Chocolate Caramel Macarons

I love macarons - anyone who knows me, knows that. I have been making them for a couple of years now, with mixed results. The thing to always remember with macarons, is that whether they work or not, they always taste good.
I had stopped making them a while ago after a few failed batches - when I say failed, to my super critical eye, they didn't work, but to my loyal taste testers, they were fine! I was convinced my oven was not working well enough for such a delicate treat.
Anyway this week I decided to try a new recipe and see how it went. I must say, I was so thrilled when they turned out perfectly. And taste oh so goooood.

 

I'll show you some of the steps I did to fill the macarons, as I have used a combination of flavours. I made a dark chocolate ganache, which I used on the outside of the filling, and then I used pre-made (gulp!) caramel. I thought about making my own but I love the Carnation Milk caramel. The problem it, it is too runny to use on it's own, so that's why I used the ganache to hold it in. The result is a really lovely combination of flavours, with the gooey caramel being the little surprise inside!

 

 

 

 

Remember to put your filled macarons into the fridge in a sealed container for 24 hours; this process helps the flavours to develop. Macarons are best eaten after being out of the fridge for about an hour.



Chocolate Caramel Macarons

Makes about 35 whole

Ingredients:

 

100 grams ground almonds (I actually use about 110g to then allow for large bits that can't be sieved)
100-110g egg whites (about 3 egg whites)
15g cocoa powder
185g icing (powdered) sugar
4 tablespoons caster sugar

 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150° C.
2. Push the ground almond through a sieve to get rid of any large pieces or lumps.
3. Mix the icing sugar and cocoa powder together with the ground almonds in a food processor. I do this twice - sieve, food processor, sieve, food processor.
4. In a large bowl, whip the egg whites with a hand- or stand mixer. As the egg whites start foaming, add the sugar one tablespoon at a time and continue whipping until the mixture is glossy and stiff. You should be able to hold the bowl upside down without the meringue sliding out.
5. Fold the dry mix carefully and slowly into the meringue, use a spatula. Add food colouring if desired until fully mixed. Don't overmix! You want the mixture to fall off the spatula like lava.
6. Fill your piping bag and pipe the macarons onto a baking sheet. Let them set for 60 minutes to form a dry skin.
7. Bake for about 14-16 minutes. Let cool completely, then fill with piped chocolate ganache and caramel and sandwich them together.