3D Turtle Matcha Yuzu Macarons

 I have a fairly large wedding macaron order coming up so I took the chance to play around with matcha macaron shells which was requested for the wedding batch. I ended up with these turtles!

3D macaron shells in the form of hemispheres are perfect receptacles for turning macarons into mini entremets because of the extra volume they can hold. Here's what the turtles contain:

- Matcha macaron shells

- Yuzu royal icing coating the insides of the hemispherical shells

- Matcha ganache

- Matcha vanilla bean mousse

The bright and tangy yuzu complements the earthy premium matcha really well! The icing layer prevents the top hemispherical shell from maturing so it stays crunchy, whereas the bottom macaron shell matures as per normal so it has a soft chew. The creamy mousse filling rounds off the texture nicely.

Here's a picture of the undecorated and unfilled macaron shells...

I will share the ingredient list for the filling here. I used my default Swiss meringue method macaron recipe for the shells but with some premium matcha powder added.

Matcha vanilla bean mousse:
75g + 75g heavy cream 
25g white chocolate couverture, melted
1 egg yolk (about 15g)
5g sugar
3g matcha powder (dissolve in 9g hot water to form a smooth paste)
2g gelatin bloomed in 8g cold water
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Matcha ganache:
120g white chocolate couverture, melted 
1/16tsp salt
4g light corn syrup
12g matcha powder
32g hot water (may replace with hot cream)
2g gelatin in 8g cold water (optional)

Note: Hot water is used instead of cream to bring out a more intense matcha flavour. You may replace hot water with hot cream if you wish for a more milky ganache. Omit gelatin as well if you wish. I added it to make it more temperature stable in the tropics where I live.

Yuzu royal icing:
42g icing sugar
3g meringue powder
7g 100% yuzu juice concentrate
1g light corn syrup

Watch the reel for the process. The method is in the pinned comments of the reel.
(I will share the link after it goes live soon)

This is really delightful for people who love the matcha -yuzu combo! 😋

with love,
Phay Shing