Sunday, 29th January – it had been a while since I did bake macarons, because it takes time, because the results are rarely satisfying, because, because, because… Anyway, I was coming back from a snowy walk around a mountain lake and the urge to bake macaron from Ladurée grew. So I opened that little green and pink pastel book. Baking macarons is indeed quite technical and this is by doing that you are learning, noticing each time what you need to do to get this perfect appearance. This time I made 5 batches, and  was satisfied with 2 of them. Temperature matters. This time I also wanted to use ingredients of high quality: the almond powder was coming directly from Sicilia, Pariani brand, and the dark chocolate pastilles of 72% cocoa came from a baking shop from France. The eggs were organic, sugar was extra fine. This recipe might take you up to 2 and half hours, breaking time and baking time included.

TIME: Preparation time: 45min/ Time of drying: 25min / Baking time: 14min / Cooling time: 45min

INGREDIENTS

for around fifty macarons of 3 to 4 cm of diameter

Macaron shells

•  260g of almond powder
• 250g of icing suger
• 15g of cocoa powder unsweeten
• 65g of dark chocolate 72% cocoa
• 6 eggwhites + 1/2 eggwhite
• 210g of extra fine caster sugar

Dark chocolate ganache

• 214g of dark chocolate 72% cocoa
• 200g of fleurette cream or liquid full cream
• 44g of soft butter

PREPARATION

Shells

Material: fine sieve, large salad bowl, large cooking pan and small cooking pan or small salad bowl for the double-boiler, silicone spatula, blender or hand-mixer, little bowl and fork, pastry bag, baking tray, baking paper, thermometer

1. Above a large salad bowl, sieve the almond powder, the icing sugar and the cocoa powder.
2. Melt the dark chocolate in a double-boiler, and make sure the temperature of the chocolate does not go over 35°C.
3. Whisk the egg whites. Once they are foamy, add 1/3 of icing sugar. Mix for one minute, then add another 1/3 of icing sugar. Mix for another minute and add the last 1/3. Mix for another minute. Add the melted chocolate and whisk firmly and fast with a silicon spatula. Add gradually the almond mix. In a small bowl, whisk slightly the 1/2 eggwhite and add it to the mix.
4. Put the mixture in a pastry bag and shape small discs of 2 to 3 cm diameter on the baking tray covered with baking paper.
5. Pre-heat your oven at 150°C. Let the piped cookies stand out at room temperature until they form a hard skin on top, about 25min. Bake them for 14 min.
6. Let the shells cool completely.

Dark chocolate ganache

Material: salad bowl, silicon spatula, small cooking pan, plastic wrap, pastry bag

1. Put the dark chocolate in small pieces in a salad bowl. Bring the cream to a boil. Pour 1/3 of the cream on the chocolate and whisk firmly with a silicon spatula. Once well integrated, pour another 1/3 of cream, and whisk. Repeat with the last 1/3. Add the soft butter cut in small pieces and whisk until the ganache is homogeneous and smooth.
2. Cover the ganache with plastic wrap, in a way that the wrap touches the surface of the ganache. Let cool down in the fridge for 45min.
3. Take off the shells carefully.
4. Pour the ganache in a pastry bag and drop a nutt of ganache on a shell. Form a sandwich with a second shell and press gently to spread the ganache evenly.

At this stage, you are either very happy and proud. Or you are angry, demotivated, disgusted. If you are in the second category, do not feel desperate, it happens to all of us, and not just once. If you still have some time and ingredients, try again right now, you will see the results will be better. To be honest, I missed my ganache because of a bad cream. I started again even though it was already late. And the result was exceptional. Never forget to enjoy each and every minute, step, take your time, be relaxed.

The SweetSundayBaker tips & tricks

1. It is very important that the almond, icing sugar, cocoa powder mixture is very fine, this way you will get very smooth shells.
2. If you do not have time to sieve all ingredients, use a blender, but do not blend for more than 10 or 15 seconds to avoid that the almond powder delivers too much oil.
3. If your dark chocolate becomes to hot, let it cool down before you pour it on the whisked eggwhites.
4. You know when your eggwhites are ready when they form stiff peaks.
5. Be very gently when you add the almond, icing sugar, cocoa mixture to the eggwhites, to avoid “breaking” the eggwhites.
6. A trick to fill in your pastry bag, twist the bag just above the tip and press it into the tip. Place it in a measuring glass and fix it to the edge of the glass. This way the bag is well opened and you can use both your hands to pour the mixture. When you are closing the bag, make sure all the air is out by pressing it gently.
7. Use a flat baking tray, and stick baking paper with a small nutt of the mixture. Avoid the edges so that your shells are flat.
8. To form the disks, hold the pastry bag straight and remain in the center of the disk, pressing on the bag until you reach the size. If your mixture is too thick, you will see roughness which will not disappear after a few seconds. If it is the case, let the mixture warm up in the kitchen. But be careful, it should not be too liquid either.