Those wildflowers, Jamie and Deeba over at Mactweets challenged us this month to reinvent the chocolate macaron by pairing it with unusual flavor.
Recently I picked up a bottle of dandelion syrup at Munich’s Viktrualienmarkt. This was the perfect opportunity to break it open to create a macaron filling.
The woman at the little shop at the market who sold me the syrup took some time to explain that all of their plants are harvested according with some sort of magical timetable by the moon and the sun. By the time she was finished, I felt like I was holding a bottle of liquid magic in my hands.
According to Wikipedia This 30 million year old plant has had plenty of time throughout history to earn many names, referring from everything to the milk found in it’s sap to where it grows to its diuretic qualities.
Lion’s tooth (Germany)
Bed Wetter (France)
Dog’s Lettuce (France)
Mole’s Salad (France)
Dog Pisses (France)
Milk Pot (Denmark)
Dog Milk (Hungary)
Monk’s Crown (France)
Horse Flower (Holland)
Worm rose (Sweden)
Butter Flower (Finland,Estonia)
and my favorite: Flower that grows in Public Spaces by the Riverside (China)
The syrup itself is sweet, tangy and a tad bitter. Immersing its flavor in buttercream was perfect and didn’t turn it into bittercream as I had initially feared.
- 1/2 stick butter room temperature
- 1+1/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup dandelion syrup
- Food coloring (I used Wilton’s Yellow and Leaf Green)
- Cream butter and 1 cup of the powdered sugar together.
- Add remaining sugar a little at a time until combined.
- Turn mixer down to low and stream in syrup.
- If buttercream is too thin add more sugar, if it is too thick add more syrup.
- I split the buttercream into two portions and colored them.
- In addition to coloring the buttercream I also used star tips to pipe the buttercream on the shells.
- I got this decorating tip (haha) from Gesine Prado-Bullock from her macaron making video HERE.
- 3/4 tablespoon Meringue powder
- 1 cup Confectionary sugar
- 1+1/2 tablespoons water
- Food coloring (I used Wilton’s Yellow and Leaf Green)
13 comments
You are a true artist, Lora! Love the happy colors of the dandelions that you painstakingly created for each of your perfectly chocolate macarons. Um, "dandelion" sounds a lot more appetizing than "dog pisses," "bed wetter" and "worm rose." Always enjoy your MacAttack entries!
What an amazing creation! Love having you over at MacTweets and love the energy you mac with! These are gorgeous Lora..dandelion syrup? Magical indeed!! Who would have thought? Love the colourful fun you had with these!
Oooh, very pretty and what a special flavour! I've heard of dandelion tea, but never come across the syrup before. Sounds intriguing.
My mum told me when I was little that I'd wet the bed if I picked a dandelion then funnily enough when I grew up both my husband and I started drinking dandelion tea for the health benefits. Your liquid gold sounds amazing and I bet your macarons tasted delicious. I also loved your artwork – very creative.
Amazing! I just blew on two dandelions yesterday and my husband told me he purchased a dandelion digger just for me. I don't care if I have to dig dandelions b/c I love them when they go to seed 😀
They are also quite vibrant in your pictures. I love your royal icing decorations and those chocolate macarons look amazing, my only attempt of those turned into some weird wrinkly cookies.
This is so cool! I'd read that dandelion is a good liver detox agent to consume in the spring when it's available, and thought about combining it with chocolate in some truffles but was too lazy. Stunning macs with intricate decorating work.
dandelion syrup, wow I need to find this..how creative, love your macs!!
sweetlife
These look like some wonderful macaroons! I'm sure they must be delicious:)
LOVE your inventiveness! The Chinese name is my favorite too.
Great looking and inventive Mac!
I agree with Linda: your macs are always unique, creative and fun! Gorgeous macs and I love the flowers! And the dandelion cream is a wower! Love having you bake your fabulous creations for Mactweets every month!
Dandelion syrup…now THAT is one I've never heard of before! But it's so very full of spring cheer, that I'm sure it tastes amazing!
I can always rely on you for a fun reply to the Mactweets challenge. I'm a bit of a floral flavour fan and I like the bright coloured filling.