Raspberry Chocolate French Macaroons Recipes

CHOCOLATE FRENCH MACARONS WITH RASPBERRY FILLING

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 325F. Use an oven thermometer to be sure your oven temperature is exact. Slight variances will cause large changes in your results.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, almond flour, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy with an electric hand mixer fitted with wire whipping beaters and set to medium high speed. (You're looking for the consistency of bath tub bubbles.)
• Add the cream of tartar and beat for a few seconds more.
• While beating, slowly add the granulated sugar. Continue to beat until you have nearly stiff peaks, 1-2 minutes. (To tell if you have nearly stiff peaks, stop beating, and lightly dip the beaters into the meringue. When you pull the beaters out of the meringue, the peaks that form should stand up, with the tips folding over only slightly.)
• Sift half of the almond flour mixture into the bowl with the meringue. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the meringue for a few strokes, using a circular motion around the bowl and under the batter. Sift in the remaining almond flour mixture and continue to fold, until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated into the meringue. The batter should be smooth and glossy. It should slowly shift if you tip the bowl, but it should not be too runny or liquidy.
• Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a ½ inch tip with the batter. (If you don't have a pastry bag, you can use a quart Ziploc bag with one corner snipped to create a ½ inch hole.)
• Gently pipe the batter into 2 inch circles spaced 1 inch apart onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. To pipe, hover your tip a 1/2 inch above the cookie sheet and squeeze the bag gently. The meringue should flow in an even circle outward from your tip. Stop piping when you have a 2 inch diameter circle. Gently lift your tip. The batter should flatten into itself after a few seconds, but if it forms a small beak, that's ok. We'll take care of those in a minute.
• After piping your cookies, if they still have a small beak, dip your finger in a bowl of cool water to slightly dampen it. Gently pat the piped meringue to flatten the beaks and create a smooth top.
• Let the piped cookies rest until a dry film forms on the macaron, the batter should lose its shininess and become dull in color. You should be able to lightly touch the cookies and the batter shouldn't stick to your finger. This could take anywhere from 20-40 minutes, depending on the batter and the moisture level of your kitchen.
• Bake the rested macarons at 325F for 14-15 minutes until crisp on the outside and dry to the touch. (The foot should not squish or wiggle when you lightly touch them.)
• Remove the macarons form the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 15-20 minutes before gently removing them from the parchment paper to cool on a wire rack completely before filling.
• While the cookies are cooling, make the filing. Beat butter and jam with an electric hand mixer fitted with wire whisk beaters on medium speed until the butter is fluffy and the two are combined. Slowly add the powdered sugar until a thick and fluffy frosting forms. It should be spreadable but firm.
• When cookies are completely cool, spread about 1 tsp of filling on the bottom of one cookie. Gently sandwich the filling with a second cookie, pressing until the filling nearly reaches the edges of the cookies.
• Store the filled macarons in a sealed container on the counter for up to a week or in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
• We recommend filling the sandwiches no more than 1 day before you plan to serve them. If you want to make your cookies ahead of time, keep the cookies, unfilled, in a sealed, dry container, until you are ready to fill them.

RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE FRENCH MACAROONS

Steps:

• Make macaroons:
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Pulse almonds with 1/2 cup confectioners sugar in a food processor until very finely ground, 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Sift in remaining cup confectioners sugar, stirring to combine.
• Beat egg whites with salt in another bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Add granulated sugar, a little at a time, beating, then increase speed to high and continue to beat until whites just hold stiff, glossy peaks. Add drops of food coloring to reach desired shade and mix at low speed until evenly combined. Stir almond mixture into meringue with a rubber spatula until completely incorporated. (Meringue will deflate.)
• Spoon batter into bag, pressing out excess air, and snip off 1 corner of plastic bag to create a 1/4-inch opening. Twist bag firmly just above batter, then pipe peaked mounds of batter (the size of a chocolate kiss) onto lined sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Let cookies stand, uncovered, at room temperature until tops are no longer sticky and a light crust forms, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 300°F.
• Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until crisp and edges are just slightly darker, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely on sheets on racks, about 30 minutes.
• Make ganache while macaroons bake:
• Melt chocolate with cream in a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water or in top of a double boiler, stirring until smooth. (Bowl should not touch water.) Remove bowl from heat, then add butter and raspberry extract, stirring until butter is melted. Let stand at room temperature until cooled completely and slightly thickened.
• Assemble cookies:
• Carefully peel cookies from parchment (they will be fragile). Sandwich a thin layer of ganache (about 1/2 teaspoon) between flat sides of cookies.

RASPBERRY MACARONS

Steps:

• Whisk the egg whites in a large, clean bowl until soft peaks form. Whisk in the icing sugar in 3 or 4 batches, whisking well between each addition. Add a couple of drops of colouring with the final addition of sugar. Keep whisking until the mixture is light pink, with no streaks, and is thick and glossy, a bit like shaving foam.
• Using a large metal spoon, gently fold through the ground almonds. Cover 4 baking sheets with baking parchment and dab a little of the mixture in the corners of each sheet to secure paper. If you don't have enough baking sheets, make and cook half the quantity, then repeat. Use 2 spoons or a piping bag fitted with a wide nozzle to make 40 circles, each about 5cm wide. Leave to sit out for about 10 mins until a skin starts to form.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Place the baking sheets in the oven, leaving the oven door slightly ajar to allow steam to escape, then bake for 20-25 mins until just crisp, but not browned. Leave to cool.
• When ready to serve, gently ease off the paper with a palette knife. Carefully spread 1 tsp raspberry jam per biscuit over half of the biscuits and 1 tsp mascarpone per biscuit over the other halves, then gently sandwich together.

RASPBERRY MACARONS

Steps:

• Pulse confectioners' sugar and flour in a food processor until combined. Sift mixture 2 times.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar; whisk until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low; add superfine sugar. Increase speed to high; whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. Sift flour mixture over whites; fold until smooth and shiny. Fold in puree and food coloring.
• Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip; pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, dragging tip to sides rather than forming peaks. Tap sheets on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until crisp and firm, about 10 minutes. After each batch, increase oven to 375 degrees, heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees.
• Let cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. (If sticking, spray water between parchment and hot sheet. The steam will help release macarons.)
• Sandwich 2 macarons with 1 teaspoon jam.

RASPBERRY MACAROONS IN CHOCOLATE SHELLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine coconut, granulated sugar, egg white, and salt in a food processor and pulse until combined, scraping down sides of bowl, if necessary. Add raspberries and pulse until just incorporated. (Do not overprocess.)
• Scoop mounds of coconut mixture 1 inch apart onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, using a 1/2-ounce (1 1/4-inch) ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to form small mounds.
• Bake until macaroons are lightly golden, 28 to 30 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer macaroons to a wire rack and let cool.
• Place chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until melted. Add coconut oil, stirring until combined, then remove from heat.
• Dip bottoms of macaroons in chocolate or completely cover with chocolate, transferring as dipped to a wax-paper-lined rimmed baking sheet. Garnish as desired while still warm, then refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day. Serve chilled.