Spicy Ginger Macarons

Ginger Chews are one of my favorite sweet treats and I've been pondering about how to incorporate them into a French macaron for quite a while.

Today I finally gave it a shot so here's my latest creation — Spicy Ginger Macarons.

I tried simply mincing the chews so that I could add them to a buttercream for the macaron filling but the chews were way too hard to chop.  So instead, I added 1/4 cup of water to a sauce pan, dropped in 10 chews and heated it up.

The chews melted easily into a thick caramel colored ginger syrup which I enhanced with ground ginger to flavor my cream cheese filling.

I love the way the filling turned out. It's creamy, not too sweet and spicy.

The Ginger Chews that were my inspiration.

My intense ginger syrup made with 10 ginger chews, water and ground ginger.

Spicy Ginger Macarons
180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted
150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar

Line four heavy baking sheets with good quality parchment paper and set aside. Also, set aside two pastry bags for the piping of the macarons.

Sift together your ground almonds with the powdered sugar and set aside.

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 
Fold the mixture with the rubber scraper by pulling down the sides and flipping the mixture over. Do this until you have a smooth mixture that falls like a “ribbon” off the scraper.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands to close the piping bags. Clip the tip of the bags, one at a time, and pipe small quarter sized rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Leave to set for about 30 minutes or until the top has formed a crust and is not sticky to the touch.
While they are setting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. A convection oven is preferable. 

Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 12 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.
Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife to help lift them off.

Sort into pairs and fill with Spicy Ginger Filling.

Be sure to let your macarons cool completely before lifting them off the parchment.

Spicy Ginger Filling
10 Ginger People brand ginger chews (I buy mine at Trader Joe's)
5 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 package cream cheese (8 oz), room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoons vanilla
pinch of sea salt

Unwrap 10 ginger chews and put them in a small saucepan with the water and ground ginger. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until melted, keep heating until the mixture thickens up a bit and resembles caramel sauce. Put the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and whip on high until the mixture cools down. Add the powdered sugar and whip again. Add the cream cheese and butter and whip until light and fluffy. Finally add the vanilla and sea salt and whip again. You might need to chill the filling so it firms up a bit before piping it between the macarons.

Piping the filling.