Happy Cat Earl Grey Lavender Salted Caramel Macaron Carousel (updated recipe)

Someone saw my first Happy Cat carousel and was so charmed by it that she wanted one too! But this version has different type of cats and another cute little critter thrown in ;).

I used the non-reduced sugar macaron shell recipe but used icing sugar that already has cornflour added in. Both regular and reduced sugar recipes can be found here. You may refer to my Creative Baking: Macarons book for a systematic presentation of the basics and complex shaped macarons. You may refer to my video tutorials for macaron basics and piping of complex shapes on the blog too. You may refer to this post for the dimensions of the shells required to make the carousel and the respective baking times. I piped a scalloped roof like the one similar to the sheep macaron carousel as I think it's really pretty and it is very helpful for positioning the paper straws during the assembly. Checkout the sheep carousel post for detailed steps of assembly.

Just to share some pictures of the process...

Piping cats!

Piping mice!

In an effort to try and make the carousel macarons less sweet, I decided to try reducing the white chocolate content in the filling. Previously I used a ratio of 1:4 for vegetable shortening:white chocolate. Now I try to use a slightly smaller percentage of white chocolate, 1:3.5. Here's the updated recipe for non-refrigerated filling that can remain stable in hot climate like in Singapore.

Recipe for Earl grey lavender white chocolate filing
Ingredients:
140g white chocolate
40g vegetable shortening
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
4 tsp Earl Grey tea powder
1 tsp dried lavender flower powder*
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

* Toast about 2 tsp of dried lavender flowers at 100℃ for 10min in the oven. Use mortar and pestle to grind until powder form. Sift the ground lavender.

Steps:
1. Place white chocolate and shortening in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat at medium power for 20 seconds and mix well with spatula. Repeat until mixture is melted and smooth.

2. Add salt and mix well. Gradually add tea powders and vanilla and mix well.

3. Leave to stand for a while until toothpaste-like consistency. Transfer to piping bag and pipe onto shells.

I piped the middle of the shells with salted caramel.

Filling the large shell!

Do not fill the shells on paper straws with salted caramel or the macaron will slide down the pole.

Assembled cats and mice!

I decided to add on extra royal icing fish and cheese deco :)

Pipe these on baking sheet, dry thoroughly before carefully peeling them off.

I stuck the fish and cheese deco onto the carousel base with some royal icing.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of the loose pieces!

Too cute!

With love,
Phay Shing