December 27, 2010

Choc mint macaroons

Hi all, as I mentioned earlier in the week I decided to make some macaroons and package them up to take to my in-laws' place for Christmas. I made some choc mint ones, and some rosewater ones. The below recipe is just for the mint version, the recipe for the rosewater can be found here.


Here is the recipe and photo instructions... sorry, pic heavy!


The ingredients for the macaroon shells... note the black/white mug on the left, that's what I used as a measuring cup.

Macaroon shells
  • 4 eggwhites separated the night before and left out overnight
  • 2 x mugs icing (confectioners) sugar - see the size of the coffee mug in the above pic (it should work out to be abt 500gr
  • 1 x mug almond meal
  • 4.5tbs fine caster sugar
  • 2 drops of green food colouring.

To make the macaroon shells
  • Sift the almond meal and icing sugar together to combine
  • Beat the eggwhites and caster sugar together until very stiff peaks form like below. 


  • Fold the icing sugar/almond meal mixture into the eggwhites.


  • Quickly stir to combine, being careful not to overmix as the batter will end up too runny


  • Add the food colouring and stir to combine. In the pic below I'd divided the batter into 2 parts as I wanted half green and half pink.


  • Pipe 2cm round circles on a baking tray, leaving some space in between. If you're like me and can't find where your piping thing is (what's it called anyway?), just use a teaspoon to put some batter on the paper in a circular shape. The batter will settle into a nice shape soon enough anyway, as it's somewhat runny.
  • Leave the piped macaroons on the tray for 15mins before putting in the oven to develop a shell.


  • Bake for 15mins in a pre-heated oven at 160degrees celsius for fan-forced, or 180 degrees in an oven without a fan.
  • Take out of the oven, leave to cool then remove from tray.
  • If you find the macaroons don't come off easily just use a sharp knife to slice them off the paper.

Choc mint ganache
  • A block of mint chocolate (I used Lindt 70% mint intense)
  • 2 tbs thickened cream

You can either make the ganache the hard way, like in the rosewater version, or the easy way using a microwave!

To make the ganache

  • Chop the chocolate into small chunks and place in a microwave safe bowl.
  • Melt the chocolate for 1minute at a time (stirring in between) until completely melted. It took me about 3 mins.


  • Add the cream and stir to combine
 

  •  The ganache should look smooth and shiny, like so.

  • Use some ganache to sandwich together 2 macaroons, as below.
Note the pink food colouring on my index finger! I'm a bit messy sometimes.

Your macaroon is ready for eating.

I find that the macaroons taste best the next day as the  flavours fully develop.
Keep the macaroons in an airtight container in the fridge, taking it out of the fridge 15mins before eating.
  

The end resut
Makes 25 - 30

I hope you enjoyed it, and if you decide to give this recipe a try I'd love to hear about it.

7 comments :

  1. I never realized how much effort it takes to make macaroons! No wonder they're pricey!

    This looks delicious. <3

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  2. It's quite fiddly to make, but unfortunately my family's come to expect this from me so I find myself making it quite often... must find an easier signature dessert from now on!

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  3. Lilit it is 1:30 am in Toronto, Canada and your pictures of the ganache and the macaroons are leaving my mouth wateringgg, they look delicious. I have to take some time out of my busy week to make some. Thanks for the post!Keep those macaroons coming!

    Jen

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  4. They were quite delicious Jen, let me know how you go when making them.

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  5. These look yummy!! Looks quite complicated to make though.. You did a good job my lovely :) xxx

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  6. Wow seeing this makes me wish I could cook, they look amazing <3

    ReplyDelete
  7. I tried to make these choc mint ones today.. not as perfect as yours but they kind of worked.. I need to try and try again though to get them decent.. Thanks for all your posts on Macaroons, and espeically the handy hints.. will have a read through that and hope it helps me for next time!
    They're amazing!

    ReplyDelete

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