Chocolate Macarons – Macarons au Chocolat
Recipe and baking tips are adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz.
Macaron shells call for only a short list of ingredients. There are many common filling ingredients, but feel free to use your imagination. Here is one for chocolate lovers.
Makes about 15 macarons
For the cookies
1 cup (3.5 oz/100 g) powdered sugar
½ cup almond flour (about 2 ounces/55 g) or sliced blanched almonds, pulverized (see Note)
3 tablespoons (25 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
5 tablespoons (65 g) granulated sugar
For the chocolate filling (dark chocolate ganache)
½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup or honey
4 ounces (120 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon (15 g) unsalted butter
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have ready a pastry bag with a plain tip (about ½ inch/2 cm).
- To make the cookies, grind together the powdered sugar, almond flour or sliced almonds, and cocoa in a food processor until there are no lumps and all dry ingredients are fine and powdery.
- In the bowl of a standing electric mixer or by hand, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. Gradually beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.
- Carefully fold the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites in 2 or 3 batches with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth, with no streaks of egg white, stop folding. Scrape the batter into the pastry bag.
- Pipe the batter onto the baking sheets in 1-inch (3-cm) mounds (about 1 tablespoon of batter each), evenly spaced 1 inch (3 cm) apart. Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the countertop to flatten the cookies a bit, then bake them for 15-18 minutes, until they feel slightly firm. Let cool completely.
- To make the chocolate filling, heat the cream and corn syrup in a small saucepan. When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, remove from heat and add the chocolate. Let sit 1 minute, then stir until smooth. Stir in the butter. Let cool to room temperature before using.
- To assemble the macarons, spread a bit of chocolate filling on the inside (the flat side) of one cookie, then sandwich it together with another one.
Serving: Let macarons stand at least one day, in an airtight container at room temperature, to meld the flavors.
Storage: Keep in an airtight container for up to five days, or freeze. If you freeze them, defrost them in the unopened container to avoid condensation, which will make the macarons soggy.
Note: Some almond flour can be a bit lumpy, so it is best to pulverize it to ensure it’s as fine as possible.
For more advanced macaron-making: The following tips/recipes are adapted from Macarons: Authentic French Cookie Recipes from the Macaron Cafe by Cecile Cannone.
Almond flour or almond meal
Make sure the almond flour is as fresh as possible. Before baking, scoop up a handful of the almond flour and squeeze it between your fingers; if it sticks together, it will need to be dried out a bit. Spread it on a shallow baking pan and dry it in a 120°F oven for 10 minutes. If your oven temperature does not go that low, just use the lowest temperature available. Remove and let cool in a dry place. You may also grind your own almond flour.
Egg whites
Only the whites of the eggs are used for the macaron shells. Reserve the yolks for another recipe, such as Crème Brûlée. Separate whites from yolks 2-3 days before baking; store loosely covered in the refrigerator. Two hours before you start making your macarons, take the egg whites out of the refrigerator, uncover them, and let them come to room temperature.
Powdered egg whites
If you bake during especially humid weather, adding a small amount of powdered egg whites will help stabilize your macaron batter. You may find powdered egg whites online or in specialty baking stores.
Powdered sugar
Also called confectioners’ sugar. This has cornstarch added (usually about 3%) to prevent clumping.
Granulated sugar
Choose superfine sugar (also called ultrafine or baker’s sugar) for your macaron shells—it’s easily incorporated, producing a smooth batter and light texture.
Food coloring
You can color your macaron shells however you want—without coloring, they’ll be pale brown. Gel paste food coloring is recommended over the liquid kind, since any excess moisture can cause the shells to crack.
Equipment
A convection oven (with a fan) is ideal for baking macarons—the heat circulates evenly throughout the oven, producing macarons with “light feet.” A conventional electric oven can also be used; a gas oven is less successful for macarons. Every oven bakes differently, so be sure to use the correct temperature for the type of oven you have. However you’ll need a precise scale, or dry measuring cups. Measuring your dry ingredients by weight will give you the most precise results.
The shells
There are two basic recipes for the meringue shell:
French style and Italian style. The ingredients are the same for both, but the amounts are a little different. The French version is especially sensitive to humidity, but the resulting cookie seems to melt in your mouth—exactly what you expect of macarons. The Italian macaron is more stable but has less of a “melting” quality. It’s also a little difficult to make, as you have to pour hot sugar syrup into your egg whites while beating them and you must be very precise with temperature. Since these little meringues are so sensitive to humidity, it’s best to avoid baking when the weather is especially damp or humid (more than 60% humidity).
Before you bake
To make a template for piping your macaron shells, draw 2 ½-inch circles on a large sheet of paper, using a compass or tracing around a cookie cutter or a small glass. Space the circles 1 inch apart. Position this pattern on your baking sheet, then place parchment on top of it. After piping out your shells, carefully pull out the pattern to use on the next baking sheet.
French meringue macarons
Makes 50 to 60 shells, for 25-30 filled macarons
Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups (8.8 oz/250 g) almond flour
2 ¾ cups (12.4 oz/350 g) powdered sugar
1 cup egg white (from 7-8 eggs), at room temperature
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons powdered egg whites, if weather is humid
¾ cup (5.3 oz/150 g) superfine granulated sugar
5-7 drops gel paste food coloring of your choice (optional)
Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
Blend the almond flour with the powdered sugar in the food processor to make a fine powder (or sift together, discarding any large crumbs and adding a bit more almond flour and powdered sugar as needed to compensate). Then sift the mixture through a strainer until it’s as fine as you can get it. This keeps crumbs from forming on the macaron tops as they bake.
With the wire whip attachment on the electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the salt and powdered egg whites (if you’re using them), starting slowly and then increasing speed as the whites start to rise. Add the granulated sugar and the food coloring. Beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks and your meringue is firm and shiny.
Pour the beaten egg whites onto your almond flour mixture and gently fold them in using a rubber spatula. Move your spatula from the bottom of the bowl to the edges with one hand, using your other hand to rotate the bowl. Now hit the spatula against the rim of the bowl until the batter falls in a wide ribbon when you raise the spatula. When you can’t see any crumbs of almond flour and the mixture is shiny and flowing, you’re ready to start piping.
Note: The French have a special word—Macaronne—to describe the physical action of mixing all the ingredients for macarons. This has to be done by hand. You cannot do it with your mixer—you must feel the consistency of the macaron batter.
Fit your pastry bag with a number-8 tip and fill with batter. Start by squeezing out a small amount of batter onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets to form 2 ½ inch round mounds. Be sure to leave 1 inch of space between macarons so they will not touch each other when they bake. If the peak that forms on the top of the macarons does not disappear after piping, it means the batter could have been beaten a little more. To eliminate the peaks, tap the baking sheet on the tabletop, making sure to hold the parchment paper in place with your thumbs. Let the piped macarons rest for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 300°F (325° for a non-convection oven).
Bake for 14 minutes. After the first 5 minutes, open the oven door briefly to let the steam out. Let the macarons cool completely on a rack before taking them off the parchment paper. Press the bottom of a cooled, baked macaron shell with your finger; it should be soft. If the bottom of the shell is hard, reduce the baking time for the rest of your macarons from 14 minutes to 13 minutes.
Now it’s time to fill your macaron shells. Here are some classic recipes for fillings, from chocolate ganache, to flavored buttercreams, to homemade jams. Be sure to plan ahead—
some fillings must “set” before they’re ready to use.
Dark chocolate ganache
7 oz (200 g) dark chocolate (65% to 70% cocoa content), cut in little pieces
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons (1 oz/28 g) unsalted butter
In a saucepan over low heat, cook the cream until hot. Add the chocolate and honey and mix gently until well blended. Remove from heat, let cool for a few minutes, and stir in the butter.
Pour into a clean bowl and let cool for 30 minutes at room temperature, until thick enough to spread or pipe.
Fit a pastry bag with a number 8 tip, fill with the ganache, and pipe onto the macaron bottom, or spread on with a teaspoon. Twist on the top, cover with plastic wrap (it should be airtight), and refrigerate the filled macarons for 12 hours to let the aroma of the filling permeate the shells.
We recommend Cecile Cannone’s book, Macarons (Ulysses Press), for more information/tips.