Easy Chocolate Almond Macarons by Rosalinda Mariotti from Molto Ono

 

This recipe let's you take the fuss out of the macaron making process.  Are they perfect?  Maybe not but they are so darn good you won't care.  

Makes about 3 dozen Petite Macarons

 

 Ingredients:

 1 ½ cups powder sugar

 a pinch of sale

1 cup almond meal

2 tablespoon Euphoria unsweetened cocoa

3 large egg whites

½ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon almond flavor

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Ganache:

 ½ vanilla bean, scraped

 6 oz heavy cream

 7.5 oz Euphoria Dark Chocolate Buttons

Directions:

NOTE: no need to “cure” the eggs overnight or use aged egg whites for this recipe.

 Heat the cream with the vanilla bean. When little bubbles appear around the rim, remove from the heat and add the chocolate buttons. Stir to melt until smooth. Set aside.

 

Optional: Add 1 teaspoon orange zest. 

 

Macarons:

Place the powder sugar, salt, cocoa, and almond meal in a food processor, pulse a few times to blend.

Sift three times and set aside.

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand-up mixer. Whip on high until soft white peaks form.

 

Lower the power setting to a medium and add sugar one tablespoon at a time, waiting 30 seconds in between additions.

 

Turn back to high and whip until you get a glossy, firm meringue that gathers around the whip and wants to pull from the sided.

 

Add 1/3 of the almond flour mix and fold carefully without deflating.

 

 Add all the remaining mix and start the MACARONAGE. This is the most delicate part of the process. If you over mix the batter you won't get the traditional “feet”.

Fold with a silicone spatula, carefully, WHEN the batter from the spatula flows from it like lava and blends in back with the rest within 20 seconds, STOP. Do not rush this process, it is better to be careful than toss a batch of overmixed batter.

 Place the batter in a piping bag (tip Wilton 402).

 Using a macaron template pipe the macarons starting with the tip about 1/8” over the parchment paper, or silicone mat, stop shy of the edges in the circle pattern. Repeat with the remaining circles.

Tap GENTLY the sheet by dropping it a few inches on a flat surface. This should level off the tip left piping. If you see air bubbles poke them with a toothpick.

Rest the macarons at room temperature until they form a skin. You can touch them and won't be sticky, but the surface will be dry. If it's cold and humid, place them near a heater.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325° F.

 When the macarons are dry, could take up to 2 hours, bake them for 12 to 15 minutes . They will have developed “feet” and they should not be soft when jiggled.

Let the macarons cool completely before removing from the silicon mat or they might break.

Match the macarons to similar sized (in couples) and pipe the ganache on one half. Place the matching half over it and press lightly to have the ganache ooze to the edge.

 

Bake on!