Chocolate when combined with the good things in life results in even better marvels. Such is the sinful scheme of works when chocolate gangs up with a spot of raspberry. Who could possibly resist that? So as I head off to whip out a batch of Raspberry Chocolate Macaroons, I leave you with this special recipe sent straight from heaven.
God bless our chocolaty souls!
Raspberry Chocolate Macarons
Time taken: 1 h
Taste-o-meter: Sweet
Special equipments:
- Bakery release paper or Parchment paper (used as a non-sticky base for baking)
- Plastic bag with Ziplocs to seal the macarons
Ingredients:
- Sliced almonds: 6 ounces
- Egg whites: 3
- Confectioner’s sugar: 1.5 cups
- Powdered sugar: 3 tbsp
- Salt: 3/4 tsp
- Pink food colour
Raspberry Chocolate Ganache:
- Fine dark chocolate preferably with a minimum of60-64 % cocoa concentration: 3 tsp
- Thick cream: 1/3 cup
- Soft butter preferably unsalted: 1 tbsp
- A small pinch of raspberry extract
Method:
- Toss the almonds along with half cup confection sugar into a mixer and ground them until they are finely granulated. This should take around 2-3 min roughly.
- Empty the mix in a bowl along with the remaining confectioner’s sugar and sift a little more.
- Take another bowl and beat the egg whites either manually or using an electric mixer adjusted to medium speed.
- Add salt to this, along with the granulated sugar in small batches, and continue beating the mixture. If you’re using an electric mixer, increase the speed until the white portions go taut with a glossy surface.
- Add a few drops of the food colour as per your tonal preferences and continue mixing.
- Add the almond mix into the resultant meringue.
- Transfer the meringue into the plastic bag and press out the excess air in the bag.
- Coil the plastic around firmly above the batter.
- Spread out two baking parchments.
- Pin-in a hole at one of the corners of the plastic bag’s base and neatly squirt out the batter into a twirling round shape that is about as wide as a cookie with the parchment as a base.
- Dole out a batch of these samples with each distanced at an inch from the other.
- Let it settle into a crust surfaced mound. This should take around 20 min.
- Now heat this batch in a preheated over of 300 F for about 20 min until the outer edges grows a little dark. At this point, the macarons are crisp to the core. Let it cool.
- Melt the chocolate along with the cream in a pan, simmered with very little water till it is smooth.
- Add in the raspberry extract along with the butter and stir until it reaches velvety smoothness. That completes your ganache.
- Now, peel the macaroons carefully off the bakery paper.
- Take two mounds at a time and sandwich a thick layer of ganache in between. Serve.