Chocolate Hazelnut macaroons

After quite a bit of recipe searching, video watching and failed attempts I do believe I have actually got much better at making french macaroons.  The saying "practice makes perfect" is true.  I read somewhere that it is suggested that when you make macaroons expect to over mix the first time, under mix the second and get it perfect the third.  I was lucky on the my second attempt (but failed the third and forth).  

This recipe is slightly adapted from a recipe by Edd Kimber (The Boy who Bakes).  Instead of his process of turing the sugar in to syrup and adding to the eggs I have simply added the caster sugar while whisking the eggs.  Added cocoa for colouring and used a small amount of cream of tartar to help stabilise the eggs.  

The key is to completely grind the almonds, icing sugar and hazelnuts together for much longer than you think.  Almost 7 minutes in the processor, stopping once or twice to scrape up the icing sugar from the bottom of the bowl.  Sifting takes time and can be a bit of a pain but it is very important.  Mixing is the bit where it can all go wrong...I think I have mastered it now, simply fold and cut until the mixture is one colour then stop.

I printed off a large sheet of A3 paper with equal sized rounds and then placed a sheet of non-stick baking parchment over the top.  I have found this the best way to make sure all your macs are the same size and to stop the stress of drawing each one out by hand.

So, here is a recipe for chocolate hazelnut macaroons.  Have a go, just don't shout at me if your first attempt does not go to plan.




Chocolate Hazelnut Macaroons
by Edd Kimber (adapted by me)

170g icing sugar
60g ground almonds
100g hazelnuts, roasted and skinned
120ml egg whites (about 3 large eggs)
160g caster sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

200g 70% chocolate
200g double cream
30g unsalted butter, room temp
100g chopped hazelnuts


Before you start making anything prepare your tins.  Cut sheets of non-stick baking parchment and line.  By hand (using a guide) draw on discs to help you pipe or just do what I did and print them off on your computer.

Start by roasting the hazelnuts in a dry pan and rubbing the skins off using a clean tea towel (unless you buy ones already roasted).  It should take about 3 mins to toast.

 

Place the ground almonds, icing sugar, cocoa and toasted hazelnuts in a food processor and turn on.  Leave to grind for at least 7 minutes, stop from time to time to scrap the bottom - you may find the icing sugar sinks.

 

Weigh out the egg and place in a clean bowl (or stand mixer fitted with whisk).  Add the cream of tartar and whisk until starting to foam.  Add in the caster sugar, slowly, while it whisks in to a glossy soft peak.

 

 

Sift HALF the almond mixture on to the whisked egg whites and fold in carefully.  Then add the remaining almond mixture.  You will find some bits do not fit through the sift - throw away.  I used my fingers to help push the almond mix through the sift as it tends to get stuck.

Fold until a solid light brown.  Do not over mix.

 

 

Transfer to a piping bag, fitted with a 1 cm nozzle.  Pipe carefully on to your baking sheets. You should get around 60 macs, if not more, depending on the size.  

Leave for 30 minutes - at this point heat your oven to 170C (140C fan).

After the resting time, bake for 14 minutes and remove from the oven and leave to cool on the sheets.  This is important otherwise you will struggle to remove the macs from the paper.

Make the chocolate filling by heating the cream in a pan to just below boiling point.  Pour over the chocolate (which you have chopped up and placed in a small bowl).  

 

 

Leave for 2 minutes and then mix to a smooth glossy chocolate mixture.  Add in the room temp butter and mix.  Allow to cool as it will be far to runny to pipe now.

Fill a piping bag, fitted with the same nozzle as before, and pipe a mound of chocolate on one half of a mac, sprinkle over some of the chopped hazelnuts, then sandwich together with another.

Store in the fridge, but bring to room temp before serving.  Enjoy.

Chocolate Orange Macaroons (1st attempt)

To start this month I really wanted to something more technical than my normal range of recipes.   Last summer was the first time I had ever tired a french macaroon and it is something that I always thought about making.  I had watched contestents make them on 'The Great British Bake Off' to various degress of success so I knew that it would be a challenge.             

Ingredient wise macaroons are very simple - almond, egg whites and sugar with a filling, unfortunately although limited in ingredients the things you do need tend to be costly.  Ground almonds make up the bulk of the recipe and in the amounts you need will end up costing the most.  Then you need egg whites, another costly ingredient, especially when you throw away the yolks.  

My advice to try and reduce the cost is to buy your ground almonds from local shops that supply the indian community.  I found a large bag of ground almonds (250g) for £2.99.  The solution to the egg white issue is to hunt around your local supermarket (Tesco, Sainsbury or Waitrose are stockists) for cartons of egg whites.  Normally found in the butter/cream area although you may need to ask.  If you intend on making lots of macs I would highly reccommend the egg white carton.  You MUST weigh/measure the egg whites, this is very important.  

As this is my first attempt I am being very honest with the results.  They tasted great and the crisp/chewy texture was perfect (I made sure I sampled some from M&S so I knew what I was looking for) but I know I didn't get the texture right when piping.  You will see from the images that they looked like little puddles of mixture when actually they should stand taller and 'peak' when piped.  I didn't get a peak and found the mixture leaked out the piping bag as I went so the whole experience became rather messy.  I hope it was beginners error.

I tried to colour my macs orange, using paste colouring,  but as you can see from the photo they are not very orange.  I think powdered colours are best and when I try again I will make sure I use them.  Do not use liquid coluring as this may make the mixture too loose and you wuill ruin your mixture.

I made a simple ganache for my filling - chocolate, cream and orange extract.  At first I had a very glossy mixture and it looked and tasted perfect, however while it cooled I didn't notice it splitting a little and the glossy look became very oily.  The next day the chocolate had set and looked fine.

One final area that I think is important to consider when baking macs is the use of non-stick parchment.  I used my normal baking parchment (shiny side up) and have some success however I did have to use a spatular to remove them and found that some of the insides stuck.  Hunting around the net I found a number of recipes, most recommending the using of baking parchment as I used, but  a couple recommended purchasing good quality non-stick baking lining - John Lewis is a good stockist.  I am going to make sure I get some for my next batch and will update this post with the details as soon as I do.

This recipe is a combination of ideas I found on the internet.  As you see from the images they worked.  I think my issue is getting the texture right when folding the mixture together just before piping.  My mix was very runny and difficult to pipe.  I would recommend that you hunt around YouTube for videos on making macs before baking your own.  That way you can watch how the mixture should fall back in to the bowl instead of just looking at images.

Chocolate Orange Macaroons

Makes around 30 (60 mac halves)

110g egg whites (3 large eggs)

75g caster sugar

125g ground almonds

175g icing sugar

2 tsp orange food colouring (paste or powder)

1 tbsp cocoa for dusting

100g 75% chocolate

90g double cream

1 tsp high quality orange essence

Start by lining two large baking sheets with grease proof or (recommend but not in picture) high quality non-stick baking liner.  You could mark out 30 2cm discs (draw round a 2p coin) or just be a maverick and go freehand later on.

Place the almonds and icing sugar in a food processor and turn on.  You MUST leave this for around 7/8 mins.  I know...its a long time.  But it is really important that you grind up the almonds more than they already are.  I did stop once or twice to scrape up the icing sugar from the bottom of the processor bowl.

 

Weigh out your egg whites - 110g.  Place in a bowl of a freestanding mixer (or by hand if you are hardcore) and whisk to peaks.  Add the sugar slowly and keep whisking until glossy.

 

 

Add your orange colouring and whisk to combine.

Sift half the almond mixture over the egg whites and fold in carefully.  You will end up with some bits of almond that won't sift - tip away.  

 

Sift in the reminder of the almond mixture - tipping away the bits that won't fit again. 

Now this is the tricky bit (and the bit where you should reference your YouTube video)  Fold in the reminding mixture carefully, takes around 1 minute, until you have a glossy mixture that pours off the spatular and leaves a thick ribbon in the bowl. If its leaving peaks its perfect.  Mine didn't so good luck here!

Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a plain 1cm tip.  Pipe small mounds (30 per sheet) making sure you leave a bit of a gap as they may spread.

 

Dust with cocoa and now leave for 30 minutes.  This is so they form a skin and will crisp up when cooking.  At this point you should pre-heat your oven to 160C (140C fan).

After the 30 minute resting period, bake for 13 minutes (set a timer).  Hopefully they should rise up and look shiny on top.

Leave to cool on the tray (something I didn't do but maybe should have!) and then transfer to a cooling rack, upside down.  Its better if you arrange them in twos at this point.

Make the chocolate ganache by heating the cream to boiling point.

Chop up the chocolate in to small bits and place in the hot cream, now off the heat.

 

Leave for 1 minute and then mix to form a glossy paste.  Add your orange extract and mix.

Leave to cool completely.  Transfer to a piping bag and pipe on to each mac and then sandwich together.

Enjoy.