Coffee Macarons with Chocolate Filling

Need a little kick to upstart your morning? These little macarons will brighten up any sad day. It sure brightened mine. Here's to one of the better recipes for macarons that I've done.

This macaron is light with a wonderful coffee flavor and aroma. When adding the filling, just add a dab of chocolate ganache in between the two shells because you really want the coffee flavor to shine, not the chocolate.

The recipe says to use aged egg whites, but who has time to age egg whites when you need a macaron NOW? So it goes to say that I never age my egg whites, yet they still come out pretty good. Do it if you like, but it won't kill the macarons if you don't.

There aren't very many steps or ingredients that go into making a macaron, but every step requires great care and patience. So show it some love, and it'll reward you in return. First off, we start with the chocolate ganache. In a pot, pour the heavy cream until it's just bubbling at the edges.

Take it off the heat and add the chocolate. .

Stir until it becomes nice and smooth. Set aside to cool and thicken.

When making a macaron, the best results occur when you use a scale to measure the ingredients. A scale allows you to be precise every time. You can get a cheap one from Target like I did. Measure out all the ingredients before assembling. You'll thank me later.

Another tool for any baker wanting to make macarons: the silpat.

For the macaron shells, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the caster sugar gradually until the whites become stiff peaks. It should be glossy and incredibly thick. In a separate bowl, combine the ground almonds, powdered sugar, and espresso powder. Add half the dry mixture to the egg whites and fold gently.

Pour in the rest of the dry mixture into the eggs whites and continue folding until the mixture is JUST combined. It should be thick like "magma". Pipe out little circles onto the silpat and bake in the oven at 270F for about 18 minutes. I learned a little secret this time, use the convection oven setting if you have it. It made a world of a difference!

Allow the shells to cool before you try to remove them. Let them cool completely before you add the ganache in the middle. Enjoy!

Coffee Macarons with Chocolate Ganache by Italian Food Forever:

Ingredients:
For The Shells

90g Egg Whites (About 3) At Room Temperature And Aged For 3 Days

30g Caster Sugar

200g Powdered Sugar

110g Finely Ground Almonds

1 1/2 Teaspoons Instant Espresso Powder (Additional for Topping If Desired)

Directions:

1. Combine the almond flour, powdered sugar, and espresso powder.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, beat the egg whites until foamy. Slowly begin to add the granulated sugar until you have created a glossy meringue. Add the almond mixture to the meringues all at once, and quickly fold to blend and break up some of the air. Continue to slowly mix until the almonds are incorporated into the meringues and the mixture resembles lava. It should not take more than 50 strokes to accomplish this.

3. I find it best to test the meringue at this time but dropping a small spoonful onto some parchment paper. The mixture should smooth out, but not flatten completely and you shouldn't have a peak. If you have a peak fold the mixture a few more times. If the mixture has flattened completely you might have over mixed and removed too much air.

4. Once you have the right consistency, fill a pastry bag with a plain tip with the mixture. Carefully pipe circles 1in. circles 2 in. apart onto a silpat or parchment paper. In my experience, I've noticed that silpats produce better shells than parchment paper. 

4. Preheat the oven to 270 degrees F on the CONVECT setting. Bake the macarons for 15 to 20 minutes depending on how large you piped them. While baking they should rise with airy feet developing. Once baked remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Carefully remove from the parchment using a small metal spatula.

Chocolate ganache

INGREDIENTS:

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped 1 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth.
2.	Allow the ganache to cool and thicken before filling each macaron shell. Sometimes, I'll put it in the fridge for 10 minutes to help it cool faster.

Green Tea and Chocolate Macarons

For my friend's birthday, her boyfriend secretly asked me if I could bake something for the bonfire. I excitedly agreed and we talked about what she would love to eat. The result - macarons and anything blueberry. I made the lemon blueberry crumble bars because she had never tried them before, and green tea and chocolate macarons. Friday was definitely a failure as I had forgotten to put the sugar into the crumble bars, and I ran out of almond flour and couldn't make enough macarons for 15 people. Thankfully, I had most of Saturday to go out and get the rest of the ingredients.

They turned out better than I could've asked, which was great because it was for a dear friend! I made 4 kinds using 2 flavors: Chocolate with chocolate cream, Green tea with green tea cream, Chocolate with green tea cream, and Green tea with chocolate cream. Did you get all that??


I basically used the same recipe for both, but substituted green tea powder where the chocolate powder would normally go. It turned out to be fine. I always get nervous when putting the macarons into the oven to bake. Why? Because one mistake during the process will result in flat or failed macarons. But 13 minutes later, I peered in and saw that they were going to be just fine.

We have "feet"!


From front to back: Choco + green tea, choco + choco, green tea + green tea, green tea + choco



Chocolate and Green Tea Macarons adapted from Annie's Eats
Ingredients:
For the macarons:
110 gm almond flour
200 gm minus 2 tbsp. confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa powder OR green tea powder
100 gm egg whites (from about 3 eggs), room temperature
50 gm granulated sugar

For the espresso ganache:

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped 1 cup heavy cream

For the green tea buttercream:
1½ stick of butter
1 tbsp. green tea powder
2 tbsp. milk
2 cups of powdered sugar

Directions:
Sift the almond flour, powdered sugar, and cocoa in a bowl. Set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until a smooth, shiny meringue with stiff peaks forms. Add the ground almond mixture to the bowl with the meringue and quickly but gently fold together using a wide rubber spatula until no streaks remain. You want to achieve a thick batter that ribbons or flows from the spatula when lifted.

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain wide round tip. Pipe into small rounds on the prepared baking sheets (each round should be about 1-1½ inches in diameter), spaced about 1 inch apart. Let sit at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes to develop a hard shell.

Preheat the oven to 325˚F. Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on size and your oven. Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely before moving the cookies.

While the cookies are cooling, make the ganache or buttercream:

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

1.	Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth.
2.	Allow the ganache to cool and thicken before filling each macaron shell.

GREEN TEA BUTTERCREAM
1. Cream the butter, green tea powder, and milk together until smooth.
2. Add one cup of powdered sugar at a time until you reach the desired sweetness and consistency.

Once the cookies are totally cooled, match them up by size. Pipe a layer of ganache/buttercream onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair. Sandwich together with the remaining cookie, pushing the filling to the edges.

Chocolate Espresso Macarons

For a long time now, I have passively perused through a countless amount of recipes for macarons - not to be confused with coconut macaroons. I have only read how difficult they are to make and how temperamental they could be. Not only did I read about its difficulty, but I also read about a ridiculous number of failures. In short, I was a little nervous about making these little desserts.

But everyone's gotta get over their fears someday, right? Right. On top of that, I purchased my first scale for baking. Now, all the recipes that call for measurements by weight, I have no problem going for it! So off I went to Trader Joes to buy all the necessary ingredients.

Call it beginner's luck, but my first time was quite enjoyable and, more importantly, successful!

Here are the egg whites ready to be whisked into soft peaks.


Combining the sugar, almond flour, and cocoa.


This was the tricky part, folding the whites into the dry ingredients until it looks something like "magma".


And the little shells right out of the oven. Look! Little feet!


Final product - dark chocolate shells with chocolate espresso ganache filling.


Chocolate Macarons adapted from Annie's Eats
Ingredients:
For the macarons:
110 gm almond flour
200 gm minus 2 tbsp. confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
100 gm egg whites (from about 3 eggs), room temperature
50 gm granulated sugar

For the espresso ganache:
½ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
4 tbsp. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1½ tsp. espresso powder

Directions:
Sift the almond flour, powdered sugar, and cocoa in a bowl. Set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until a smooth, shiny meringue with stiff peaks forms. Add the ground almond mixture to the bowl with the meringue and quickly but gently fold together using a wide rubber spatula until no streaks remain. You want to achieve a thick batter that ribbons or flows from the spatula when lifted.

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain wide round tip. Pipe into small rounds on the prepared baking sheets (each round should be about 1-1½ inches in diameter), spaced about 1 inch apart. Let sit at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes to develop a hard shell.

Preheat the oven to 325˚F. Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on size and your oven. Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely before moving the cookies.

While the cookies are cooling, make the ganache. Combine the cream, butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Place the chopped chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. Bring the cream mixture to a simmer, remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand 2 minutes, then whisk gently in small circular motions until the ganache forms. Blend in the espresso powder. Let the mixture cool until it is thick enough to pipe. (To speed chilling, transfer the bowl to the freezer or refrigerator and let cool, stirring every 10 minutes, until thickened.)

Once the cookies are totally cooled, match them up by size. Pipe a layer of ganache onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair. Sandwich together with the remaining cookie, pushing the filling to the edges. Store in an airtight container.