Thandai Macarons (Holi special macarons)

I just turned the classic Holi drink into macarons and they are the absolute best!

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine French

Keyword cookie, festive, indian

Prep Time 30 minutes

Bake time: 20 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings macarons

Calories 86kcal

Author bakesalotlady

Ingredients

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)

Instructions

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.

Notes

*Nutrition values are auto-calculated

Nutrition