My latest attempt at mastering the French Macaron had me proudly showing off these delicious Chocolate Orange Ganache filled little treats to my family. These were closer to what they are supposed to look like. I was able to lose the puffiness that my last batch had and these had the nice shiny and smooth tops and better feet! My piping skills need work as these were bigger than they really should have been but I’ll get the hang of that. The chocolate orange ganache makes these cookies unbelievably good. The outsides were crisp and the insides were soft and chewy.
I think the trick this time was aging the egg whites for 4 days in the refrigerator. Yes, four days! And I also bought myself a kitchen scale so that I could follow the recipe in Jill Colonna’s book Mad About Macarons! This is a fantastic book that shows you exactly how to make theses little treats but as I found out, all the measurements are in grams. Measuring the ingredients and weighing them out really does give you better results with something tricky like these.
Here is the recipe I used for the Chocolate Orange Ganache
Chocolate Orange Ganache
7 ounces (200 grams) semi-sweet chocolate (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 tsp. orange extract
2 Tbsp. butter
Mix in a saucepan over low heat and gently stir together the chocolate and the heavy cream until the chocolate is melted and perfectly blended in. Let cool a few minutes and stir in the orange extract and the butter. Pour into a bowl and let cool for 30 minutes till it thickens up. (I placed mine in the refrigerator and it took closer to an hour to thicken up for me.)
Later this week I hope to make a batch of Lemon Buttercream Macarons and I am going to try the techniques outlined in another cookbook that I just received which I will highlight in the post. Stay tuned!
8 comments:
An entire book about macaroons! Who'da thunk it.
Di
I am soo impressed and they look quite heavenly/...do I smell a macaroon business in your future? I think so!
I've always wanted to try making these beauties but just too intimidated. Yours are lovely ~ I'll just pop for a visit and a little treat :)
Jo
They look delicious, Lisa! The filling looks "just so" inside. I don't know that I'd get it so neat.
Looks just like the ones they sell in Laduree in Paris!!! I bet they were yummy!
Suzanne
Where do you find the almond meal/flour in Greensboro? I am gluten free and have been wanting to make these but can't find the almond flour anywhere.
Thanks!
I found Almond Flour made by Bob's Red Mill in the baking section at Earth Fare on Battleground in G'boro and at some Harris Teeter's (the one about a mile past Oak Hollow Mall in High Point has it.)Of course you could always make your own in the food processor or blender too by grinding up almonds but buying the flour is so much easier. Warning: it's expensive! Good luck finding it.
Amazon carries the Almond flour and I have a 5-pound bag waiting in the fridge...waiting is the key word here.
These look terrific.
Good job! :)
I wonder if you could have added a bit of orange zest to the ganache..?
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