French Turbulence: Chocolate macarons and their lime ginger curd

Spring is in the air and this might be why I have an obsession with limes and zestiness. I've also been looking for ways to fill up my macarons with something else than ganache or buttercream -the usual suspects. The lime ginger curd I've tried here could have been a flop since I was pretty much shooting blindly but I am delighted to say it was a hit! Lemon curd is a British thing, so I will call it "creme au citron vert et au gingembre". There. Now it's a French recipe. I've also continued my search for "pretty ramekins", which was partly successful. Two of them appears in the pictures below. An ebay find. I say partly successful since one of the ramekins reached me broken. Poor thing. I dedicate this recipe to you, too-soon-departed pretty little ramekin.

Chocolate Macarons & their Lime Ginger Curd: (Macarons au Chocolat et leur Creme au Citron Vert et Gingembre)

90g aged egg whites (about 3), room temperature
110g almond meal
200g powdered sugar
30g granulated sugar
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

For the filling:
1 stick unsalted butter (125g), cold and cubed
125g granulated sugar
2 whole eggs, beaten
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 small piece of ginger (about 2 inches long), peeled and grated

Sift together the almond meal and powdered sugar in a big bowl. Sift in the cocoa powder. You don't want any lumps in there.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer. When they start foaming, throw in the granulated sugar. Beat on high until stiff peaks form.
With a rubber spatula, dump the egg whites in the almond mixture and FOLD gently until the dry ingredients and egg whites are well married. However, do not stir too much. Run a knife through. If the line disappears after ten seconds, stop folding.
Throw this paste in a large decorator bag (fitted with an Ateco #807 tip if possible) and pipe away on a silpat covered baking sheet. The macarons should be about 2 inches in diameter and 1 inch apart as they spread a little.
Let them rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Pre-heat your oven on 300F.
Bake the macarons for 20 to 22 minutes (keep an eye on them and you can give them a push with a finger to see if they are set and ready after 19 or 20 minutes in the oven). Let cool completely.

To prepare the filling: Zest and juice the lime and grate the ginger. Beat the eggs and sugar together in a small bowl that will fit on top of a small pan filled with simmering water (double boiler). Stir in the zest, juice and grated ginger. Let this liquid thicken, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. It should take only a few minutes.
Once the cream is thick enough, remove from the water bath and add in cubes of cold butter, whisking until fully melted.
Let the cream cool and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Fill up each macarons with the cream using a small decorative bag or a small spatula. Refrigerate them overnight. They will be even better after 2 days if you can hold this long as the flavors will have had time to marry.