LIZ KOLBECK, WRITER AND COOK
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Chocolate Macaroons

23/10/2021

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Rustic and delicious, home made chocolate macaroons
Rustic Chocolate Macaroons

These are clearly macaroons, the slightly raffish Italian older cousin of the sophisticated French macaron.  A confection of whipped egg white with sugar and ground nuts has been around for a long time, and the idea was allegedly brought to France with the entourage and cooks of Catherine de Medici in the mid 1500s. In France they refined and formalised the original recipe to produce the riot of coloured macarons you can buy today: smooth and elegant, with various flavours and strong (mainly artificial) colours.

A macaroon/macaron is different from the classic meringue in that you leave it for a while after whipping the egg whites and mixing with the sweet stuff, so that it forms a slight crust on the top surface. The crust bakes to a chewy texture, contrasting with the fluffy softness inside. The usual filling is a rich ganache, which seeps into the inner surface of the macaron, adding another even gooey layer.

These taste just as good and have that chewy nutty texture but you don’t have to faff around with a piping bag to get the flying saucer perfection.  If you want to make French macarons, I will bring some recipes onto the blog well before Christmas, so you can make them as pretty presents.

My friend Freddie Sykes is a great baker and made a batch of these for my recent birthday. He based his recipe on the You-Tuber Adam Ragusea’s version, so thanks to both these young men.

Makes 10             Timings: 90 minutes
 
  • 2 egg whites 
  • 100g caster sugar 
  • 70g ground almonds
  • 90g icing sugar 
  • 30g cocoa powder 
  • Salt 
  • Cream and chocolate for the ganache - 1 tablespoon of each
 
Beat the egg whites until fluffy, then beat in the granulated sugar until the mixture is glossy and you get floppy peaks. 
 
Put in the almond flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and half a pinch of salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the eggs until you get a mousse-like consistency. 
 
Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper and spoon the batter on in about 20 dollops. Let them sit and dry for a half hour. 
 
Heat the oven to 180°C and bake until the meringues start to crack, about 15 minutes. Cool completely before filling. 
 
To make the ganache, combine as little as 2 tbsp of cream with an equal quantity of chocolate by volume. 
 
Microwave until just bubbling, let it sit for a minute, then stir until smooth. Cool the ganache down to get it to a spreadable consistency.
 
Spread ganache onto the bottom of a macaron, then sandwich it with one of roughly equal size.
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    Some Changes - April 2022

    Thanks to my friends and followers for your patience, and for your encouragement to start blogging again.

    I've been taking time away from social media and writing my books, "The Family Way" and "The Way Home" following the lives of two young Scotswomen from the outbreak of the First World War.

    I'm going to change the emphasis of my blog and follow what Jean and Gladys would have cooked and eaten, working as servants in a big house near Edinburgh in 1913.  

    Researching for the books, I've learned a lot about the lives of women at that time, and I'd like to share some of that with you.

    I won't give you story spoilers as I'm hoping to get the books published sometime soon.

    As always, please get in touch with any of your own family recipes that your grandmother may have cooked in the early 1900s. I'll adapt them to modern methods and share them on my blog.

    ​Happy Cooking!


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