Chocolate Macarons with black balsam.

140 gm. finely ground almond

250 gm. icing sugar

25 gm. cocoa powder

100 gm. egg white - at room temperature


Blend ground almond, cocoa powder and icing sugar in a food processor till fine.

Whisk egg white till they are white and foamy. Turn the speed up to high adn whip them just until they are firm but still glossy and supple - when you lift the whisk, the whites should form a peak that droops just a little. Leave the whites in the mixer bowl or transfer them to a large bowl and working with a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients gently into the whites in three or four additions. It will seem like a lot of dry ingredients to go into a relatively small amount of whites, but keep folding and you'll get everything in. Don't worry if the whites deflate and the batter looks a little runny - that's just what's supposed to happen. When all the dry ingredients are incorporated, the mixture will look like a cake batter, if you lift with your finger, it should form a gentle, quickly falling peak.

Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Pipe into small rounds about 1" in diameter onto parchment paper, leaving about an inch between each round. Rest macaroons for about 20 mins.

Bake at 180C for 10 to 12 mins.

Remove macaroons from the parchment - they should be removed as soon as they come from the oven. You will need to create moisture under the cookies. Carefully loosen the parchment paper , lifting the paper, pour a little hot water under the paper. The water may bubble and steam.Allow the macaroons to remain on the parchment for about 20 seconds, then peel the macaroons off the paper and place them on a cooling rack.

For the ganache place 227 gr.of dark chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat 180 ml. of double cream and 28 gr. butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth. Add 20 ml. Black Balsam.Let it for houlf an hour and then sandwich the macarons with the chocolate ganache.



Tips :“Egg Whites are the key element in this recipe. Use egg whites aged several days and bring the whites to room temperature. This is very important to get the most volume out of the whites. Take care to beat them until they are only just firm and still shiny, and don’t be concerned when, as you add the dry ingredients, they deflate - they’re supposed to. Knocking some of the air out of the whites is what will give these macaroons their characteristic smooth top. Keep the whites too firm and you’ll end up with meringue.”