Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

Macarons that are quite addictive! Make this wonderful French sandwich cookie, with the perfect texture and chocolate ganache filling.

Thanks to my friend Lynn, for this fail-proof recipe.

Total time(at the bottom of this page) is not inclusive of – aging of egg white(one day) and resting of piped macarons (30 minutes)

The Recipe Intro↓ has , more information and tips on making perfect macarons, details on equipment as well as Recipe Video and Macaron Template. Don’t forget to check it out.

Please read the intro page and entire recipe, before you start.

You can strike through ingredients, as you prep them, by clicking on the ingredient.

Ingredients:

Icing Sugar (powdered sugar) - to add to the ground almond		98 gms
Fine blanched Almond powder(finely ground almond)		90 gms
Egg white		75 gms
Icing Sugar (powdered sugar) - to add to the egg white		98 gms
Food coloring		As needed

For the Chocolate Ganache Filling:

Dark chocolate (Couverture chocolate buttons or chopped block)		150 gms
Unsalted Butter		15 gms
Heavy cream		50 gms
Vanilla bean paste		1/2 tsp
Fine sea salt		1/8 tsp

Method:

1. Aging the Egg white (the day before): Separate the egg whites, without any trace of yolk. Weigh the exact measure of 75 gms and place in a clean glass bowl. Cover with lid or saran wrap and place in the refrigerator till the next day.
2. Add the finely ground almond to a processor and process briefly to get a super-fine ground almond flour. Measure and set aside.
3. Measure all ingredients before you start. Place the aged egg white at room temperature before measuring other ingredients.
4. Sift the super-fine ground almond along with 98 gms of icing sugar into a large bowl. Sift two times – to get a light mixture that is thoroughly mixed.
5. Beat the egg whites on low-medium speed till frothy. Add the icing sugar 1/3rd at a time. ( or a spoon at a time if you have someone to help) Increase the speed once all the sugar is added to medium-high. Continue to beat at a steady speed till soft peaks form. (when you can see lines in the egg white and soft peaks form when beater is lifted.)
6. Then continue, turning up the speed if needed till the peaks become stiff but still glossy. (Stiff peaks will stand up stiffly when the beater is lifted). This takes approximately 5  minutes. Do not keep whisking. Overwhisked egg white will result in Hollow Macaron shells.
7. Scrape off as much of the whipped whites from the beater. Add the whipped egg white to the bowl containing the sifted almond meal and icing sugar mixture.
8. Draw the spatula, through the mixture, folding over in one direction, and cutting through the center to deflate, after each fold. Give the bowl a quarter turn with each fold.
9. Fold the batter, just until you can no longer see the dry ingredients.
10. Add the gel food coloring, a few drops only at first, adding more only if you want a more intense color. Continue folding, turning and scraping down the sides of the bowl, again in one direction till the batter loosens up a little. The batter should be smooth and start to fall off the spatula, in a ribbon. Once you can form a figure 8 with the falling batter like this, the consistency is right. (2-3 minutes total). 
11. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag, fitted with a round nozzle.  Using a piping bag tie, helps keep things neat.
12. Place the template on the ‘underside’ of the aluminum baking tray. Then place baking parchment paper over it.  Add a little batter to the corners so that the parchment paper does not move.
13. Holding the bag vertically, and close to the baking sheet (using the template as a guide), pipe the center of the macaron. No need to pipe till it fills the circle as the batter will spread naturally. Pipe only in the center applying gentle force.
14. Lift the baking tray with one hand and with the dominant hand tap the tray from below, to pop the air pockets in the piped macarons. Also, use a toothpick to remove any tiny bubbles. But do all this before the ‘skin’ starts to form.
15. For the same reason, it is best to do the tapping after piping every  5 macarons or so.
16. Once the macarons are piped. rest them for 30 minutes ( up to 2 hours ). A dry skin should form on the surface.  It should feel dry when you gently touch the surface.
17. Switch on the oven to 140° C/284°F. Preheat for 10 minutes.  Place only one tray at a time on a lower rack ( till the macarons rise and form feet). They should peel off the baking paper easily when fully cooked.
18. Allow to cool off completely once removed from the oven, before removing them from the parchment paper to get the flat bottom finish.
19. Once cooled, pair the same sized shells together, and place them side by side, flat surface facing upward.
20. Pipe the chocolate ganache between to shells to make the sandwich cookie. Chill the cookies, in airtight containers.

For the Chocolate Ganache Filling:

1. Weigh the chocolate and butter into a bowl. Microwave on medium power for intervals of 30 seconds, till the chocolate is melted and velvety. You will need to do this 2 or maybe 3 times, checking after each time.
2. Give it a good stir to make sure the lumps are melted.
3. Measure the cream into a small saucepan. Heat till it starts to boil around the sides.
4. Pour this hot cream over the melted chocolate and stir vigorously till incorporated.
5. Add vanilla bean paste and salt. Stir once more.
6. Let the ganache sit at room temperature, till it reaches a thicker ‘ tothpaste’ like consistency. Then fill pastry bags and pipe the macaron shells.

Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

Notes:

• Powdered sugar can be made by processing refined sugar in the food processor. Weigh after made into powder.
• Use a spatula to press on the thicker grains of ground almonds, while sifting to get everything though the sieve.
• Gel or powder colors are preferred here, as liquid color can affect the batter’s consistency.
• The egg whites must be whipped till they achieve stiff peaks. However, overbeating them beyond that point will result in cracked macaron shells so when whipped to a stiff peak, but maintaining a glossy sheen, you must stop.
• Egg whites must be measured accurately without any trace of yellow. If you have dropped some egg yolk in there, it is best to start again, or they will not get whipped properly.  Eggs can not be added with0ut measuring. This is because the amount of liquid present in the egg white determines how dry or wet the batter will be.
• Stainless steel or glass bowls are preferred to whisking egg whites as they tend to be more sterile after cleaning.
• Try to keep the beater speed steady. Low-medium in the beginning and med-high towards the end, without changing and shifting in between to get a stable meringue.
• Over beating the egg white, can cause cracked macaron shells.
• French pâtisserie technique or ‘Macaronage’ meaning the process of incorporating the dry ingredients with the egg whites. It is a technique where the batter is worked until smooth, shiny, and flowing.  The batter should fall back in figure-eight when it reaches optimum consistency.
• The aluminum baking sheet/ tray is inverted to keep the heat even on all sides. If you use the baking tray right side up, the heat radiating from the raised sides of the tray can cause the macarons along those sides to be more brown while baking.
• TWO COLORS. If you want to add two colors for the macarons, divide the batter before adding color and before the macaronage step. While piping one colored batch make sure to cover the other bowl with saran wrap , to prevent premature skin from forming.
• The ruffled appearance above the flat base of the single macaron shell is known as the ‘feet’.
• You can use either cooking cream or whipping cream to make the ganache.

 

Key Ingredients: Ground Almond , Icing Sugar, Egg white, Chocolate, Cream, Butter, Vanilla, Salt.

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