Loving Creations for You: Rainbow Bear Macarons with Earl Grey and Matcha White Chocolate Fillings (improved version of filling)

Here are some colourful bears holding beer mugs (again!) Or flowers! Macarons that don't need refrigeration for some friends' birthday celebration in the month of August :). Yes I know it's already October. I haven't had the chance to post these yet :p. They were made from leftover batter from my Tsum Tsum series macarons and Strawberry macaron pops. This request came at a time when I was busy with other bakes so I could only manage to make something with leftover batter.

You have seen the bears with beer mugs before over here. I have been really busy lately but glad to be able to squeeze in these bears into my macaron bakes! I used leftover batter whenever I had some to make these bears and froze the earlier shells. I defrosted the shells when it was time to decorate and assemble.

Please refer to this recipe for the base recipe. I didn't have time to make batter for the snout so I used royal icing for it this time.

Just to share some photos when I remembered to take...

Adding on details bit by bit with royal icing and lustre dust

What is new here is the filling. I made some changes to my recipe first used over here. I added vegetable shortening and dissolved the powdered tea in there instead. Shortening serves to keep the "ganache" in a state that is easy to pipe for a longer time (slows down firming up of the chocolate) and reduces the overall percentage of sugar content. As you know, white chocolate is notoriously sweet but it's the best base for incorporating different flavours of filling that does not need refrigeration. Much as butter and heavy cream are better ingredients to use, I am looking at longer shelf life without refrigeration and the ease of giving the macarons as gifts without worrying that the filling will turn too soft or rancid.

I also added salt into the mix to temper the sweetness of the white chocolate. The filling will taste saltier on its own but paired with the sweet shells, you won't detect the salt much.

Earl grey white chocolate (fills 12-14 macarons)
60g white chocolate, chopped (I used Meiji)
1.5-2 tsp instant Earl grey powder
10g vegetable shortening
1/8 tsp salt

Steps:
1. Place shortening and salt into a small saucepan. Heat over low heat and stir until shortening has melted.

2. Melt white chocolate in a double-boiler or microwave oven. If using microwave, heat at medium-high heat in 10 seconds bursts and stir well after each round of heating. Stir until smooth.

3. Add sifted tea powder into melted chocolate and stir well in one direction until well combined. Add melted shortening and stir until well combined. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for a few minutes and check the consistency. It should firm up a little.

4. Transfer into piping bag and pipe onto macaron shells. Let the ganache firm up and store in airtight container.

Matcha white chocolate
60g white chocolate, chopped
1.5 tsp Matcha powder
10g shortening
1/8 tsp salt

Steps:
Same as above