Rice pudding macarons

After making so many macarons I try and search for new interesting ideas. I love making macarons that taste like other desserts or cocktails. The fact of making rice pudding for the filling immediately sounded like and awesome idea. I found a recipe for rice pudding macarons in one of my favorite books from Adriano Zumbo.

The whole process is really simple. First you need to cook rice pudding and combine it with white chocolate ganache. The filling is then piped in between two macaron shells sprinkled with cinnamon. I love the unexpected rice flavor combined with a crunchy and soft macaron shell.

The rice pudding takes a while to cook and be sure to use arborio or jasmine rice for this recipe. You can add more spices of your liking or other ingredients like raisins.

Rice pudding macarons

(Makes about 35)

Time:

Preparation: 30min

Resting: 30min
Cooking: 45min
Baking: 15-18min

For the macaron shells:

• 95g room temperature egg whites
• 125g granulated white sugar
• 40g water
• 135g almond flour or finely ground almonds
• 135g icing sugar
• ground cinnamon (for sprinkling on the shells)

For the rice pudding:

• 190g heavy cream
• 190g milk
• 75g brown sugar
• 70g arborio rice
• 40g white granulated sugar
• 6g vanilla extract (or one vanilla bean)

For the ganache:

• 60g heavy cream
• a pinch of ground cinnamon
• seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
• 100g white chocolate
• 30g butter chopped and softened

Making the macaron shells:

The preparation for the shells is the same as in the Basic macarons recipe.

Pipe the macarons on a parchment paper/silicone mat. Sprinkle over some of the ground cinnamon on top.

Tap the trays with the macarons on the table a few times to pop the air bubbles in the shells. Leave the macarons to rest for about 30 minutes or until they are not sticky to the touch.

Bake in the preheated oven at 150°C (302°F) for 17 minutes. Let the macarons cool completely, if the macarons are still sticky at the bottom return them to the oven and bake some more.

Making the rice pudding:

Put all ingredients in a sauce pan and cook on medium-low heat until the rice is tender. Stir often to prevent the rice from sticking and add more milk if needed. 

 Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.

Making the white chocolate ganache:

Pour the cream, cinnamon and vanilla in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it in a heat-proof bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and set aside for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Blitz in the butter with an immersion blender a cube at a time. Set aside to cool completely.

Assembly:

Combine the white chocolate ganache with the rice pudding, stir until smooth. Pour in a piping bag and pipe the mixture on a macaron shells. Top with a cinnamon upper shell and gently pres down to evenly distribute the ganache, Put the assembled macarons in an airtight container and place in the fridge to rest for 24 hours. 

Waiting or "maturing" allows the flavors to come together and the macarons will become soft and extremely flavorful. Take them out of the fridge about 30 minutes before serving for the best flavor.