Lemon Cheesecake French Macaron

TGIF everyone! Here I am again, thinking..well lets have a classic lemon cheesecake. Instead of a cheesecake, lets find a way to put it into the macaron. Crazy right? As though an original flavoured macaron isn't delicious enough, I gave into my crave and made LEMON CHEESECAKE FRENCH MACARON. Double the flavour, double the joy, and double the satisfaction.

It's no secret that I have a serious obsession towards lemons, vanilla bean, cream cheese, chocolate, and lots of lots of berries. I mean business people. Seriously, don't you just love those flavours? If I had it my way, I would probably love to have any sweet treat as a meal instead. Then again, I suppose with everyone being health conscious around me, it may not be feasible after all.

---

Lemon Cheesecake French Macaron
by Chic & Gorgeous Treats                                          

---

* Makes slightly over 2 dozen sandwiched cookies.
* Store in airtight container in a fridge roughly up to a week if it’s not devoured within 2-3 days.
* Tinting or leaving the macarons plain in colour is optional.

INGREDIENTS

Basic Almond Macaron 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted 1 cup ground almond 3 large egg whites 1 tablespoon caster sugar Lemon Cheesecake Cream 150g cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup caster sugar 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened zest of 1 lemon 2 tablespoons Limoncello liqueur 6 tablespoons thick Lemon curd 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/3 cup heavy cream, whipped soft peak

DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 160°C. In a large bowl, mix together ground almond and sifted powdered sugar. Set aside. 2. With a whisk attachment attached to a stand mixer, on high speed, beat egg whites until foamy, and doubled in volume (approx. 30 seconds). Add caster sugar and continue to beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form (approx. 10 minutes). 3. Immediately, fold whipped meringue into ground almond mixture in 2 batches until smooth. (NOTE: to tint, add small dollops of food gel colouring while mixing both meringue and ground almond mixture together). Place the mixture in a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle and pipe about 4 cm rounds onto baking tray lined with parchment paper. 4. Allow to stand until a ‘skin’ forms (approx. 20 minutes) on the top of the macarons. Reduce temperature to 130°C and bake shells for 17 minutes or until crisp on the edges. Let macaron shells cool completely on the baking tray before spreading them with butter cream. 5. Whisk whipping cream until soft peak and set aside. Place butter, sugar, vanilla extract and cream cheese in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, and beat until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest & lemon curd and beat until well combined. Fold in whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and mix until well combine. Lemon Cheesecake Cream will double up in volume. 6. Transfer Lemon Cheesecake Cream into a piping bag with or spread the cream onto half the cooled macaron and sandwich with another macaron shell. ENJOY! *macaron recipe adapted from Donna Hay

---

Have a WONDERFUL weekend ahead!!!

xx