French macarons are crunchy on the outside, and chewy in the middle. They are light as well as elegant to serve at any party, or for your family. These have a holiday spice in the filling, and are simply delicious.
First make the ganache filling, so it can set.
3 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, melt it in a heat proof bowl over simmering water with
2T cold butter and
1/2C heavy cream. Let everything melt
then add
1T orange zest
1/2t ground cloves
1/8t ground allspice
1/8t salt
whisk so there aren't any lumps. Cool in the fridge till set.
Macarons
Heat oven to 325F, have 3 baking sheets ready lined with parchment. Have a piping bag with a large round tip ready.
In a large bowl put 3 large egg whites, make a meringue with a whisk on medium speed and once it stars foaming gradually throughout add 1/4C sugar slowly, this will stabilize the meringue, don't add it all at once, it will be too heavy for the eggs.
In another bowl put 2C powdered sugar
1 1/4C almond meal
3T unsweetened dark cocoa
and sift out the lumps, add the meringue in 3 steps to the mixture by folding it in. Quickly put it in the piping bag when there are no more white streaks, then pipe circles in the size of quarters, they will continue to flatten out a little. Bake for about 10 minutes, test by trying to lift one off of the parchment, if it comes off clean then they are ready. Cool.
Check the ganache and fold it a little, it should be set but soft enough to pipe onto one side of the macaron, yet stiff enough to not drip off. Pipe one side with the ganache, about a quarter size, a good amount, so that when you put the other half on you can see the filling. Serve. Keep in an airtight container.
No comments:
Post a Comment