Shamrock Macarons with Baileys Chocolate Ganache

I know, I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself! I must have no shame. I've already tackled Christmas, Chinese New Year and Easter Macarons (eeee I forgot how cute their fat, white tails are!). St Patrick's Day was calling to me. I haven't celebrated it much in the past, but I wanted to do these for my friend Tomred. And I just needed to know if I was up to the challenge of piping shamrock macarons! I had to at least try, and as always I told myself that if they failed miserably I would fling them into the bin and never speak of it again. But I did it...you can tell it's a shamrock, right? Right??

I'm not going to lie, these were not easy. I'd go so far as to say were a bit of a bitch to make. I have never been a neat piper, and this was a fiddly piece of shizz to pipe. Green splotches of macaron batter ended up pretty much everywhere. I had been inspired by this stunning shamrock cake by i am baker. When I saw those pretty shamrocks piped on to the cake with icing, I just knew I had to try it with macarons. Mine are a bit uglier and messier than my inspiration but they're not too bad. I basically piped smaller heart shapes to create the petals, and then piped a skinnier stem connecting them from the centre. It was nearly impossible to pipe consistently but after a bit of practice I think I got the hang of it.

They're definitely not my best macarons ever, I undermixed my batter which is something I am very, very prone to doing. I was scared of overmixing and not being able to pipe it into a distinguishable shamrock shape so the shells were very bumpy. I was also impatient while waiting for the shells to dry before I baked them, nearly half of the batch cracked and had hardly any feet. So if you are as nuts as me and want to attempt these, remember that you really have to let these totally dry on the outside before baking as the funny shape makes them very prone to cracking.

I couldn't resist making these with a simple Baileys and Chocolate Ganache. Tomred had previously grumbled about how everyone throws Guinness into desserts for St Paddy's Day, and that Baileys would be a much more appealing dessert for the holiday for him. So here you go Tomred! This ganache is very tasty and a little addictive. I have never been partial to drinking Irish Cream, but I do like it when it's mixed into this thick chocolate ganache. My first taste of it was so good that I was tempted to triple the ganache recipe and slather it on a chocolate cake, and then use the macarons to decorate it. But then I realised I'd spent a good hour and a half just piping these macarons, another hour and a half waiting for them to dry, and another hour baking, cooling and filling them. So instead I packed them away and went for a nap. Happy St Patrick's Day everyone!

Shamrock Macarons with Baileys Chocolate Ganache
(makes about 15 macarons)
Note: These macarons are a little trickier, if you are a beginner with macarons read up and practice plain macarons first. BraveTart has lots of useful advice and info on the subject
100g aged egg whites (you can use fresh eggs too, just make sure they are room temperature. I always use fresh these days, and zap it in the microwave on defrost for 10 seconds)
110g almond meal, at room temperature and well sifted
200g icing sugar
50g caster sugar
Optional: 1 tsp powdered egg whites (available from The Essential Ingredient), helps to stabilise egg whites but is not necessary
To decorate: green food colouring (powdered or gel)

For the Baileys Chocolate Ganache:
150g (5.3 ounces) good quality dark chocolate, finely chopped
100ml (just under 1/2 cup) pure/pouring cream (or heavy whipping cream in the US, min 35% fat unthickened)
60ml (1/4 cup) Baileys Irish Cream

Line two baking sheets with baking paper. Place icing sugar in food processor and pulse for a minute to remove any lumps. Stir in almond meal and pulse for about 30 seconds to combine. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and egg white powder in a medium mixing bowl until the egg white powder dissolves and it reaches soft peaks. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add sugar and beat until it reaches stiff peaks. (You can add the green food colouring to the meringue as you are beating it to stiff peaks, it makes it easier to adjust how much colouring to add. Otherwise add it in the next step.)

Add meringue to your dry mixture and mix, quickly at first to break down the bubbles in the egg white (you really want to beat all the large bubbles out of the mixture, be rough!), then mix carefully as the dry mixture becomes incorporated and it starts to become shiny again. Take care not to overmix, the mixture should flow like lava and a streak of mixture spread over the surface of the rest of the mixture should disappear after about 30 seconds. Place mixture in a piping bag. I fitted my piping bag with a narrower tip than usual, a half-moon shaped tip that was about 0.7cm wide so that I could pipe smaller shapes. Pipe three minature hearts at right angles to each other (see picture below, and this post for a description and video of how to pipe hearts). Then pipe a skinnier straight line joining them together from the centre to make the stem of the shamrock. Tap baking sheets carefully and firmly on the benchtop to remove any large bubbles.

Leave to dry for about an hour, so that when you press the surface of one gently it does not break. This will help prevent any cracking and help the feet to form on the macs. These macarons seem to need a longer drying time than regular round ones as they are prone to cracking. Preheat your oven to 140-150°C (285-300°F), depending on your oven. Place on top of an overturned roasting tray or another baking sheet if your sheets are not professional grade, for better heat distribution. Bake for 18-25 minutes, depending on the size of your shells. Carefully test if the base of the shell is ready by gently lifting one and if it's still soft and sticking to the baking paper, then it needs to bake for a few minutes longer. Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for a few minutes, then gently remove from the sheet and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepare the chocolate ganache; place chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Gently heat cream in a small saucepan until it just comes to the boil, then pour hot cream over chocolate and set aside for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt. Use a whisk to combine mixture until it is smooth (if the chocolate has not completely melted you can place it over a saucepan of boiling water and continue stirring it until it is completely smooth). Add Baileys (you can adjust the amount to taste) and use whisk to combine. Chill in the fridge until thick but still pipable. Pipe or spoon on to macaron shells and sandwich shells together. Place in the fridge overnight