French Macaron filled with chocolate ganache

Hi Guys, today i'm posting a recipe of french macarons,

i admit that these are the

 most hard and delicate cookies

to make, but don't worry i have 6 foolproof tips for you, if you follow

them correctly, you can't go wrong. So let's 

get started. 

French Macarons

3 Egg Whites
¼ cup white sugar (50 g)
2 cups confectioners sugar (200 g)
1 cup almond flour (120 g) 

Chocolate Ganache Filling

60g good quality chocolate

1/2 cup double cream

2 tbsp unsalted butter

STEP 1: SIFT THE ALMOND MEAL AND POWDERED SUGAR TO OBTAIN A VERY FINE POWDER AND HAVE A SMOOTH AND SHINY MACARON SHELL

STEP2: YOUR EGGS SHOULD BE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE, THAT IS A MUST, IF YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN TO REMOVE THEM FROM THE FRIDGE,

 DON'T WORRY,

JUST TAKE A BOWL, FILL IT WITH WARM WATER AND PLACE 

YOUR EGGS IN THERE

FOR ABOUT 5-10 MINUTES OR UNTIL THE EGGS ARE NO LONGER CHILLED

STEP3: ADD A LITTLE MORE FOOD COLOURING THAN DESIRED IN YOUR EGGS BECAUSE

IT TENDS TO FADE WHILE IT IS BAKING

STEP4: DO NOT OVERMIX, YOU GONNA END UP WITH A MACARON THAT IS 

FLAT

DO NOT UNDERMIX, YOU'LL END WITH UP A MACARON THAT CRACKS ON TOP,

WHICH IS NOT GOOD

THE RIGHT CONSISTENCY OF A MACARON IS NEITHER TOO THICK NOR TOO RUNNY

IT IS LIKE FLOWING LAVA, IT SHOULD BE 

DRIPPING WHILE YOU LIFT UP

YOUR SPOON, AND YOU DON'T REALLY SEE THE 

BUMPS OF THE ALMONDS. AFTER YOU HAVE REACHED THIS CONSISTENCY, 

DON'T MIX AT ALL!!! IT WILL BECOME RUNNY

STEP5: AFTER YOU HAVE FINISHED PIPING YOUR MACARONS, TAKE YOUR TRAY AND BANG THEM ON YOUR COUNTERTOP, SO THAT THE AIR BUBBLES ARE RELEASED. YOUR MACARONS SHOULD LOOK LIKE THIS

STEP6: LET YOUR MACARONS SIT OUT FOR ABOUT 20-30

 MINUTES OR WHEN THEY

BECOME DRY AND NO LONGER STICK TO YOUR 

FINGER AS YOU TOUCHES IT. IF YOU DON'T LET THEM SIT OUT, THEY GONNA SPREAD OUT IN THE OVEN AND BECOME FLAT.

Combine the almond flour and sugar together. Make sure to sift them

to obtain a fine powder.

mix your egg whites, by adding your granulated sugar 

gradually, add you food colouring. stop beating until you get stiff peaks as 

shown below.

Add the sifted confectioners sugar and almond meal in the egg whites, fold gently

until you achieve the right consistency.

Fill the batter in a piping bag or a ziplock bag and make small circles on a tray covered with parchment paper or silpat 

(the parchement is a must else your macarons will stick, don't try greasing your tray, because you don't wanna add grease to your macarons)

Bang them on your countertop until all the air bubbles are released 

and your macarons are smooth and shiny.

Let them sit out for about 20-30 minutes or until they are dry and no longer stick 

to your finger.

Bake them in a preheated oven at 20 minutes (put only one tray in the

 oven at a time, because these macarons are delicate

 and want all the space for themeselves,

so while one tray is baking, the other one is sitting out)

Take them out of the oven, and let them cool down (don't try to remove them 

while they are still hot they will stick to the 

paper an may sometimes break, so let them cool down completely).

Chocolate ganache filling

Heat your double cream until it starts to boil, stir in your chocolate

until it melts complety, add the unsalted butter and stir until well incorporated,

let it cool down, put it in the fridge for 30 minutes, it will

thicken up

Assembling your macarons

Remove the macarons shells from the parchment paper. fill the shell with 

ganache and put another shell on top, and it's done.

Macarons are better when eaten the next day, put it in the fridge and wait 

till next day, i'm sure you won't regret it.

Chocolate Ganache cake (with vanilla buttercream filling and sprinkles)

Who can resist this moist, chocolate cake 

with its rich chocolate ganache

and with its

delicious vanilla buttercream??

No one, i think

In this recipe i'm using a pastry bag and a star tip nozzle to decorate the cake,

well if you don't have one you may tip off the corner of a zip lock bag and

 fill in your buttercream, that's it :) no worries

you can decorate it according to your choice,

 feel free to garnish your cake with whatever toppings or sprinkles you like J

Chocolate Cake

200 g cake flour/ self-raising flour

(in case you don't have that type of flour, you may 

use plain flour and add baking powder, that will be same)

175 g unsalted butter (room temperature)

180 g sugar

a pinch of salt (no need to add if you

are using salted butter)

3 tbsp cocoa powder

4 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius, grease your cake pan

with melted butter, or baking spray

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (you may use an

electric mixer or a wooden spoon).

Add eggs one by one and continue to mix until

 you get a sort of liquidy batter.

Add the vanilla extract, and mix 

Sift the flour and cocoa powder to avoid lumps

Add the sifted flour and cocoa powder to the mixture

Mix well until smooth and well incorporated

Pour your chocolate cake batter in a well greased cake pan

Bake for 30-40 min or until 

golden brown (place a knife or a clean toothpick in the middle to

 check whether its done or not)

Place it on a wire rack to cool

Vanilla Buttercream Filling

1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

3 cups sifted icing sugar

1 ½ tsp vanilla

3-4 tbsp milk

In a medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter 

with spoon or electric mixer. Stir in vanilla,

gradually pour the milk, until desired consistency is obtained.

 If frosting is too thick, 

beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting becomes too

 thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar.

Chocolate Ganache

150 g chocolate

110 g double cream

In a saucepan, heat the double cream, stir continuously

 so as it does not burn, turn off the heat

Add the chocolate, and mix with a wooden spoon until all the

chocolate is melted properly (don't use a whisk because it will 

incorporate air into the mixture which you don't want).

let it cool

Cut the cake in two layers, add the buttercream frosting

generously in between and place the other layer of cake on top

Crumb coat, that is cover the whole cake with a thin layer of 

buttercream.

Put it in the freezer for about 5-10 min until the buttercream

hardens a bit.

place your cake on a wire rack 

with a large bowl,

 underneath to hold the dripping chocolate.

Pour the chocolate ganache on top of the cake, let it drip 

until it covers the entire cake (you can use a spatula to spread the ganache)

Refrigerate the cake for about 20-30 min until the ganache sets

Decorate as per your wish with buttercream frosting.

In my Case I've done rose swirls all around the cake

 using a star tip nozzle

Add sprinkles all over the cake to decorate

Treat yourself with a big slice and enjoy J

I admit it takes a bit of time, but it's worth the effort

until then, 

Happy Cooking