French Macarons with Capuccino Ganache

I have been baking macarons for the last two weeks and have finally achieved zero spoilage.  This is truly a breakthrough and I am really happy about it.   If you have yet to try your hands at making macarons, make sure that you do lots of research first before starting.  Although macarons have no more than five ingredients to making the shells, the methods itself is somewhat tricky.  I would say that they are really fussy cookies! 

I recently came across this Site which gives you a run-down of the "do's" and "don'ts" ... mainly "do's" to having successful macarons.  Hope this helps with your adventure. 





French Macarons with Capuccino Ganache
Makes about 30 filled macarons
Macaron Template

For the Macaron Batter

Ingredients:

98g almond powder or almond meal
98g icing sugar
67g egg whites (aged 2 - 3 days in the refrigerator)
50g caster sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 tsp egg white powder (dehydrated egg white)
Food colouring

Method:

1) Combine the icing sugar and almond flour in a food processor.  Pulse until fine and powdery.

2) Remove and then sift into a dry bowl.  Set aside.

3) Add the egg white powder to the caster sugar and stir with a spoon until mixed through.

4) Place egg whites into another clean bowl.  Beat with mixer on medium.  until frothy.  Then add in the cream of tartar and beat until it is mixed - about one minute.  Then slowly add in the sugar with egg white powder.  Switch to high and continue beating until medium peaks.

5)  Then add in the food colouring and continue to beat until stiff peaks.

6) Add 1/3 of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold to combine. Then add in the rest.  Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip, pipe 1.5 cm rounds onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

7) Once you have finishing piping all the macarons lift each baking sheet with both hands and then bang it down on the counter (you need to get the air out of the batter). 

8)  Rest the macarons for an hour to develop a skin on the surface. 

9)  Preheat oven to 150°C. Bake for  about 15 minutes (baking time can be varied, from 12-15 up to your oven) or until firm to the touch. Mid way through baking, rotate the pans.

10) Remove from oven and cool on trays. Slide a knife under each macaroon to release from paper. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week or until ready to assemble. Once assembled put the macarons into the refrigerator.  Best eaten a day later so that the flavours will develop.



Capuccino Ganache

Ingredients:

85g heavy cream or thickened cream
120g mixture of dark and milk chocolate
1/2 tsp instant espresso coffee powder (or instant coffee powder)
15g unsalted butter at room temperature

Method:

1) Place the chocolate into a bowl with the coffee powder.

2) In a saucepan, heat the cream until it comes to a boil.  Remove from heat and pour into the chocolate.  Let sit for a minute before stirrring to mix well.  Add in the butter and continue to stir until mix through.  Leave to cool before refrigerating.  Once the ganache has hardened slightly, you can use to sandwich the macaron shells.