Chewy and decadent meringue cookies filled with dark chocolate ganache! A macaroon recipe that's almost fool-proof with loads of tips to get you to the finish line!
Ingredients:
The macaron batter
120g almond flour
120g icing/powdered sugar
1 tbsp. of cocoa powder
1 tbsp. of finely ground instant coffee powder
90g of egg whites
100g granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. of cream of tartar
The filling:
200g dark chocolate
125ml of heavy cream
Instructions:
Prep:
In a food processor add the almond flour, cocoa powder, and icing sugar and give it a couple of blitzes. This is to ensure that any larger chunks of almond flour are broken down. Then sift into a bowl.
In a mortar and pestle grind the instant coffee until a fine crumb is formed then sift into the almond flour mixture.
The filling:
Add the chocolate and cream into a microwave-safe bowl and melt at 30-second intervals to avoid burning the chocolate.
Once completely melted mix to combine. Let the ganache slightly cool, and then add it to a piping bag, secure tightly, and set aside.
The macarons
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Make sure your mixing bowl is absolutely clean, with no water or residual oils as this could break the meringue.
In your mixing bowl add the egg whites and the cream of tartar. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. This means, when you pull your whisk away, the peak should stand tall and not tip over.
While you are whisking, add the granulated sugar in increments of three. You want to avoid overwhelming the eggwhites and deflating any air.
Once you have reached stiff peaks, sift in the almond flour, icing sugar, instant coffee, and cocoa powder into the meringue.
Fold the dry ingredients into the meringue gently. You want to keep mixing until you can grab some batter with your spatula and draw an infinity sign into your mixing bowl, the infinity sign should hold its shape and slowly disappear into the batter. This is a perfect consistency.
Using a spoon add a little dollop of batter onto the 4 corners of each baking sheet then press down the parchment paper, this will ensure the parchment paper stays flat.
Now add the remaining batter into a piping bag and secure tightly.
Cut the tip of the piping bag and start to pipe 1-inch diameter disks. To control your movement, add little pressure to the very top of the piping bag, furthest from the tip.
Once you have piped all your macarons, drop the tray on the counter gently. Not too aggressively! This will push any air bubbles to the surface. Now you can pop these air bubbles with a toothpick to ensure the tops of the shells bake smoothly.
Let the macaron shells rest, uncovered for an hour so they can develop a skin.
30 mins into the resting, preheat the oven to 300F.
Baking the macarons
Once the macaroons have rested and developed a skin, bake them at 300F for15-18 mins or until the feet have developed and the tops are smooth.
Once baked let the macaroons completely cool on the baking trays.
Once cooled, match similar size shells and line them up.
Pipe a small amount of ganache into the centers of each shell. Then and another macaron shell on top and gently push down until the ganache reaches the edges of the macaron.
Let the ganache set completely and then enjoy!
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