While at Alt SF this year, I met the very talented Mindy Cone of Creative Juice. She has the most adorable party ideas and is known for her perfect macarons. So much, that she has a new cookbook out!
Gourmet French Macarons is a beautifully designed book and the recipes are easy to follow whether you’re a macaron expert or beginner. Mindy has classic macarons recipes and then super creative and festive designs. You’ll learn everything from the basic steps to making macarons piped into adorable shapes. My favorites are the ice cream cones and apples!
I tested out her chocolate macaron recipe for a party last week and they were delicious! Now my oven was a little silly and shells stayed chewy, but that’s the beauty of French macarons. Even if they don’t bake perfectly or crack, they taste amazing! Mindy really developed a wonderful recipe. Try it out yourself!
Chocolate French Macarons
- 100g of egg whites aged at room temperature
- Pinch of Cream of tartar
- 35g of superfine sugar
- 110g of Almond flour
- 200g of Powdered Sugar
- 10g cocoa powder
1. Measure out all ingredients using a gram scale
2. Prepare the baking sheets by lining them with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Slide a printed 1 ½ inch template sheet underneath and set aside. Prepare piping bag to be filled and set aside.
3. Sift powdered sugar, almond mixture, and cocoa powder together two or three times through a sieve and set aside.
4. Place the egg whites in a large bowl or in stand mixer with wire whisk attachment. Whisk on low until egg whites become foamy. Add the pinch of cream of tartar. Continue to whisk until soft peaks form. Slowly add in the superfine sugar. Once all of the sugar is incorporated, scrape down the sides with a spatula.
5. Turn your mixer on medium-high and continue to whisk until you reach a stiff meringue. If adding liquid or gel food dye, do so toward the end of whisking.
6. Sift 1/3 of the almond flour, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder mixture through the sieve and into the meringue. Fold the dry mixture into the meringue. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Once all of the dry ingredients are incorporated, the batter will be thick and have a dull shine. Continue to fold. As you do so, the batter will loosen. Stop folding when the batter has a glossy sheen, a “lava-like” consistency, and falls in a ribbon like manner off the spatula.
7. Transfer the batter into a large pastry bag fitted with a round tip and pipe 1½ inch rounds on the parchment paper following the template.
8. When all of the rounds are piped on the parchment, rap the sheet pans evenly on work surface a few times. Remove templates from below your parchment paper carefully. Let the batter rest at room temperature for 20-40 minutes.
9. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Reduce temperature to 300 degrees and bake one sheet at a time for 12 minutes rotating the pan half way through.
10. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
11. Match up similar size shells into pairs and sandwich with filling.
MAKES: About 4 dozen 1.5 in shells (two dozen sandwiched macaron cookies)
Chocolate Ganache Filling
- 100 g (3.5 oz) chocolate*
- 1½ Tbsp. heavy cream
1. Place chocolate in a heat proof bowl.
2. Boil cream and pour over chocolate.
3. Stir until all the chocolate has melted and texture is smooth**
4. When warm, pipe onto macaron shells.
*Use the mini chocolate chips when possible to speed up the process.
** If the cream is not able to melt all the chocolate, place bowl in microwave. Heat for 20 seconds on low power. Remove and stir. Repeat until chocolate is fully melted.
Give the recipe a try and tell me what you think! Have you tried making French macarons before?
