200g(1 cup / 7oz) icing sugarpowdered sugar / confectioners sugar
200g(2 cups / 7oz) almond flour
1tbspcocoa powder
150g(½ cup + 2 tbsp) egg whites divided (liquid egg whites or from 5 large eggs)
200g(1 cup / 7oz) caster sugarsuperfine sugar or granulated
few drops vanilla extract
Filling
150g(scant 1 cup) dark chocolate chips
120ml(½ cup) creamdouble /heavy cream
2tbsphoney or golden syrup
1tbspBaileysoptional
To decorate (optional)
sea salt
chocolate sprinkles
popping candy
Instructions
Make the macaron shells
Put the almond and icing sugar in a food processor and blitz, in short bursts, to a fine powder. Sift into a large bowl and discard any bits that don't go through the sieve. Add the cocoa powder and sift once more for perfectly smooth macaron shells. Weigh your dry ingredients – they should be 400g (14oz). If you discard a lot while sifting you will need to compensate.
Add half the egg whites (75g) into the bowl and mix vigorously together with a spatula until you have a smooth paste.
Put the caster sugar and remaining egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer. Place the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow the bottom of the bowl to come to contact with the water). Heat the egg whites, stirring with a wire whisk, until the sugar dissolves. Dip a finger to test whether the sugar has dissolved.
Fill the bowl to your stand mixer and whisk on high speed until you have a glossy stiff meringue that forms peaks. Add the vanilla if using.
Add a third to the meringue to the bowl with the almond paste and mix it together to loosen. Fold the remaining meringue, in a circular motion, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl. Mix until the batter drops slowly off your spatula and flows slowly like molten lava. Take care not to over mix your batter.
Line three cookie sheets with baking parchment or ideally use Silpat Macaron mats. Transfer the batter into a piping bag with plain round nozzle (Wilton 1A). Hold the bag at a ninety degree angle over the mat and pipe the macarons using the template, using a quick circular motion as you stop squeezing the bag.
Carefully but forcefully knock the trays against the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. If the macarons have little 'peaks' pat them down with a clean, wet finger. Leave the macarons to dry until the shells lose their shine and become touch dry.
Preheat the oven to 150C / 300F. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the macarons have a smooth, dry top and are firm to the touch. Allow the macarons to dry for at least 10 minutes before peeling off the mat.
Fill the macarons
Put the chocolate chips, cream, honey and Baileys in a bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds then stir until chocolate melts. Leave the ganache to cool down (or pop it in the fridge) before using.
Pipe the chocolate on half of the shells, allowing space for it to expand and sandwich them gently together.
Decorate the macaron shells (optional)
Thin any remaining ganache with a little cream until it flows smoothly. Drizzle over the macarons and sprinkle with salt, chocolate sprinkles or any other decorations. Store the filled macarons in an airtight container and consume within a few days.
Video
Notes
Tips for Success
Pulse your almond flour and icing sugar in a food processor to combine. Do not process the almond flour on its own as it can release oil!
Use a fine-mesh sieve to sift the ingredients and discard any solids.
Use kitchen scales to measure the sifted ingredients, including the cocoa powder – you should have 400g (14oz) in total.
Use scales to weigh your egg whites. You can have variable amounts of albumen in eggs.
Always make sure the bowl and whisk of your stand mixer are spotlessly clean and no egg yolk has contaminated your egg whites. Even a tiny speck of grease or yolk will prevent your meringue from frothing up.
Humidity and macarons aren’t the best of friends. Not much you can do about it,but keep in mind when resting the macarons before baking.
Use gel food coloring to tint your macarons. Avoid liquid food colors as they can dilute the batter.
COMMON MACARON PROBLEMS & TROUBLESHOOTING
You will probably encounter some of these issues the first few times you make macarons. Follow my troubleshooting tips to avoid these annoying quirks and remember your macarons will taste wonderful even if they don't look perfect!
Cracked tops: under mixed batter or not resting the shells for long enough before baking.
Bumpy tops, imperfect shells: batter was not mixed for long enough, dry ingredients not sifted. Forgot to tap the trays to release air bubbles.
No feet: batter was too thin or mixed for too long. Macarons did not rest long enough. The oven is not hot enough.
Hollow shells: overmixed batter. Not baked for long enough. Meringue was overwhipped.
Shells stick to the mat: not baked long enough, removed from the baking sheet too early.
Flat macarons: the batter was mixed for too long, or was too wet.
Dry or burned shells: The oven is too hot or has uneven hot spots. Rotate the trays halfway through. Do a test batch to check what the optimum temperature and baking time is for your oven.