Earlier I posted about my dark chocolate macarons with lemon charcoal to pair with Guatemala Casi Cielo. I wanted to switch things up a little bit and make the lemon the more dominate flavor in the pairing, dipped in dark chocolate.
Meyer lemons are in season right now, so is Casi Cielo. Coincidence? I think not! I love pairing Casi Cielo with meyer lemons over regular lemons because of their sweetness. Meyer lemons don’t have as much of a bite, and using their zest can lend more of a complex floral aspect to the pairing. If you have never done a side by side tasting of meyer lemons verses regular lemons, this is a great activity to help develop vocabulary for coffee tastings.
Recently, and by recently I mean today, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCAA) announced their newly updated flavor wheel. This tool has been instrumental for my coffee journey, and really helps me how I develop my pairings.
I love making macarons, but they can be very fussy to make. Do not get discouraged if they don’t turn out perfect the first time around. They will still taste delicious, I promise 🙂
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 whole meyer lemon, zested
- 4 ounces almond flour
- 8 ounces confectioners sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh meyer lemon juice
- yellow food coloring (optional)
- Zest the meyer lemon and allow to dry on a paper towel for a few hours.
- With your electric mixer, mix the egg whites until foamy. Slowly pour in the granulated sugar. Whip on high until stiff peaks form.
- Add meyer lemon juice and yellow food coloring, if desired.
- In a large bowl, sift together almond flour, meyer lemon zest, and confectioners sugar.
- Using a rubber spatula, carefully fold egg whites with your dry ingredients.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Transfer mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 1M tip or larger. Pipe 1 ½-inch circles onto your cookie sheets, spacing them approximately 2 inches apart. After you have finished piping the cookies out, using a wet finger, carefully smooth any bumps on the top out. Then give the cookie sheets a good whack on the counter. This removes any air bubbles that might have formed.
- Allow cookies to sit out on your counter for about an hour, or until the tops have started to dry.
- Bake at 325 °F on the center rack of your oven. The cookies are done when they have risen and formed a wider layer around the bottom (also called the feet), and they are dry and hard to the touch. Should take about 15 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool at room temperature, and remove from cookie sheets.
- Spoon filling onto one cookie, and top with a second, creating a sandwich.
- ½ stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ounce weight cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons meyer lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- Using a stand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
- Add the meyer lemon juice and vanilla. Blend until combined.
- Add the confectioner’s sugar and beat on low until smooth.
- Pipe on macarons, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Guatemala Casi Cielo
I decided to dip my finished macarons in dark chocolate. To do this I melted semi sweet chocolate in a double boiler. I dipped half of the cookie in the chocolate and let set. You could also dust the macarons with cocoa powder immediately after baking.
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