Pistachio Macarons

French Chocolate Macarons with Nutella

Recipe adapted from www.chow.com
For the macarons

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup almond flour or almond meal
3 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch cream of tartar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

For the Nutella filling

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 stick), at room temperature and cut into cubes
2-3 tbs  Nutella

INSTRUCTIONS

For the macarons:

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Fit a large pastry bag with a 1/2-inch plain tip; set aside.
Place the powdered sugar, almond flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a food processor fitted with a blade attachment and pulse several times to aerate. Process until fine and combined, about 30 seconds. Sift through a flour sifter into a large bowl; set aside.
Make a meringue by placing the egg whites in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until opaque and foamy, about 30 seconds. Add the cream of tartar, increase the speed to medium high, and beat until the egg whites are white in color and hold the line of the whisk, about 1 minute. Continue to beat, slowly adding the granulated sugar, until the sugar is combined, the peaks are stiff, and the whites are shiny, about 1 minute more. (Do not overwhip.) Transfer the meringue to a large bowl.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the dry mixture into the egg whites in four batches until the dry ingredients are just combined. (The meringue will deflate.)
With the final addition, stop folding when there are no traces of egg whites, the mixture runs like slow-moving lava, and it looks like cake batter. (Do not overmix.)
Transfer the batter to the pastry bag. Pipe out 1-1/4-inch rounds about 1 inch apart onto the baking sheets, about 25 per sheet. Pick up the baking sheets and bang them against the work surface to help create the macaron base, or foot. Let the rounds sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to dry the tops and ensure even cooking.
Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Bake the macarons one sheet at a time for 7 minutes. Rotate the sheet and cook for 7 minutes more. Transfer the sheet to a rack to cool completely.

For the Nutella filling

Place the chopped chocolate in a large bowl.
Warm the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it just starts to boil. Stir it into the chocolate without creating bubbles. Let sit for 1 minute. Add the butter and stir until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator until thickened but still spreadable, about 30 minutes.

Easy French Macaron (Macaroons)

Recipe adapted from www.howtocookthat.net

4 large egg whites (or 5 small)
1/3 cup or 70 g (2.47 ounces) caster sugar [*US cups 1/3 cup plus 1 tsp]
1 1/2 cups or 230 g (8.11 ounces) pure icing sugar [US cups 1 1/2 cups plus 4 tsp]
OR 1 3/4 cups 230 g (8.11 ounces) icing mixture [US cups 1 3/4 cups plus 4 tsp]
1 cup or 120 g (4.23 ounces) almond meal [US cups 1 cup plus 3 teaspoons]
2 g (0.07 ounces) salt (tiny pinch)
gel food coloring (optional)

(*cup measurements are metric cups where 1 cup=250 ml in the USA cups use customary units so 1 cup = 236 ml so you need to add a little bit extra as detailed in the recipe.).

Macaron Recipe Directions

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C
Place egg whites and cater sugar in a bowl and mix with electric mixer until stiff enough to turn the bowl upside down without it falling out, continue to whip for 1-2 more minutes.  How long this takes will depend on you mixer.  Add gel or powdered food colouring and continue to mix for a further 20seconds.

Sift the almond meal and icing sugar and salt twice, discarding any almond lumps that are too big to pass through the sieve. Fold into the egg white mixture. It should take roughly 30-50 folds using a rubber spatula.  The mixture should be smooth and a very viscous, not runny. Over-mix and your macarons will be flat and have no foot, under mix and they will not be smooth on top – see the macaron troubleshooting post for examples.

Pipe onto trays lined with baking paper, rap trays on the bench firmly (this prevents cracking) and then bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Check if one comes off the tray fairly cleanly, if not bake for a little longer (make sure you are using NON-stick baking paper or they will stick).

Filling your macaroons

Ganache Recipe

100 g (3.53 ounces) chocolate
30 ml cream


Bring the cream to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Let stand for a minute and then stir. If it is not adequately melted then microwave for 20 seconds and stir – repeat until smooth. Allow to cool and thicken before piping onto macarons.

The best French Macarons

French Macarons are a small bite sized cookie. They 1st have a crunch in your mouth then leading into a light soft texture as you bite into the filling. This cookie can be filled with jam, ganache, or buttercream.
Recipe adapted from Lovely Lady Cakes

French Macaron

SIFT: 3/4 c. Almond powder
SIFT: 1 c. powder sugar
with a whisk attachment on your kitchen aid or hand held mixer
whisk 2 eggs whites for 2 min till frothy
then add 4 Tbs. sugar, but one tbs at a time very slowly
fold in whites to flour mixture
you can dye the batter different colors or keep white
pipe on parchment paper dime sized dollops
tap tray to get air out
let rest for 15 minutes to form a coat
pre-heat oven to 325
after 15 min is up turn oven down to 300 and bake for 8-10 min on top rack or bottom not middle
then turn cookie sheet and bake another 8 min
let cool
sandwich together