Snickers Macaron

There's nothing more exciting than trying to squish the many amazing flavors of a candy bar (or anything, really) into the tiny confines of a little macaron. So when I saw this recipe on the Tartelette blog, I was blown away!

First off, the Tartelette blog has the most beautiful pictures ever. I have never seen macarons in such a light! It just inspires you to bake, bake and bake some more (and waste time study time, not to mention.) The beautiful colors, the gorgeous layouts and the hilarious bit of chatter that comes with it. I am dying to pick up a copy of her book on food photography, but haven't been able to find it here in Melbourne.

By golly, my respect for the makers of the Snickers bar has increased exponentially. I had no idea there were this many aspects to a Snickers bar!

Macaron Shells
Use the basic recipe here, but instead of 140g almond meal, use 70g almond meal and 70g peanut meal.

Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup milk chocolate
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Bring the cream to a boil in a saucepan and pour over the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Whisk until it is smooth and leave to cool to room temperature.

Marshmallow Cream (like, what? I had no idea there were marshmallows in snickers!)
1 cup marshmallows
1/8 cup smooth peanut butter

In a non-stick saucepan, melt the marshmallows and peanut butter and whisk until smooth. Leave to cool to room temperature. This creates a nougat-like piece that you can pull out of the saucepan.

Salted Caramel Sauce
120g sugar
40ml water
60g butter
75ml heavy whipping cream

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and heat over a low flame until the sugar dissolves. Add the butter and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the cream (the mixture will bubble almost violently, but fret not). Whisk to combine and return the saucepan to the low heat until it comes to a boil. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the mixture is creamy, then pour into a jar to store.

*When I attempted this, I ended up with a solid block of salted caramel! But even that didn't dash my hopes and dreams for this macaron. I scraped the solid with a teaspoon to get little crumbles of salted caramel that I sprinkled into the filling.*


To assemble:

Pipe some chocolate ganache onto the macaron shell. Add a small amount of salted caramel sauce, half a peanut and a small piece of the marshmallow cream. Sandwich and chill overnight, but allow to sit outside for 15 minutes for it to soften up before consuming.

Taste exactly like a snickers bar, but classier. Yum!