Earl Grey Macarons with Lemon Curd filling

Place lemon juice, egg yolk, and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (double boiler) and cook the curd over medium-high heat whisking constantly

In the meantime, soak the gelatin sheet into cold water

After about 8-10 minutes the mixture starts to thicken like custard (mixture will reach around 80C /176F). Remove the cream from the heat and mix the gelatin sheet in

Pour the cooked curd through a sieve

Mix in room temperature butter in small chunks, making sure it is fully incorporated before adding the next butter chunk

Pour curd into a shallow container and place plastic wrap directly on top so it is touching the top of the curd. Let it set 6 hours in the fridge

Measure all your ingredients with a Digital scale and prepare all the tools you need at hand

Properly clean your mixing bowl and whisk attachment by wiping them down with vinegar

Pulse blend powdered sugar, Earl Grey loose tea with almond flour for 5-10 seconds then shift them together. The mixture should be very fine powder like

Move one of the 55g room temp egg white into your Stand mixer

Start making the sugar syrup by boiling granulated sugar with water in a saucepan over medium heat

Star whisking the egg white on low / medium speed then gradually add the superfine sugar onto it

Boil the sugar syrup until it reaches 118C-120C / 244-248F. Use a Infrared thermometer gun or any other thermometer to measure the correct temp

By the time syrup reaches 118C-120C / 244-248F, the egg white & fine sugar mixture should be already reaching a consistency of somewhere between foamy and soft peak

Once the syrup is at the right temp, remove it from the heat. Keep the Stand mixer speed on medium and begin slowly pouring the syrup down on the side of the mixing bowl making sure that the syrup flows on the side only and does not get onto the whisk

Increase Stand mixer speed to medium / high and continue whisking the meringue until it forms early stiff peaks meaning it is strong enough to hold its shape but not over whipped

In the meantime mix the remaining 55g of egg white into the almond flour & icing sugar mixture until it forms a paste, use a flexible Rubber spatula.

Once meringue as well as almond paste are ready, gently fold in meringue into the marzipan with the help of a Rubber spatula. Fold meringue in thirds, making sure that each third is fully incorporated before adding the next

The first third is about loosening up the marzipan, the second third already working on the macaronage process and somewhat pressing the air out and the last third is fine tuning the consistency to the stage you need that is ribbon stage

After adding the last third of the meringue make sure you check the consistency of the macaron batter every few seconds. When you lift the Rubber spatula over the mixture the batter should fall slowly forming a ribbon. Try to write the number 8 with the ribbon, once the consistency allows to write the number 8, it is very likely that your macaron batter is ready

Move macaron batter into a Piping bag fitted with round nozzle tip and while holding the piping bag fully vertical pipe equal sized round shapes, leaving enough space in between them to slightly spread. You can pipe on Silicone baking mat or parchment paper

Tap the baking tray onto the kitchen counter a few times to release any air bubbles then pop air bubbles out using a toothpick

Rest the macarons on room temp for about 25-40 minutes depending on your kitchen temperature and humidy. Test by gently touching the macarons, it should feel dry on the touch and proper skin should form on the surface of them

Pre-heat oven while macarons are drying. I recommend to bake the macarons 155C / 311F but I pre-(no fan) heat my oven +20C / 68F more as when I open the oven door, the temp drops. Make sure you use a Digital oven thermometer to check your real oven temp

Bake the macarons for 14-15 minutes, adjust if necessary to your oven

Once macarons are done, remove them from the oven and cool them on a cooling rack but leaving them on the parchment or Silicone baking mat for 30 minutes. They are not supposed to come off the baking mat until they are properly cooled

Once macaron shells cooled, remove them from the baking sheet. In case they ended up slightly different in their sizes, make sure you pair the similar sizes next to each other

Pipe lemon curd filling onto one side of the macaron shells then press two shells together evenly so the filling will come out to the side

Decorate with melted and colored white chocolate and loose Earl grey tea

Macarons require about 12h aging time in the fridge, within this time frame the filling will soften the shells.

Store in the fridge