I had never even had a macaron until we moved to Honolulu. The bakers here sell them everywhere, so I started to become very curious as to what all the hype was about. The Naval Exchange has a small macaron stand in their food court, so after a day of shopping, Will and I decided to each try one. The owner told us they were made with almond meal, which meant no sharing with Bennett (since he hasn't had an allergy test yet). I ordered a coffee macaron, and Will ordered a green tea macaron. They were sooo good! I saw what the hype was about!
These cookies are so light, with a crunchy outer shell, and a soft chewy airy center. You can pretty much interchange ingredients in the filling to change the flavor, OR if you want to flavor the actual cookie part, you can use a DRY ingredient or a small amount of GEL food coloring. Changing the flavor of the macaron with something with too much moisture, like mashed strawberries, would ruin the texture of the cookie.
I researched a bit, watching videos of french pastry chefs making macarons, and one actually said, it is easiest to make a basic macaron, throw some gel coloring in it, and flavor the filling. Then, since the macarons are to be refridgerated until served, the cookie will absorb some flavor from the filling, making the entire cookie uniform in taste.
As far as fillings go, I have seen macarons with chocolate ganache, both dark and white, and various flavors of buttercreams. I think next time, I'll try a buttercream, but this will have to hold you guys over until next time!
Okay, enough rambling, lets get to it!
----COFFEE MACARONS W/ MOCHA GANACHE----
for macaron:
3 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup almond meal/ almond flour **
1 tbsp instant coffee (any kind)
for ganache:
1 tbsp instant coffee (any kind/flavor will work)
1 cup chocolate chips (I used dark choc)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
In a large bowl, beat room temperature egg whites until they become frothy and foamy. Once this happens, spoon in your granulated sugar one spoonful at a time, making sure you mix in sugar for at least 30 seconds each time. Continue until all sugar has been incorporated. Continue beating the egg whites and sugar mixture until you form stiff peaks.
In a seperate bowl, sift almond meal/ almond flour and set aside any large pieces that did not go through (for snacking of course!), these will ruin the texture of your macaron. Into the same bowl, sift the powdered sugar and instant coffee granules. Whisk all together to be sure all dry ingredients are well incorporated.
THIS PART IS WHERE YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL! ALL WORK COULD BE RUINED HERE!
Pour your dry ingredients into your eggwhites. Using a spatula, slowly and carefully fold in the dry ingredients until everything is well incorporated. Don't stir! Don't over mix, and don't undermix. Your mixture should slide right off your spatula and back into the bowl, but not be too runny. Think HOT LAVA. Another tip on how to know you've mixed enough, is the mixture will be shiny.
Once mixing is done, spoon into a pastry bag, or large ziplock bag.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut tip off your bag, if you haven't already, and pipe 1 1/2 inch cicrles all over the tray, leaving about an inch between each cookie. Once you have piped all your cookie, tap your cookie trays 3 times on each side to be sure all your air bubble are out of there!
THIS IS ANOTHER REALLY IMPORTANT STEP!
(pre heat oven to 300F) Leave your macarons to sit for AT LEAST 30 mins. They need to form a skin, otherwise you won't get those signature 'feet' that all macarons must have! You will know the skin has formed when you can touch the macaron, and it doesn't stick to your finger.
Bake for 13-16 minutes or until the macarons no longer stick to the parchment paper. You do not want to get color on your macarons, so make sure to keep an eye on them!
While those are baking, make your ganache. In a small pan, heat cream until small bubbles form around the edges of the pot. Pour hot cream over the coffee and chocolate chips, and stir stir stir! Once the mixture is smooth and shiny, you are done! I found that my ganache was taking quite a while to cool, so i put mine in the refridgerator until my macarons were completely cooled.
Once your cookies and ganache have COMPLETELY cooled, fill a small ziplock or pastry bag with the ganache, and pipe into the center of half your cookies, leaving a tiny bit of space at the edge of your cookie. Then, top with the other half of your 'sandwhich' and very lightly press/twist until the ganache peeks out to the edge.
VOILA! you did it!
Keep these refidgerated in an air tight container. Air will dry these out and ruin the texture. So keep them cool until you are ready to serve!
** If you can not find almond flour, you can purchase blanched almonds and throw them in a food processor until they are very very finely ground. Not too ground or it will become almond paste. ;) But ground blanched almonds will work just fine if you can't find the almond flour!
Feel free to ask questions, this recipe can be very tricky, so be very patient!
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