Macarons
Attempt the second (see attempt the first) turned out much better. Following the established format, first the recipe:
2 egg whites
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (70g) almond flour
3/4 cup (90g) powdered sugar
1/4 cup (30g) cocoa powder
salt
cream and chocolate for the ganache (very small quantities)
Beat the egg whites until fluffy, then beat in the granulated sugar until the mixture is glossy and you get floppy peaks. Put in the almond flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and a few grains of salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the eggs until you get a mousse-like consistency.
Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper and spoon the batter on in about 20 dollops. Let them sit and dry for a half hour. Heat the oven to 350 F / 180 C and bake until the meringues start to crack, about 15 minutes. Cool completely before filling.
To make the ganache, combine as little as 2 tbsp of cream with an equal quantity of chocolate by volume. Microwave until just bubbling, let it sit for a minute, then stir until smooth. Cool the ganache down to get it to a spreadable consistency.
Do I have everything? Yes, I do.
I don’t normally do this step, but I was in an interruptable environment so it seemed wise. Everything measured, individually:
I have, surprisingly, unpacked my hand mixer, but I doubled the recipe to use the KitchenAid (two egg whites don’t beat well in that giant bowl).
Sidetracking a bit, this is why I sift things:
I should have piped them; it would have been easier. Instead, I used wet fingers to shape and flatten the spooned dollops. As expected, they’re cracked:
They grew/spread more than I expected. I should have dolloped smaller. I also made one huge pair with the bit that didn’t fit on these trays – just to see if size was an issue. It doesn’t seem to be.
The cookies and ganache are both cooling (cookies outside – it’s actually cool today – and ganache in the refrigerator). I’ll get something pretty to put them on (also unpacked!) and take the last picture after tasting…
It’s the picture at the top of the post. Next time, a bit smaller, a bit less stiff peaks, and a hotter oven; the “dough” was a bit stiff and they’re somewhat brownie consistency. Yummy, nonetheless.
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