Macarons with Chocolate-Chambord Ganache (French Meringue Method): What I've Learned So Far
Course
Macarons
Cuisine
French
Prep Time30minutes
Cook Time24minutes
Total Time54minutes
Servings20-25 filled cookies
AuthorLemons & Anchovies
Ingredients
**for 20-25 filledsmall macaron sandwiches***
95gramsegg whitesroom temperature (3-4 large eggs, aged 48 hours)
123.5gramsalmond meal
152gramspowdered sugar
76gramsgranulated sugar
Pinchcream of tartar
Gel food coloroptional
**For the Ganacheyou will have extra***
2/3cuphalf and halfor cream
6ouncesdark chocolatein small pieces
1tablespoonbutter
1 - 2teaspoonsChambord
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 325℉.
Prepare two baking pans lined with parchment paper. If you have macaroni templates, lay the sheets below the parchment paper. Set aside.
Pulse (a few times) 1/3 of the powdered sugar and all of the almond meal in a food processor. The goal is the make finer the texture of the almond meal and remove any powdered sugar clumps. Combine this mixture with the remaining 2/3 of the powdered sugar and sift twice, into a bowl, using a fine sieve. Discard any large clumps of sugar and almond meal left behind in the sieve. Set aside.
To make the meringue: In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy, about 1 1/2 minutes (speed 4 on my Kitchenaid mixer).
Add the granulated sugar all at once and process for 2-3 minutes (speed 4 then 6) until the granulated sugar has been incorporated and the mixture is thick.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the cream of tartar and the food coloring and whisk the egg whites on high (speed 8) until stiff, glossy peaks form.
Macaronnage: Detach the bowl from the mixer and add 1/3 of the almond meal mixture to the egg whites. Using a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients a few times following the curve of the bowl, lifting the spatula toward the center of the mixture and pressing down on it, rotating the bowl as you go. The goal is to fold out some of the air from the egg whites. Once the first 1/3 of the dry ingredients have been mostly incorporated repeat with the second 1/3 then the the remaining 1/3 of the almond meal mixture. Continue with the same folding motion. For this quantity, I had to repeat the folding motion 55-60 times. At this point, I had a thick, glossy batter that flowed thickly from the spatula. You should have a ribbon of batter that takes about 20 seconds to be incorporated back into the mixture. If it's thicker than this you've undermixed and if it's thinner you have overmixed the batter and the shells will spread too much when piped.
Piping: Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip. I like to place the pastry bag in a tall glass to make filing it more manageable. Pipe 1 - 1 1/3 inch rounds (following a template) onto the parchment paper. What works for me is to position the tip directly above the baking sheet and pipe using a slight swirling motion from the center of the round and pushing the batter onto the sheet. Others like to pipe the batter from an angle. Try both ways to see what works for you.
To remove any air bubbles, rap the baking sheets against the counter several times, rotating the sheet as you go. Let the rounds rest until the tops form a "skin" or a slight crust. You'll know they're ready to bake when you touch the tops of the rounds and the batter doesn't stick to your finger. Depending on humidity, this can take as little as 15 minutes or even as long as 30 minutes.
To bake: I baked my macaroni shells in two batches. The sweet spot in my oven is the second shelf from the top. Bake for 11 - 12 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through the baking period. The feet should develop in the first 5-6 minutes. Be careful not to let the macarons get brown. Mine have a little color here but their taste and texture were fine. Remove the first batch from the oven and repeat the same steps with the second.
Let the baked macaron shells sit in the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. You will know they are done when they lift easily off the parchment paper. If the shells stick, they're undercooked. Using the French meringue method here, the shells should be slightly crisp on the outside and chewy inside. The shells can be prepared 1-2 days in advance, before filling, if kept in an airtight container.
Make the ganache: Heat the half and half over medium heat in a small pan until just before it boils. You should see bubbles along the rim of the heated milk. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate, Chambord and butter. Wait about one minute to allow the chocolate to warm up then whisk the mixture until it is glossy and smooth. Cool to room temperature before using. Note: because I used half and half instead of cream, my ganache was a bit too runny to use as a filling. Half and half has less fat content than whipping cream so I had to whip the mixture to thicken it. If you use whipping cream you may not need to do this step. If you do whip the mixture (I used a hand mixer) watch the ganache closely so you don't over whip it. You want it thick but not stiff.
Fill the macaron shells: Using another piping bag and tip, transfer the ganache to the pastry bag and fill half the macaron shells (match them up according to size once they're cool) and cover with the other half to form sandwiches.
Tip: The gain the additional chewiness that is sought after in macarons, fill the shells at least 24 hours before you plan to serve them, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature before you serve them. This process is called "aging" the macarons and allows the filling to soften the inside of the macaron shells a bit, lending more chewiness. The outer shells will remain crisp.