Chocolate Hazelnut Macaron Ferris Wheel for Marriage Proposal

Occassionally I get unusual requests. This is one of them. Not only was the request unusual, it was meant as a surprise on board a fairly long flight out of Singapore. Presenting my first macaron Ferris Wheel used as part of a marriage proposal!

This is actually the second time the requestor ordered a macaron structure for me for his fiancee. I didn't post the first one as there are so many unicorn macaron carousel posts on the blog already :p. He ordered a chocolate hazelnut flavoured mini unicorn carousel for her and she loved it. So he requested for the same flavour the second time that he ordered.

I baked the macaron shells for this along with Winnie the Pooh and friends and my acorn Ferris Wheel. All rather challenging designs due around the same time. Thank God all of these three bakes were very well received and the Ferris wheels survived transport and still tasted yummy! *Phew* I was a little nervous about how a delicate macaron structure with moveable parts would survive a plane trip. Like I mentioned in my first macaron Ferris Wheel post, I have to lock the rotating wheel for transport purposes as any movement of the wheel can add stresses to parts of the structure and cause it to break prematurely. The lock is 100% edible and easy to remove but works perfectly in preventing the wheel from rotating.

I used the Italian method for making the macaron shells. You may use your favourite macaron recipe or any recipe in our blog. You may refer to my macaron books Creative Baking: Macarons and Creative Baking: Macaron Basics for a more systematic review of the basics and piping techniques, as well as the macaron shell recipe I used here.

Just to share a photo of the "carriages" on the Ferris Wheel.

I am not ready to release all the details of making the Ferris Wheel yet but I can share this yummy filling that is firm enough in hot Singapore weather for macaron structures.

Recipe for hazelnut chocolate filling
Ingredients:
35g Hazelnut ganache (from Phoon Huat)*
30g dark chocolate chips or couverture
30g white chocolate, chopped or chips  (I use compound white chocolate)
35g ground hazelnut
10g vegetable shortening
1/4 tsp salt

* You may just use any chocolate hazelnut spread or hazelnut spread. If you are able to get hold of pure hazelnut butter, that would be the best. But I wasn't able to get it and didn't intend to make my own.

Hazelnut ganache from Phoon Huat

Steps:
1. Place all ingredients except ground hazelnuts into a microwave safe bowl. Heat on medium power for 10 seconds and mix well. Repeat heating and mixing until all the ingredients are melted.

2. Add ground hazelnut and mix until combined.

Transfer into piping bag and pipe onto shells. If the mixture is too runny, let it firm up for a while before piping.

Please excuse me for the lack of photos for this bake as I was really focused on making it and forgot to take photos of the process 😆.

Thank God the surprise went very well!

The requester sent me this photo of the Ferris Wheel in a romantic setting on the plane which was on a night flight. The couple decided to share it with the cabin crew who fedback that it tasted great and not too sweet. Some of the crew asked the requester for my contact details too.

Congratulations to the couple!

With love,
Phay Shing