Chocolate and Peppermint Macarons

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Ugh, these are a pain.  I didn’t try them, but I would say they are an 8. They came from Fine Cooking Magazine.

Chocolate and Peppermint Macarons

By James Arena December/January 2017 Issue

For the cookies
  • 9 oz. (2-1/2 cups) almond flour, preferably superfine
  • 8 oz. (2 cups) confectioners’ sugar
  • 6 large egg whites (see tip, below) he said to measure them and use 198 grams, which I would do
  • Small pinch cream of tartar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • Red gel food coloring (optional)
For the chocolate filling
  • 1-1/3 cups heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup corn syrup we cut this down
  • 10-1/2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped (about 2 cups)
  • 1/4 tsp. peppermint extract, preferably Nielsen-Massey; more to taste we used 1/2 tsp, as well as about 1/2 tsp vanilla.
  • 6-1/2 oz. starlight peppermint candies, finely crushed we forgot these

 

 

http://www.finecooking.com/recipe/chocolate-and-peppermint-macarons

 

Basically you pulse the almond flour and the powdered sugar together in a food processor and then put it through a fine sieve. Then, you put the egg whites in a mixer and then put that bowl in hot water until the egg whites get to about 90 degrees. Add a pinch of cream of tartar and beat until stiff peaks form. Slowly add the sugar and mix until glossy. Add food coloring. You dump the flour into the meringue and fold until the flour disappears and this will deflate a bit. This takes a couple of minutes. You put it in a piping bag with 1/2 inch plain tip, and pipe them. If they aren’t smooth on top, take a wet finger and make them smooth. After 30 minutes or whenever they aren’t sticky when you touch them, bake them. The cooking is a beast. It said 250 on confection bake for 15 or 16 minutes, but mine were still raw. I would try 300 for the same amount of time. For the filling, make a typical ganache, put it in the fridge, then pipe it in.

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