Hazelnut chocolate macarons plus printable template
Poste April 1, 2014
Nutella macarons sans nutella!
Hazelnut
ehocolatg
macarons
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It has been ages since I've made macarons ~ so long, in fact, that 3G yelled, “YESSSS!!!”
OT—_—E—_—E—E—E—_—_— —_—_—T—__— OO
I want to experiment with different bases for the shells, to see how the taste and texture
changes. Hazelnuts give these a slightly different flavour — I think they're a little richer
than almonds. The biggest difference I found, though, is in the baking. It could just be the
brand I bought, but the ground hazelnuts are not as dry as the ground almonds, so they
need a longer baking time to dry out properly. You can check readiness by giving one a
little nudge — it shouldn't move on the foot.
I chose a milk and dark chocolate buttercream filling for these. Of course, you can use all
of one or the other or adjust the ratio as you prefer.
3 s
T'd like to share with you the reusable piping template I use when I make macarons. I
made it to fit my 28 x 38cm (11 x15”) baking sheets. The images are sized for A4 paper
and the circles are 4cm (1 1/2”) across, but there should be enough margin for US Letter
paper — be aware that if you resize the pages, the circle size will change, so go for 100%
sealing and you should be right with either paper size. Trim along the border lines and
overlap the two pages to match circles and rows, then tape the sheets together. Put the
template under your parchment when you pipe, then slide it out and repeat with the
second sheet — don't forget to take it out because you can’t bake it! I taped a paper tab onto
one end which overhangs the end of the baking sheet, to make it easier to slide the
template out without disturbing the piped shells.fou can open or dowload the two pages Oy Clicking the tumonas.
Makes 30 filled macarons
Ingredients
The shells
140g ground hazelnuts
125g powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
15g unsweetened cocoa powder
a pinch of brown powder food colouring (optional)
100g egg white (from approx. 3 eggs), room temperature, divided 50/50
100g granulated (white) sugar
40g water
The filling
115g (1 stick or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
50g milk chocolate
25g dark chocolate
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
90g (3/4 cup unsifted) powdered (confectioners) sugar
Directions
The shells
Prepare 2 parchment lined baking sheets.
Mix the ground hazelnuts, powdered sugar, cocoa and powder food colouring (if using)
together then grind batches in a food processor until you have a super fine texture. Ihave amini food processor that is exclusively used for nuts, sugar, semolina and other dry
ingredients, so I grind in 3 — 4 batches to avoid overfilling it and not grinding efficiently.
Sift into a large bowl by pushing with a spatula through a fine mesh strainer, and re-grind
any bigger pieces of hazelnut.
Add 50g egg whites and mix thoroughly into the hazelnut mixture. Set aside.
In another bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the other 50g egg whites to stiff peaks,
starting slowly and working your way up to maximum speed.
Meanwhile, put the granulated sugar and water into a small saucepan and heat on
medium-low to 118°C (244°F).
While whisking constantly on low speed (to avoid splashing hot syrup), slowly add the
cooked sugar mixture to the beaten egg whites, pouring it down the inside edge of the
bowl. Whisk at high speed until the mixture is cool, about 3 minutes. The mixture should
increase in volume and become firm (you should get a beak when you lift the whisk) and
shiny.
Scrape the meringue onto the hazelnut mixture and incorporate with a rubber or silicone
spatula until you have a homogenous batter that runs from the spatula in a thick ribbon
and a trail in the batter melts back into itself within 20 seconds.
Transfer the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 7— 9mm plain tip (this is best done in
two batches, so you don’t overfill the bag). Pipe 60 equally sized rounds, about 4em (1
1/2”), in staggered rows onto the prepared sheets. Hold the piping bag upright with the tip
just above the sheet and pipe without pulling upwards or swirling in circles, so the batter
comes out in a round blob around the tip, and give a little sideways flick at the end to
break the stream.
Tap the baking sheet firmly on the bench several times to release air bubbles and obtain a
smooth surface. Leave the tray to rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes until a
slight skin forms.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 150°C (300°F).
Bake the macarons for 20 ~ 22 minutes, one sheet at a time, turning the sheet after 10
minutes.
Remove from oven and remove the parchment from the tray with the shells still on it andplace on a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes, until completely cool, then remove
macaron shells carefully from the parchment.
The filling
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, stirring frequently. Allow to cool to room
temperature.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add chocolate and vanilla and beat to combine well, about 2 minutes.
Add powdered sugar and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated, then beat on high
until smooth, another 2 to 3 minutes.
Pipe or spoon a generous blob of filling onto the flat side of half the shells, top with the
remaining shells and press gently until the filling reaches the edges.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge to mature for 24 hours before eating.