Cream Cupcakes (pictured). These cupcakes are chocolate cake full of Oreo chunks, filled with a homemade Oreo ganache, topped with cookies and cream Swiss buttercream, dark chocolate ganache, Oreo crumbles and white chocolate curls. It SCREAMS cookies and cream flavor. That's how I bake. Pack that flavor IN!
Anyway, back to the carrot cake macarons. When you bake a carrot cake, a lot of what gives it the flavor is, well, carrots. Unfortunately, macarons are notoriously sensitive to moisture, which carrots have a lot of. So I couldn't just add shredded carrots and some spices to my macaron batter and call it a day.
My solution? Make carrot cake the filling! I spiced these macaron shells (the name for the cookie part) with some cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, and topped them with toasted pecans. I baked up a carrot cake, and then added a bit of my cream cheese frosting to it to make a carrot cake filling. I filled the macarons with a dollop of cream cheese frosting and put the carrot cake filling in the center. Voila! Absolutely delicious Carrot Cake Macarons chock-full of carrot cake flavor.
Until next time!
-Rachel
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