Pumpkin Spice Macarons

I had only heard of Pumpkin Spice Lattes since this year. I am definitely out of the loop. I first came a cross them when I went to Starbucks a few weeks ago. I had noticed a sign that said, Celebrating 10 years of PSL! I had honestly thought PSL was a disease.
Oops. (Doesn't it sound like some sort of disease though?) I was also wondering why the were "celebrating" it as well. But then I had noticed the giant drink on the menu above called Pumpkin Spice Latte. After that something in my brain started to work again...
Anyway, I decided to order one and now I'm hooked, I can't get enough of these beauties! Which bring me to these Pumpkin Spice Macarons. So, gt your sleeves rolled up and put on an apron because it's baking time!

Pumpkin Spice Macarons

Makes two dozen


Shells

100g                 ground almonds
100g                 egg whites
200g                 icing sugar
4 tbsp               castor sugar

Sift the ground almonds into a medium sized bowl, dispose of any large lumps. Sift the icing sugar into the ground almonds. Mix and set aside. In a large bowl whip the egg whites with the sugar. Whip until glossy and stiff and holds peaks. Don't over beat, over beating causes hollow shells! Pour a third of the dry ingredients into the egg whites fold about ten times then dump in the rest. Fold the rest in scraping down sides and mixing until fully incorporated. When dropped from a spoon, if it's ready, it should take the mixture about 15 seconds to even out, if it doesn't even out; it's not ready. If it flattens too quickly, you've over mixed it!  Fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip with your macaron batter. Pipe 1" circles onto two trays. Let your cookies sit at room temperature to from a dry "skin". Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use an oven thermometer to see what temp. your oven is at, you don't want to brown them! Bake for 8-10 minutes. You can test by touching the sides, if they wobble, they are not done. Let the shells cool completely before removing from sheet.

Pumpkin Ganache

1/2 cup             heavy cream
6 oz.                 white chocolate
2 tbsp               butter
1 tbsp               corn syrup
1/4 cup             pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp              cinnamon
1/4 tsp              nutmeg
1/2 tsp              ginger
1/8 tsp              vanilla bean seeds
pinch                all spice

Place whites chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl. Place over double boiler on medium heat. Mix until fully smooth and melted. Place in a blender. While the blender is running, add the heavy cream, mix until smooth, if there are any white specks, place back over double boiler, mix until there are no more white specks. In a separate bowl mix pumpkin puree with all spices, add to white chocolate mixture and blend. Pour into a small bowl and refrigerate overnight. When cooled and thick, place in a small, round tipped piping bag and pipe filling onto half of the shells, place another shell on top and squish together. Refrigerate or eat right away, enjoy!

These macarons are very pumpkin-y and super delicious (and seasonal) they are the perfect thing to serve for any get together or just to indulge in by yourself! ;)

A big thanks to The Main Course for letting me borrow their stock! The orange tea napkin in my photo shoot can be found here!

Elanne Boake