Chocolate Macarons
Chocolate Macarons with Chocolate Ganache
Makes about 25 macarons.
For the macarons:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup almond flour or almond meal
3 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon fine salt
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch cream of tartar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
For the ganache filling:
4 ounces bittersweet (70%-ish cacao) chocolate, finely chopped (2/3 cup) (See ingredients Explained)
½ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes
1. For the macarons: Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Fit a pastry bag with a ½-inch round tip; set aside.
2. Place the powdered sugar, almond flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a food processor fitted with a blade attachment and pulse several times to aerate. Process until fine and combined, about 30 seconds. Sift through a flour sifter into a large bowl; set aside.
3. Make a meringue by placing the egg whites in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until opaque and foamy, about 30 seconds. Add the cream of tartar, increase the speed to medium high, and beat until the egg whites are white in color and hold the line of the whisk, about 1 minute. Continue to beat, slowly adding the granulated sugar, until the sugar is combined, the peaks are stiff, and the whites are shiny, about 1 minute more. (Do not over-whip.)
4. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the dry mixture into the egg whites in four batches until the dry ingredients are just combined. (The meringue will deflate slightly.) With the final addition, stop folding when there are no traces of egg whites, the mixture runs like slow-moving lava, and it looks like cake batter. (Do not over-mix.)
5. Transfer the batter to the pastry bag. Pipe out 1 1/4-inch rounds about 1 inch apart onto the baking sheets, about 25 per sheet. Pick up the baking sheets and bang them against the work surface to help create the macaron base, or foot. Do it a second time. Let the rounds sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to dry the tops and ensure even cooking.
6. Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Bake the macarons one sheet at a time for 7 minutes. Rotate the sheet and cook for 7 minutes more. Transfer the sheet to a rack to cool completely.
7. For the ganache filling: Place the chopped chocolate in a medium, heat-proof bowl.
8. Warm the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it just starts to boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let sit for 30 seconds, then stir in tight circles to avoid creating bubbles. Add the butter and stir until melted and smooth. Chill in the refrigerator until thickened but still spreadable, about 30 minutes.
9. To assemble: Pair macarons of similar size. Remove the ganache from the refrigerator. If you choose to pipe the ganache, transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch tip, or a sealable plastic bag and snip about 1/2 inch off a bottom corner. Squeeze or scoop the ganache to about the size of a cherry (about 1 teaspoon) onto the center of a macaron half. Top with another half and press gently so that it looks like a mini hamburger. The filling should not ooze out the edges. Refrigerate in an airtight container lined with parchment paper, at least 24 hours before serving. Recipe by Jill Santopietro.
NOTE: Macarons will keep in the fridge for 4 days or longer in an airtight container. Let them thaw at room temperate for 20 minutes before serving. They keep well in the freezer for about 3 months, just make sure to line their airtight container with parchment before placing the lid on. Cover the container in plastic wrap and freezer. Pull them out as needed. They will thaw in about 30 minutes.
Almond Meal or Almond Flour…same thing! You will need almond meal or almond flour — raw blanched whole almonds that have been ground into a fine powder. I like this Bob’s Red Mill brand. If you cannot find almond flour/meal, you can grind blanched almonds until very fine. Store almond flour either the fridge or freezer to keep it from going rancid quickly.
Natural versus Dutch Process Cocoa Powder: This recipe calls for natural cocoa powder. Natural cocoa powder has not gone through Dutch processing — when an alkali (base) is added to the slightly acidic cacao powder. This is done to make it taste smoother and more cocoa-y. It tends to turn the cacao color from light brown to dark brown. For these macarons, I like the look and milder cacao taste from natural cocoa powder. Check the ingredient label. If it says it’s treated with Alkali, it’s Dutch process. If it’s not, it’s natural. Natural will just say: “cocoa powder,” under the ingredients.
Bittersweet Chocolate (70%-77% cacao): With semi-or-bitter-sweet chocolates, they can range from 44% cacao to 77% cacao and the amount of sugar can vary quite a bit. 44% cacao has a lot more sugar than 77% cacao. Check the labels, as you want to avoid super-sweet chocolate here. Try to stick to chocolate in the 70% cacao range. But chocolate in the 60% range will work, too.