French Turbulence: Rosemary macarons and dried apricot butter

Summer is in the air, or rather, in my head. This might explain why I have been using a lot of spices and herbs in my recipes lately. They mean vacation and sun and lounge chair to me.
Last summer, I was obsessing over incorporating herbs into ice cream and this is how I made the most delicious (and summery) basil ice cream, lemon verbena ice cream, rosemary ice cream, but also lavender ice cream, ginger ice cream... Somebody, stop me! There is a puddle of drool on the floor!
2011 is the year of macarons to me. And again, I am obsessing over incorporating herbs and flowers in my macarons. I happen to own a box of powdered rosemary (although I suppose anybody can make their own by grinding a few spoons of dried rosemary in a clean coffee grinder) and thought it was a good excuse to throw some in my macaron shells. But then, I have to be careful with the filling I choose since rosemary flavor doesn't necessarily pair well with, uh, everything... So I closed my eyes and thought really hard about the south of France, and the scent of dried herbs and dried grass and dried fruits and -bam- I got the idea for this...

Rosemary Macarons & Dried Apricot Butter: (Macarons au Romarin et son Beurre d'Abricots Secs)

90g aged egg whites (about 3, aged on your kitchen counter 24 hours or longer)
110g almond meal
200g powdered sugar
30g granulated sugar
2 tablespoons rosemary powder

For the Dried Apricot Butter:
1/2 cup dried unsulfured apricots
1/2 cup water
1/4 honey
3/4 of a stick of butter (100g), cubed
pinch of salt

Sift together the almond meal and powdered sugar in a big bowl. Sift in the rosemary 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.

For the filling: Boil the water and throw in the dried apricots. Turn the heat off, cover and let the apricots sit there for 30 minutes.
Throw the apricots and the water in a blender with the honey and salt. Blend until smooth, then add the cubes of butter. Pulse a little longer.

Spread a layer of apricot butter on a shell and cover with another shell. Repeat with all shells and refrigerate overnight to allow the filling to harden and the flavors to marry. It would be even better to let the macarons rest for 2 days before eating them. Hard as it sounds.

A warning note: the smell of baking rosemary in your kitchen will be unbearably good. You may want to leave the room and take a timer with you so you don't let them burn. That'd be a shame.

Butter up your toasts in the morning with the remaining of the apricot butter, or fill up crepes with it. It's pretty addictive.