Five Spice Macarons with Caramel

Ingredients

Chinese cassia cinnamon, star anise, anise seed, ginger and cloves are added to these dainty french cookies sandwiches with caramel and loaded with flavor.

Caramel Filling:
2 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup whipping cream
2 cups powdered sugar
5 tablespoons water

Chinese Five Spice Macarons
100 g. egg whites
25 g. white sugar
200 g. powdered sugar
110 g. ground almond meal
1 tsp. (or 2 tsp. for a kick) chinese five spice powder (without fennel! There are different variations on five spice powder)

Directions

For the Filling:
Place yolks in a stand mixer. Bring 4 tablespoons butter and cream to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into yolks.

Stir sugar and 5 tablespoons water in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat and boil without stirring until syrup is deep amber color, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan so caramel will color evenly, about 10 minutes.

Slowly whisk hot caramel into yolk mixture, then whisk until smooth. Transfer caramel mixture to small bowl; let stand until no longer warm to touch about 1 hour. Whisk in remaining butter. Cover and chill one day prior to use.

For the Cookies:
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together powdered sugar, spices, and almond meal to remove any clumps. Gently sift into meringue gradually folding in, usually as few strokes as possible.

Moving quickly fill a disposable pastry bag with the macaron batter with a ¾ inch wide cut end. Pipe small rounds one inch in diameter and one inch apart, onto the baking sheets. Allow to rest for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 300.  Bake for 15-20 minutes. My experience is that if the macarons are hard to remove from the paper, they need more time to bake. Allow to cool on the pan and then remove. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to fill.

To Fill:

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Recipe Credit: Cherry Tea Cakes