Macarons with dark chocolate buttercream

Macarons with dark chocolate buttercream

My first Macarons ever with a very decent result! They even have feet :). I’m a huge fan of the classic French macarons, however I never thought to give them a try. Honestly, I’ve always felt intimidating by them. Few days ago, Dragos asked me to bake him some macarons. Oh boy, so much research and work to make this impressive cookie.

So, back to Dragos' request. Of course, I could not refuse him and after a lot of reading I decided to bake some macarons. I was so happy with the result, I even danced when I saw the feet of my macarons.

But before I dug in, I searched the internet and read everything I had to know about how to make the perfect macarons, how they should look when proper done, how important is to measure the ingredients and how to keep them fresh. There are lots of amazing video tutorials, detailed techniques and recipes that’ll come out perfect every time.

I am truly happy and confident to try to make macarons again in the near future. I plan to experiment a bit with flavours and colours and write about this in another post.

The ingredients below are for aprox. 25 sandwiched cookies (depending on the size of the macarons)

Ingredients for Macarons batter:

• 120 g almond flour
• 100 g egg whites (3 large eggs)
• 50 g caster sugar
• 200 g cup icing sugar
• 1 vanilla pod
• instant coffee granules to garnish (optional)

Ingredients for Macarons filling:

• 75 g good dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa
• 50 ml coffee flavoured liqueur
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

How to make Macarons with dark chocolate buttercream:

• For good results I recommend to use a kitchen scale and measure all the ingredients before starting.
• Sift almond flour together with the icing sugar. Set aside.
• In a dry and grease-free large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, on high speed, whisk egg whites until stiff and glossy peaks form. Scrape out the vanilla pod and add to the egg whites.
• Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the almond flour and icing sugar mixture into the whipped egg whites. Always fold from the bottom of the bowl and gently press the mixture against the sides of the bowl in order to remove some of the air from the egg whites.  The batter should be thick enough to pipe it without running everywhere.
• Transfer the batter to a decorating bag and pipe evenly rounds of batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or on a macaron baking mat
• Tap the baking sheet hard on the countertop few times to release the air.
• Sprinkle the top of each macaron with instant coffee granules.
• Then let them sit at room temperature for aprox. 50-60 minutes or until the macaron form a skin and do not stick to your finger when gently touched. This step is necessary to ensure the macarons develop their feet during baking time.
• Bake in the centre of the preheated oven at 140° C for aprox. 15 minutes.
• When ready, remove from oven and let them sit for a few minutes on the baking sheets.
• Peel the macarons off the parchment paper or from the baking mat and place them on a cooling rack to completely cool.

How to make the filling and assemble the macarons:

• Cut the butter into smaller pieces and chop the chocolate. Place the chocolate into a clean and dry bowl.
• Place the coffee liqueur in a small saucepan and heat it up over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add in the coffee granules and mix well.
• Pour the coffee mixture over the chocolate and mix to help melting the chocolate.
• Start adding the butter, few pieces at a time and mix until the butter is incorporated into the melted chocolate.
• Using a teaspoon, place some chocolate mixture onto a macaron and then place another macaron on top and gently press them together.
• Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.
• Enjoy!

                                     

See my selection of macarons recipes on Pinterest! For other desserts check this link!
Read how to avoid ruin your macarons in this excellent post