Guinea Pig Macarons with Peppermint Milk Chocolate

I had some leftover batter from making horse macarons so I made these guinea pig wannabes :)

These are modelled after my cute guinea pig 流沙包 (liu sha bao, salted egg custard steamed buns) that I made a year ago. Instead of filling them with Milo swiss meringue buttercream like the horses, I filled them with peppermint milk chocolate for my friend along with the clownfish macarons. She needed something that won't soften too much in Singapore's hot weather so cream filling will not do.

Please refer to my horse macaron post for the recipe and detailed steps.

Just to share some pictures...

Piping the batter 

Lesson learnt. I should have waited for 15 minutes before piping on the white parts. I ended up with a chubbier guinea pig! I piped the ears on 15 minutes after piping the body.

I prepared a small portion of white batter for the guinea pig face and clownfish macarons. If it's too much hassle for you to prepare 3 different batters, you may add on the ears and white part of the face using royal icing after baking the shells with light brown batter. I was trying to take up the challenge of minimizing the use of icing.

Freshly baked shells

Prepare some light pink, dark pink, white, black and brown royal icing for the little critter's nose, eyes and feet. I happen to keep a container of royal icing in the fridge. So when I need small amounts like this I can just take out a teaspoon worth to work on.

Freshly iced!

Dab a little peppermint essence on the inner sides of the shells to infuse some peppermint flavour.

Peppermint chocolate*
45g milk/dark chocolate chips
1/8 tsp (or 2-3 drops) peppermint essence

Melt chocolate chips in microwave oven using 10 second bursts at medium power, stirring in between heating until chocolate melts completely. Alternatively, you may melt by double-boiling. Add peppermint extract and keep stirring until chocolate is smooth.

*I only prepared enough for about 8-10 macarons. Do increase portion if you make a bigger batch. Or change to another filling if refrigeration is not an issue.

Piping chocolate onto shells

Store in airtight container at room temperature in a cool and dry place after chocolate has set. You may refrigerate for half an hour to speed up the process.

With love,
Phay Shing