Hot Cross Bun Macarons...

My humble apologies if you're not a macaron fan. This is after all, my third mac post in a row, but if you are a fan...stick out your hand and grab a seat on the macaron party bus! Free shots of agua con gas for everyone, woohoo!


Actually there's no party or bus, but I might have some fizzy water in the back of the fridge somewhere. After so many fails I feel pretty good notching up three macaron recipes in a trot, you see me and the meringue got off to a bad start, but life is too short for broken relationships so we decided to give it another go and we seem to be doing just fine.


I was planning on making some fine hot cross buns for this weeks Easter festivities. I remember eating them back home slathered in butter, you'd see them for sale everywhere but here in California you have to sniff them out a little more. They're here but not guaranteed in every store. Rather than drive around and add to the demise of the planet I'll just make my own. Problem solved. No..problem just beginning. As I was checking off the ingredient list for the buns I noticed I had no yeast.

Sigh... soft cuss word (I said soft) and slamming of the cupboard door only helped me come up with a hair-brained scheme of making hot cross bun macarons! How hard could it be? Well it wasn't that easy, the flavor being the easiest and getting a close color being the hardest. I tainted the meringue with yellow, then a spot of red. I'm trying for a burnt orange here, stay with me and then I added a spot of black which almost turned the whole meringue blue. Another spot of yellow and some red gave me a lovely pistachio hue?? By now I'm about to call it a day (or fail) but I decided to throw in the flour mixture and carry on. Praise the great macaron god because it started to turn brown, I think it was from the mixed spices. I'm wondering if any color was ever needed. I filled them with a cream cheese/ground spice frosting.



Get This...hot cross bun macarons taste exactly like hot cross buns. Winner winner hot cross bun dinner!

Macaron Batter:

3/4 cup of almond meal flour (I've been using Bob's Red Mill - so far so good)
1 cup powdered confectioners sugar
2 egg whites, at room temp
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
Pinch of cream of tartar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Pinch of ground nutmeg


Sift the confectioners sugar and the almond flour into a bowl along with the cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk the whites on medium until they get foamy. Add the cream of tartar and mix a little more.

Add the sugar gradually - when all added, crank up the mixer to high and whisk until you get stiff peaks. If you want to color your macarons, this is where you would add a couple of drops.

Take your bowl from the mixer and sift the flour/sugar mixture again into the egg whites. Start folding the mixture with a large flat spatula, gently turning about 50 times.

Transfer the mix to a piping bag with a half-inch plain tip and start piping onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. I pipe to about the size of a quarter and then drag the tip to the edge quickly to avoid leaving a peak on the macaron.

Once they are all piped, leave them sitting at room temp for at least 45 minutes until you see them become dull and are dry to touch on top (gently). Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put them in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, turning once after 5 minutes. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes when they come out of the oven, and then gently lift the whole paper sheet from the tray to your counter.

Have your filling ready and fill once they are cool.


Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting, adapted from Joy The Baker:


8 oz cream cheese at room temp
1 stick butter at room temp
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp molasses
Pinch of salt
1 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1-2 drops of orange oil


Beat cream cheese until soft. Add the butter and beat until blended. Scrape down and add the brown sugar and molasses and beat for about 30 seconds.

With mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, spices, vanilla and orange oil and mix. Scrape down again and mix until well blended.

I like to keep it in the fridge for an hour or overnight before piping. It will stay fresh for up to 7 days in an airtight container in the fridge.