Thursday, January 13, 2011

Australia Day Lamington Macarons - MacTweets #15 MacInspirational


The challenge for January MacTweets #15 was to incorporate a favourite dessert into a macaron and I decided to go with the lamington.

So I'm going to come clean with you all right from the start, Lamington's are not my favourite dessert, in fact I don't really like them much at all.

But the thought of them as a macaron intrigued me, not long ago I made hazelnut macarons and filled a few with jam and they were honestly some of the best macarons I have ever made.

Plus it's coming up to Australia Day soon and I thought it would be nice to have a patriotic theme to my challenge.

So I made up a batch of chocolate macarons using this recipe (click here for recipe) and sprinkled some coconut onto them straight away, before the rest period and then filled the cooked and cooled macarons with raspberry jam.

They were nice, chocolate and coconut combined with the jam to make a sweet treat perfect for afternoon tea with a nice cup of tea.  Kinda like a lamington I guess.
I styled this picture with an Old Country Roses cup, I was going for a CWA (Country Women's Association) look and I'm not being disrespectful at all - I own this tea set and most of the CWA could bake me under the table : )

So lamington MacIspired macarons - check......

Next I filled the rest of the chocolate macarons, the ones I didn't pop coconut on with a white chocolate coffee buttercream. They were dreamy and creamy with a pretty piped center. I haven't included the recipe here as it is a work in progress (translation - means I mixed together stuff on the spot and didn't write down the exact measurements for you sorry), but it was based on Italian Meringue Buttercream from the Whimsical Bakehouse cookbook.

Mmmmmm MacDreamy

Checkout MacTweets round up later in the month to see what everyone else came up with.

16 comments:

  1. That is an amazingly inspired macaron for Australia Day Linda. I am devastated reading and hearing about the floods in Oz, Brisbane particularly, and am glad you are safe. My thoughts are with you, and your countrymen affected by the floods. Keep safe, and look after yourself. Thank you for making the effort to mac with us despite the adversities. xo

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  2. I am so glad you and your family are safe - I am originally from Australia and it's so horrible watching the devastation from far away in Canada... Good for you for making macs in the face of such awfulness. And I have to day I love them a lot - I made nearly the exact same ones last year! LOL!

    http://www.eatlivetravelwrite.com/2010/01/to-australia-with-love/

    Keeping you in my thoughts and hoping the floods subside soon....

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  3. Ooh I saw someone mention this on a blog and was going to make these for Australia Day too! Yours look great, got to love how iconically Australian the lamington is! Glad to hear that you're safe and baking.

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  4. I've never heard of Lamingtons...I had to look it up. Your macaron version sounds better than the original, and is SO pretty.

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  5. Macdreamy indeed. What a great Lamington inspired idea. Beautiful macarons.

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  6. Wonderful idea (I LOVE lamingtons by the way lol) and so elegantly presented too. Lovely ;0)

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  7. Fantastic spin on a traditional, and somewhat boring cake. I love it.

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  8. mmm I actually love lamingtons. They are so fussy to make though so I'm all for variations. I'm planning on making lamington cupcakes for Australia Day this year.

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  9. These look amazing and were such a great idea ! Yum!!!

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  10. The Macrons look delicious! would love to check out the other recipes too.

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  11. I was a few days ago in Paris. In each the bakery I saw macaroons but did not think that they are so popular in the world and that can be done in more ways than the basic ones. Thanks for the enlightenment.
    You can read on my blog about my trip to Paris.
    http://winebread.blogspot.com/

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  12. This is the best version of a Lamington I've ever seen!! Lamingtons aren't one of my favourite cakes either & I'd much rather be enjoying one of your gorgeous macarons with a cup of tea :)

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  13. Such an Aussie staple, couldn't imagine going without one. I like packing them in the kids lunches for school. Fantastic idea, your macaron are beautiful. Hugs & kisses to families in Brisbane affected by the floods.

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  14. Your Lamington macs are so perfectly patriotic! Hope you had a Happy Australia Day!

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  15. Love the pretty coffee butter cream! Your macs look delicious. I've never had a lamington, now I'm curious about them!

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  16. Yummy and very original. Just posted a link on my FB page
    www.facebook.com/anoudesign
    Thanks

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