Thanksgiving Macaron Centerpiece: Pumpkin Spice Macarons

Hey all! How are your thanksgiving preparations going? did you plan your menus, finish the grocery shopping and shine the silver already or are you more of a last minute type (like me?) I have been seeing posts and tweets about turkey thawing, and pie-crust rolling and I can't help getting caught up in the excitement. I always miss my large family during holiday season and wish there were more of us on the West Coast. But I can't complain too much since I was blessed to see my awesome cousins recently and had my mom-in-law visiting us until last week. So this year Thanksgiving looks to be a small affair with my little family and plans to meet a couple of friends after which we three are heading off for a short trip. It didn't seem natural to not do any cooking or baking though, so here is a thanks giving center piece idea: Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Macarons! 

Making these and piling them into glass jars or stacking them on cake stands along with little pumpkins, squash, pine cones and autumn leaves seemed like a good idea to add some festive cheer to your table. They would make great hostess gifts too I'm thinking :)

I haven't made macarons in a while and recently a couple of friends were discussing them and I felt that familiar itch to bake them all over again. Looks like my macobsession is back eeeeeks! These pint sized treats are perfect to nibble on while waiting for the caramel cardamom pumpkin pie or swirly pumpkin-ginger  cheesecake to be served. Another interesting fall macaron idea is this Ginger Spice Macaron

Oh and I discovered that you don't need cream to make ganache. Ok so I forgot to buy cream. But the important thing  is- you don't need it! Make ganache with chocolate and ...milk! You can thank me now and Nigella who apparently knew too. 

For how to bake macarons refer my step by step  post with tips and tricks  here

I added an eight of a tsp of red powder colouring from the Indian grocery store. This colour is often used in savoury indian cooking and just a little imparts a deep orange hue. 

I kept my shells unflavoured but you could add some spices to the shell batter as well. 

For the Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Ganache Filling

Ingredients

50 ml milk or cream

100 gms chocolate chips

1 tbsp butter (optional )

1/2 tsp ginger powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Heat the milk or cream until simmering at the edges

Pour over the chocolate and stir until it melts

Stir in the spices and the butter and mix well until all the chocolate has melted and the ganache is smooth

Keep in the fridge to set until scoopable and spoon or pipe between the shells.

Note: I am not sure about how this ganache will work for purposes other than filling macs though I am pretty sure that it should do fine. (Yay freedom from the tyranny of cream!) I will experiment, but if you do try it before I do, to say frost a cake, do let me know! Also I did make it once without the butter and thought it was just a little harder to set, but not noticeably so. I am also betting that these macs would taste great with some pumpkin butter filling. Perhaps next year!