Chocolate Alchemy's Chocolate Macarons




Daniel’s coworker shared this recipe for chocolate macarons with us by Kristen Hard from the Cacao bakery in GA and published in Chocolate Alchemy. It’s a great recipe. The only 2 things I did different was 1) did not have the macaron rounds sit at room temperature for 30 min after piping, and 2) baked at 8 min rotated and baked for 7 min.  



Made about 48 cookies, so 24 macaron sandwiches.



Chocolate Macarons with Ganache Filling (By Kristen Hard, from Chocolate Alchemy)



Ingredients:

Macarons

·        2 cups confectioner’s sugar

·        2 cups almond flour

·        2 ½ tablespoons cocoa powder

·        5 egg whites, at room temperature

·        ½ cup can sugar



Ganache

·        4 ounces 70% cocoa base chocolate (used 60% bittersweet Ghirardelli chocolate)

·        ½ cup heavy cream



Directions:

Make the macaroons:

1.      Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Fit a large pastry bag with a ½ inch plain tip and set aside.

2.      Sift together the confectioner’s sugar, almond flour, and cocoa powder to aerate them and eliminate any lumps; set aside.

3.      Make a meringue by placing the egg whites in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whish attachment (used my hand mixer). Beat the egg whites on medium-high speed. When they start getting foamy, gradually add the cane sugar. Beat until the sugar is incorporated, the peaks are stiff and the whites are shiny.

4.      Using a spatula, gently fold the sifted dry mixture in the egg whites until the drug ingredients are just combined (do not overmix). The mixture should be smooth and viscous, not runny.

5.      Transfer the batter to the pastry bag. Pipe 1 ¼ inch rounds about 1 inch apart onto the prepared baking sheets, about 24 per sheet. Pick up the baking sheets and rap them against a countertop or table to help create the macaroon base, or foot (this is really important. So make sure to tap the pan several times on counter). Let the rounds sit at room temperature for precisely 30 minutes to dry the tops and ensure even cooking.

6.      Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Bake the macarons for 8 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets between the racks and cook for 8 minutes more (I baked for 7 min). Using a spatula, check to see if one comes off the tray fairly cleanly. If not, bake a minute or two more. Transfer the sheet to a wire rack to cook completely. (may need to wait a few minutes for them to cook before can remove)

Make the Ganache:

1.      Warm the cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it just starts to boil. Remove the pan from the heat and stir the warm cream into the bowl of chocolate gradually, without creating bubbles. Continue to stir until the chocolate melts. Let sit for 1 minute. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until the ganache is thickened, but still spreadable, about 30 minutes.

2.      To assemble the macarons, pair shells of similar size. Remove the ganache from the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Fill a piping bag with the ganache and pipe and cherry sized drop of ganache in the center of each macaron half (did not do this. Just spread with a knife). Top with another half until the ganache becomes slightly visible around the edges. Store in airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. (if hardens, then microwave ganache for 10 seconds)

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