Remember when I made those Irish cream macarons and said now I was going to be turning cocktails into macarons? Well, let me introduce you to my latest boozy treat, gin & tonic macarons!
You guys, if you love a good gin & tonic, I promise you’ll love these. The buttercream is filled with plenty of gin and you just really don’t want to miss these bad boys.
Let’s talk about them for a second.
First up, we have the shells. Nothing crazy with the shells here, just our typical ingredients – egg whites, sugar, almond flour, powdered sugar. I added some pink food colouring, I’m not sure why, pink just felt like the right colour. Feel free to use a different colour or no colour at all, think of the shells as a choose-your-own-adventure with the colour!
Actually, thinking about it, I probably used pink because there was some rhubarb gin being made at the same time and it is the most beautiful pink colour.
Anyway, back to the macarons.
Gin & tonic macarons aren’t complete without a filling loaded up with plenty of gin and some tonic.
The filling. It’s a typical buttercream with butter and powdered sugar, but this time we’re adding our favourite gin and some Fever Tree tonic as our liquid ingredients. This isn’t a creamy buttercream, but it is damn good. I used 4 tablespoons of gin, but you can definitely add more or less depending on how much you like your gin. If you’re like me, you probably want to add more!
That’s it! You make the shells, fill them with the gin & tonic buttercream, sandwich them together and then they’re ready to eat. I like to eat them while I’m enjoying a gin and tonic because why the heck not? It really brings the whole thing together.
I’d recommend using your favourite gin and whatever tonic you like for these. I like a good English gin and Fever Tree tonic, but use what you love. Happy baking!
Gin & Tonic Macarons
Ingredients
- Macaron Shells:
- 275g almond flour
- 250g powdered sugar
- 210g sugar
- 210g egg whites
- Pink gel food colouring (optional)
- Filling:
- 300g unsalted butter, softened
- 750g powdered sugar
- 4 tbsp. gin
- 3 tbsp. tonic
Directions
- Step 1 Macaron Shells:
- Step 2 To start, put the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor and blend thoroughly. Sift into a bowl to ensure there are no lumps.
- Step 3 In the bowl of a stand mixer (make sure it’s clean and dry), beat the egg whites until foamy. Slowly add the sugar, about 2 tbsp at a time, beating on a medium speed. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase speed to medium high and beat until a thick glossy meringue forms (if adding food colouring, add it now). The mixture should form stiff peaks and you should be able to tip the bowl over your head with none of the mixture coming out.
- Step 4 With a large, flat rubber spatula, gently fold 1/3 of almond flour/powdered sugar mixture into egg whites until combined. Repeat until all of the almond mixture has been added. Fold to combine until you see no streaks of almond flour in the batter. The batter should be pretty fluid, a lot of people describe as a lava-like consistency. It should run smoothly off the spatula when you pull it out. This part comes with practice. Once you know the consistency, you’ll just be able to feel when it’s ready.
- Step 5 Pipe the batter into circles onto parchment or silicone lined baking sheets. Bang the tray a few times on a table to remove air bubbles and allow to sit for about 30 minutes before baking. To see if they’re ready for baking, touch your finger to them. If you get batter on your finger, they need to rest longer.
- Step 6 While resting, preheat your oven to 300°F with a rack placed in the lower third of the oven. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 15-18 minutes (this depends on your oven, my old one was fine at 15 minutes, this one needs 17-18). The shells should cool completely before you remove them from the parchment/silicone.
- Step 7 Filling:
- Step 8 Beat the butter for 2 minutes. Slowly add in the powdered sugar and beat until combined.
- Step 9 Add in the gin and tonic, one tbsp. at a time, incorporating fully before adding the next tbsp.
- Step 10 Assembly:
- Step 11 Pipe the gin & tonic frosting onto one half of each macaron pair. Sandwich gently together. Macarons should be refrigerated until ready to eat. They are best if they have been out of the fridge for 30 minutes before eating. Refrigerating helps the flavours build and letting it sit out a bit before eating will mean you are enjoying it at the ideal macaron texture.
So sad, tried this recipe and did not go well! Was so looking forward to trying some g+t macarons. The shell mixture was nowhere near as fluidy as described in the method and when cooked just went flat. Might consider adding in an extra egg white next time- hopefully they turn out better!
Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that! The batter needs to be mixed for quite a while before it reaches the right consistency. It’ll be really stiff to begin with but will start loosening as you keep folding the batter. I’d avoid adding an extra egg white as macarons need really precise measurements.