Macarons are so fun to make and to eat. Skip the exorbitant prices that bakeries charge by making your own. Today, I am making chocolate and mint ones!
After Addie finally chose her birthday cake flavor combination (chocolate and mint), I wanted to kick things off by making some macarons. We were reminiscing about our spring break trip to Paris and Barcelona and talked about some of our favorite pastries and sights from each city.
During our trip, we tried macarons from two pastries – one from Pralus in Paris, and the other from Ladurée from the Paris airport. Each bite produced a perfect crunch, followed by the perfect chewy bite. Now, I’ve made macarons before, but not in recent years.
While Addie was getting excited for her birthday, I enlisted her help to make these macarons. Although I read and re-read the recipe, I goofed. Addie was reading the ingredient list for me and told me to put in 8 Tablespoons of powdered sugar (we were doubling the recipe). I measured each Tablespoon and added them to my bowl. As I was pondering why I hadn’t used my teaspoon measure yet, I reviewed the ingredients on the recipe and saw that I was supposed to put in 8 TEASPOONS of powdered sugar, not Tablespoons. UGH. Knowing how finicky macarons could be, I was worried.
I quickly removed some Tablespoons of powdered sugar, but without doing the math. So, I pretty much just eyeballed it. I still don’t think I took out enough powdered sugar because my batter wasn’t as liquidy or tacky as I normally would have liked. As a result, only half of my batch formed the famous macaron feet at the bottoms. Regardless, the macaron shells still came out pretty well, texture-wise, so I was happy with those. I filled my macarons with a chocolate mint ganache, and ooh la la they were good!
Addie loved these macarons, and I hope to make them again with her soon.
Husband’s rating: 4 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
My rating: 4 out of 5
Chocolate mint macarons
Ingredients
Macaron shells
- 1 (40 grams) large egg white
- 2 and ½ Tablespoons (30 grams) superfine sugar I used granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (30 grams) ground almonds or almond flour/meal
- ⅓ cup plus 4 teaspoons (50 grams) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon powdered green food coloring I used ¼ teaspoon of green gel paste coloring
Filling
- 3 and ½ Tablespoons (50 grams) heavy cream
- 1.75 ounces (50 grams) dark chocolate finely chopped
- 1 drop peppermint extract
Instructions
Make the macarons
- In a large bowl, sift together the almond flour, powdered sugar and food coloring if using a powdered form. I normally don't sift my dry ingredients, but it's important to do so for macarons so they don't get clumpy bits.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, beat the egg white on high speed until it gets frothy.
- Add in half of the sugar and beat until you achieve soft peaks. Then add in the remaining sugar and the gel coloring (if using) until you achieve stiff peaks. The egg whites should be very light colored and shiny.
- Very gently fold in the dry ingredients and use as few strokes as possible to incorporate the two - it should take about 50 to 60 strokes. Lift the batter from the bottom, turn/flick your wrist, and gently press down. Rotate the bowl and repeat. The batter is ready when it flows like ribbons of lava when you lift up your spatula.
- Transfer the batter to a piping bag (or a zip-top bag with a corner snipped off). Pipe equal sized circles onto a baking mat lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Lift up your baking sheet and bang it down on the counter to pop out any air bubbles that may have formed.
- Let the macarons rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 300°F. Place the macarons in the oven and allow them to bake for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the macarons from the oven and allow them to cool before removing them from the baking pan.
Make the filling
- While the macarons are baking and cooling, make the filling.
- Place the chopped chocolate in a small heatproof bowl and set aside.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, heat up the heavy cream until close to boiling.
- Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow it to sit for 2-3 minutes. Then whisk it thoroughly and add in the mint extract. Let the ganache set on the counter or in the refrigerator to harden a bit (but watch this if you are using the refrigerator - you don't want the ganache to harden too much).
- Transfer the ganache into a piping bag or zip-top bag with a corner cut off.
- Pair up the macaron shells by size. Pipe some filling on one of the shells and gently place the other half on top. Turn the top shell and push down slightly to bring the shells closer together.
- For best results, chill the macarons in the refrigerator before serving.