Flavor of the Month: FEBRUARY- Will You Accept This Rose?

I have been wanting to try my hand at creating a rose flavored macaron for quite some time now…so what better month than February to give it a go.  This is supposed to be the month of love; the month when that chubby little cherub is to shoot his arrow and make sparks ignite (I wouldn’t know because I’ve been dodging that little fat guy for a while now or maybe it’s the other way around).  Whatever the case may be, this is the month of Valentine’s Day and I figured I’ll finally get my rose fix by creating a VANILLA-ROSE MACARON.

I know that rose is used to flavor a lot of different French desserts.  In fact, rose macarons are a regular flavor in many macaron shops.  But here in the U.S. it’s not as popular with the masses; it’s more typically used as a scent for soaps and candles.  I definitely did not want my filling to taste overly floral, so I decided to make a white chocolate, rose water infused ganache and made sure to mix in some Tahitian vanilla beans to help mellow out the rose flavor.  After filling the cookies and biting down into my Vanilla-Rose macron, I can clearly answer: “Yes, I will accept this rose”…it’s quite delicious.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Lovers!