Christmas Macarons #2: Sticky Date, Ginger and Toffee...

I highly recommend these for Christmas - they're delicious!

Sticky Date Ganache:

For the filling, begin by covering ~100g pitted dates with ~250mL hot water and a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. Put in microwave for 30 seconds, drain water and then squash dates with a spoon until a smooth paste forms. Stir in 1 teaspoon of ground ginger.

Pitted dates

Meanwhile, make a white chocolate ganache by heating 80g of cream and adding 200g of good quality white chocolate (I prefer Lindt's white to Callebaut's white). Add the date paste to the ganache and allow to cool in the fridge while you make the macaron shells.

Sticky date ganache

Toffee Sauce:

To make the toffee sauce, heat 100g of castor sugar in a pan until melted and golden. Carefully add 30g of cream and mix until combined. Set aside to cool.

Macaron Shells:

For the shells, follow the recipe here. Once cooled, carefully brush shells with gold shimmer powder

Adding gold shimmer dust

Pipe shells with sticky date ganache and a touch of toffee sauce.

Macarons can last a few weeks in the freezer if frozen immediately after assembly. To defrost, simply remove from freezer a few hours before serving.