I know that a lot of people want the unicorn buzz to be over already, but I can’t overcome it. Main reason is that I do believe in unicorns and for me they are not just a trend, unicorns are more. Unicorns are a symbol, they stand for power, grace and the undying magic of fairy tales. Life is complex and in our daily hamster wheel, we often forget to appreciate the little things. No matter the circumstances, no matter how rough the times are, no matter the stress level, no matter how unfair life seems to be, I believe in unicorns, that all obstacles can be overcome and that it’s all going to be alright in the end.

That and coffee is what keeps me going. And it may not come as a surprise that I celebrate the international day of Macarons with a coffee Macaron in the shape of unicorns. The goodie bag of the last foodblogger camp came with a package of Tchibo blonde roast, which should also be available in Stores and online as of this week, and that inspired me flavourwise. I tasted the coffee during a hand filtering session with Karen at the camp and found it to not be my cup for drinking but the flavour pairs well with the white chocolate in the Macaron filling.

For the Unicorn Macarons:

• 1 Batch Basic Macaron with a few drops of coffee flavour added to the meringue
• A 1 cm and a 0.2 cm round tip (or a disposable piping bag cut open with a very small hole)
• ground coffee to sprinkle
• Food colours of choice for the decoration

Prepare the Macaron mass acording to instructions and add a few drops of coffee flavour to the meringue. I brought mine from France, it didn’t need much to add a soft coffee flavour to the mass. Fill 2 tbsp of the base into a piping bag with a small round outlet of maximum 0.2 cm. Fill the rest into a piping bag with the bigger round nozzle. Pipe the regular rounds with the bigger nozzle. To half of the rounds add 3 triangles with the small nozzle, 1 pointed triangle for the horn and 2 smaller triangles each left and right of the horn for the ears. Sprinkle the “regular” rounds with a little coffee crounds for flavour and crunch.

Decorationwise there are almost no limits, I had seen a few designs before on Pinterest and Instagram and painted my Unicorns with food colours and rainbow dust. Let dry completely before you fill them with coffee ganache.

For the Coffee ganache:

• 200 g cream
• 2 tbsp ground coffee (I used the Tchibo Blonde Roast)
• 150 g good quality white chocolate

Place the cream and the ground coffee in a pot, slowly bring to boil. Set aside and let the coffee brew while you melt the white chocolate over a pot of simmering water. Once the chocolate is melted, pour the cream though a fine sieve onto the chocolate. With a spatula combine the two parts and let cool completely.

Lighlty press the inside of the Macaron shells, pipe a dot of coffee ganache on all round halves and top each with a unicorn shaped half.