Chocolate Covered Almond Macaroons Patisserie Salzburg Of Rye Recipes

CHOCOLATE-COVERED ALMOND MACAROONS - PATISSERIE SALZBURG OF RYE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325º. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Blend almond paste and egg whites in processor until smooth. Transfer to pastry bag fitted with 1/4- to 1/3-inch-diameter smooth round tip. Pipe 1 1/2-inch-diameter rounds onto baking sheet, mounding slightly in center. Bake until light brown, about 30 minutes. Cool.
• Place semisweet chocolate in medium bowl. Bring cream to boil in small saucepan. Pour cream over chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Cool ganache until firm enough to mound on spoon, about 4 hours. (Cookies and ganache can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill cookies. Cover ganache and let stand at room temperature.).
• Transfer ganache to pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch-diameter smooth round tip. Pipe generous amount of ganache atop center of each cookie (about 1-inch wide and 1/2-inch high). Chill cookies 2 hours.
• Stir bittersweet chocolate in small bowl set over small saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove chocolate from over water; cool slightly. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Working with 1 cookie at a time, grasp edges of cookie and dip ganache side down into melted bittersweet choolate, coating ganache and top of cookie. Transfer to prepared baking sheet, dipped side up. Repeat with remaining cookies. Chill until chocolate sets, about 20 minutes. (Cookies can be made 3 days ahead. Refrigerate in airtight container.).

SIMPLEST ALMOND MACAROONS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Place almond paste and sugar in food processor or mixing bowl. Mix or process until thoroughly combined. Add egg whites and mix until smooth dough forms.
• Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets, about 1 inch apart and bake 18-20 minutes, or until golden. Cool completely on baking sheets.
• Peel macaroons from paper when completely cool and store in an airtight container.

CHOCOLATE FILLED ALMOND MACARONS

Steps:

• For the ganache: Combine the chopped chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pot with 1-inch of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Stir in the cream, vanilla and salt, and then remove from the heat. Set aside until cooled and thickened, stirring occasionally, 30 to 45 minutes.
• For the cookies: Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small glass or cookie cutter (1 1/4 to 1 1/2-inch wide), trace 15 circles on each piece of parchment paper, leaving about 2 inches between each round. Flip the parchment over; the lines will be visible through the paper but you will not have to pipe directly onto the ink. Fit a pastry bag with a round tip about 1/4-inch wide.
• Sift the confectioners' sugar and ground almonds into a bowl and discard any larger nut chunks. (If you have more than a tablespoon of bigger chunks, grind those until powdery and then resift.) Combine the egg whites and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or in a large bowl with the whisk attachment of a hand-held electric mixer). Whip on medium-low speed until frothy, and then add the granulated sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip until very soft peaks form. Add the almond extract and a few drops of food coloring if using. Whip until stiff peaks form. Fold about one-third of the sugar-nut mixture into the egg whites until blended, and then fold in the remaining two-thirds. The batter should be a bit fluid but not runny. It should slowly drip off the spatula and sit on top of the batter in the bowl for a bit before eventually oozing back into it. If it seems a bit stiff at this point, fold once or twice more until it relaxes, although be careful not to over fold. This correct texture is the key to the macaron and it is better to have a stiffer batter than a looser one.
• Transfer the batter to the prepared pastry bag. Holding the bag perpendicular over the baking sheet, squeeze until the batter fills a circle drawn on the paper. Release the pressure on the bag and pull towards you to prevent a pointy tip on the center of the cookie. Repeat with the remaining circles. Gently flatten any points on the cookies with a damp fingertip.
• Firmly rap the baking sheets against the counter to release any air bubbles and let stand at room temperature until the tops of the cookies no longer feel wet, 10 to 15 minutes. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until the macarons are slightly crisp and the bottoms release from the parchment paper, about 15 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through the baking time. Cool on the sheet 5 minutes, and then peel off the cookies and cool completely on a wire rack.
• To assemble the cookies, spread a thin layer of the chocolate ganache on the bottoms of half of the cookies, about 1/4 teaspoon per cookie. Top with a second cookie, gently pressing to squeeze the ganache to the rims.
• TIP: The weight of the batter in the pastry bag will force some of the batter out. To stop this, you can stick a mini marshmallow at the end of your pastry tip to block to the batter from running out the end.
• TIP: You can use store-bought almond meal in place of the whole almonds. Sift 2/3 cup with the confectioners' sugar and, if necessary, grind the larger chunks and sift until a tablespoon or less of larger chunks remain in the sifter.
• TIP: You can also spoon the batter onto the parchment lined baking sheets. The cookies may not be as perfectly round but will still taste great.

CHOCOLATE ALMOND MACAROONS

Steps:

• Set oven to 350 degrees.
• Butter generously a large cookie sheet.
• Beat egg whites and salt until stiff, but not dry.
• Beat in sugar, a little at a time; beat until mixture is thick and glossy (mixture should stand in peaks).
• Fold in almonds, vanilla and melted chocolate.
• Drop macaroons by teaspoonfuls, onto a well-greased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes.
• Careful not to overbake, as the cookies will lose their texture.

CHOCOLATE-ALMOND MACAROONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Finely grind the almonds, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a food processor.
• Separate one of the eggs and add the white, the other egg, and almond extract and process until the mixture holds together. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the chocolate.
• Moisten hands and roll mixture into 1-inch balls. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Flatten to 1/3-inch thick rounds.
• Bake until tops puff and centers are still soft, about 12 minutes. Remove to a rack and cool completely. Replace parchment paper for next round of cookies.