These macarons are the best Holi special macarons. Thandai, if you are not from India is a special drink that we drink during Holi. It has the flavours of almonds, cashews, cardamom, fennel, rose etc. It is absolutely delicious and I just made them into macarons. They have Thandai Cheesecake filling and they taste like a dream.
A few questions you may have:
Making macarons is sooo hard. Please help!
Yes I can understand that it is difficult, making macarons takes practice. Please read this blog post to get a better idea to make macarons. I highly recommend it if you are making macarons for the first time.
My cream cheese frosting runny
Yes, cream cheese frosting requires a lot of icing sugar to be stable. I like to use less sugar because I like my frosting less sweet. You can refrigerate your frosting to firm it up a little.
Thandai Macarons (Holi special macarons)
I just turned the classic Holi drink into macarons and they are the absolute best!
Macarons:
- 75 gram Almonds ((Whole and unblanched. Ground in a food processor grinder))
- 110 gram Icing sugar
- 10 gram Thandai powder ((home made or store bought))
- 65 milliliter Egg whites ( (about 2 eggs))
- 55 gram Superfine sugar (or castor sugar)
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vinegar (apple cider or regular)
- 1/8 teaspoon rose extract (optional)
Filling:
- 120 gram cream cheese
- 50 gram Icing sugar ((sifted))
- 1 teaspoon Thandai powder ((according to preference))
Make the macarons:
In a food processor add the whole almonds, icing sugar, and thandai powder and pulse till everything is well ground and combined. Make sure that you don't blend and only pulse.
Sift this mixture once into a bowl. there will be about 1 teaspoon worth of mixture remaining in the sieve, discard it.
In a large bowl that is very clean and without grease (ensure that the beating attachments of your stand mixer/hand mixer are also clean and grease-free). Add the egg whites and salt. Start whipping at a slow speed.
Once the egg whites start foaming up (like soap), add the vinegar.
When more bubbles start forming, slowly add in the caster sugar in small additions.
Once all the icing sugar is added, increase the speed and whip for 1 minute. Then add the rose extract and keep whipping till you reach stiff peaks. It takes anywhere between 8-14 minutes.
After you reach stiff peaks, add the sifted almond mixture in three stages, folding gently. Keep folding till the batter is flowing in ribbons from your spatula and you can make a figure 8.
Transfer this mixture into a piping bag and cut a hole about 1/2-inch in diameter. Pipe little mounds into prepared and lined baking sheets. Leave some space between the macarons.
Tap your baking sheet against the counter about 5-6 times to remove air bubbles.
Let your macarons dry for about 15-45 minutes or till it forms a light skin on the surface and it's top is matte. When you touch it, the batter will not stick to your finger. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 160 C
Bake your macarons for about 12-16 minutes or until set.
Once baked, let your macarons cool completely on the baking sheet before removing.
Make the frosting:
Add all the ingredients for the frosting into a medium-large mixing bowl and whip till it is smooth and fluffy. If your frosting is loose, refrigerate for 15 minutes. Cream cheese tends to become loose in consistency if you do not add lots of sugar. I add just barely enough to sweeten it because I like it that way. For more information please read notes above.
Assemble the cookies:
Pair up the cookies according to sizes. Pipe a generous amount of frosting on one cookie and use its pair to sandwich them together.
Repeat for all cookies. Refrigerate them for 24 hours for best flavour and texture.
I decorated my cookies with melted caramelized white chocolate and ground pistachios.
*Nutrition values are auto-calculated
Bakesalotlady™ 
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