Bake-A-Thank-You

The opportunity to share my love of baking at one of Singapore’s most well respected cooking schools has been an incredibly rewarding and enriching experience. I owe huge thanks to the fabulous Shermay Lee, whose dedication to the pursuit of perfection is second to none, and the peerlessly resourceful S, without whom all this would never have transpired in the first place. And last but certainly not least, the wonderful people I’ve met through the various classes.

Since the weekend just past – the class covered classic macaron flavours like chocolate, coffee, vanilla and hazelnut – I’ve received a few emails asking how the main recipe can be adapted for matcha macarons. It’s a super easy variation that requires no change in quantities of the key ingredients, only that of the flavouring. So here it is, a token of my appreciation to all the lovely ladies (and occasional gentleman) I've had the great pleasure of getting to know a little better over the past few months.

Matcha Macarons
Yield: About 36 pairs, depending on the size they are piped

Follow method as set out on pages 1 to 3. At step 6, stir in 1 Tbsp (level) of matcha (in lieu of vanilla). At step 14, pipe on a dollop of Matcha Buttercream or some other complementary filling.

Matcha Buttercream
Yield: Enough to fill at least 36 pairs of macarons, depending on the size of the macarons

Follow method for classic buttercream as set out on page 7. To flavour, make the following: Stir 1 Tbsp (level) of matcha together with 1 Tbsp hot water until the paste is smooth. Once cooled, add to the buttercream (see step 5).

My personal preference is to sandwich the matcha macarons with sweetened chestnut puree - the richness of the latter is nicely balanced by the grassy, herbaceous character of the former.