Chocolate Frosted Flake Macarons

I tend to pair certain foods with particular people.  Frosted Flakes is one of them.  My grandmother started every morning with a bowl of frosted flakes while doing her daily Bible reading with her red pen.  I woke up particularly early yesterday morning and that certain memory came to mind.  Plus, the weather was unusually cool and dry and perfect for macarons.   Call it fate, but that’s how this macaron flavor was born.I know, I know.  Frosted Flake macarons?  It sounds odd, but it’s really good!  I even brought them out with me yesterday and someone noted that it might’ve been the best macaron he ever had.
It starts with a vanilla macaron base.  (The speckles are from the almond skins my almond flour had.)  Then, it’s filled with a salted milk jam* filling, to mimic that sweet milk you get when you eat Frosted Flakes.  The tops are dipped into melted sweet chocolate and garnished with a few Frosted Flakes.  I really love how the Frosted Flakes stand up and add an architectural look to them.  They’re pretty to look at and they’re grrrreat to eat.

Chocolate Frosted Flake Macarons

You will need:
yellow vanilla macaron shells
salted milk jam filling
semi-sweet chocolate, melted
frosted flakes

Basic French Macarons

Ingredients:
212 g. almond meal
212 g. powdered sugar
172 g. egg whites, divided to 82 g. and 90 g (aged, if possible)
236 g. sugar
158 g. water
yellow gel food color

Instructions:

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, add the almond meal and powdered sugar and pulse until thoroughly combined.
3. Sift the mixture over a large mixing bowl, throwing out the lumps as they appear.  Add 82 g. of the egg whites and stir until you get a thick mixture.
4. In a small pot attached with a candy thermometer, combine the sugar and water over medium heat and boil until the syrup reaches 200˚F.
5. Once the syrup reaches 200˚F, start whipping the remaining 90 g. in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment on medium speed until soft peaks are reached.
6. Once the syrup reaches 248 degrees, remove the pot off the burner and slowly pour the syrup down the side of the mixing bowl with the egg whites on medium speed.
7. Once the egg whites are fully incorporated, increase the speed to medium high until egg whites form glossy, stiff peaks.  Add two drops of the yellow gel food color and mix until batter turns a light shade of yellow.
8. Mix a ⅓ of the egg white mix to the almond mixture and stir together until the batter is slightly lighter and less pasty.  From then on, fold in ⅓ of the egg white mixture at a time until the mixture “flows like magma”.  The mixture should be smooth and run thick ribbons off the spatula.
9. With a pastry bag fitted with a ½ in. plain tip, pipe 1¼ – 1½ in. rounds.
10. The piped batter may have peaks but should smooth away in a minute or two.  Let the batter stand until the tops of the macaron batter are dry to the touch, about 30 mins to 1 hour.
11. Preheat the oven to 275-325˚F.  If your oven tends to run hot go for 275˚, if not then 325˚.
12. Bake 10-13 minutes, until the feet are formed and the tops are smooth.  The batter is done when you slightly wiggle it and it starts to come off of the parchment paper / silicone mat.
13. Let cool and fill.

Salted Milk Jam Filling

Ingredients:
1 c. dulce de leche (either from a jar or homemade)
1 batch of vanilla frosting (recipe below)
a generous pinch of Maldon salt

Instructions:

1. Mix dulce de leche, vanilla frosting and Maldon salt until combined.  If the filling is too soft to pipe, chill in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes.  Checking every 3 minutes for the correct consistency.

Basic Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients:
½ c. whole milk
3tbsp. flour
⅛ tsp. salt
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In a saucier pan, put milk, salt and flour and whisk until combined on medium heat.
2. Continuously whisk mixture until thickened to a pudding like consistency.
3. Once thickened, strain through a mesh strainer into a bowl with a spatula to remove lumps.
4. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the flour mixture and put into the fridge until fully cool.
5. In a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the sugar and butter on high speed until fluffy and pale about, 5-10 minutes.
6. Add the chilled flour mixture and continue to whip on high speed until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is no longer gritty, about 5-10 minutes.
7. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Assembly

1. Dip half of the macaron shells into the melted semi sweet chocolate.
2. Place about 3 Frosted Flakes on top of each chocolate dipped macaron shell.
3. Let set in freezer for about 5 minutes.
4. While the chocolate macaron shells are chilling, fill the other half of the macaron shells with the salted milk jam.
5. Top the milk jam macaron shell with chocolate macaron shell and enjoy!

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*I always thought that milk jam was a lighter, less caramel version of dulce de leche.  But after searching the internet, it turns out they’re the same thing.
**Basic macarons adapted from Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller, Sebastien Rouxel