Chocolate Macarons with Orange Chocolate Ganache

I give you the macaron: though it be but small, it is fierce. This is my second-ever attempt at making macarons, largely because the first time I attempted it I was still young and impressionable and I figure now I'm nice and mature and will follow the directions like a good baker and everything will come out perfectly. And though these little guys are far from perfect, they're just so darn cute you can't help but love them.

I think a certain degree of my difficulty came with the recipe I chose to follow (from Bon Appetit), which promised chocolate cookies filled with a bittersweet orange ganache. The ganache certainly delivered. But the recipe itself didn't allow for my having almond meal and instructed that I pipe the macarons in "a quarter size circle", which gave me the wee fellows seen above (but were a far cry from the more substantially-sized macarons I was expecting). So I will include the recipe I wound up using below, but just bear in mind that I still want to tweak things here and there.

For its part, the ganache was lovely. Dark and rich and with just a faint zing of orange. I made it a few days ahead and allowed it to chill (they say you can leave it up to two days) and then thawed it a bit so that it'd be easier to pipe. By the way, I hate pastry bags. They are messy and awful and get goop everywhere. I need to get one of those nice plunger thingies, but the one at my HEB said that it contained chemicals known in the state of California to cause cancer or other reproductive issues. This seemed like steep price to pay for a goop-free macaron experience.

Here is the recipe. The cookies were not actually that terrifying to make, though I think a certain degree of rabid paranoia can never hurt a baker.

Chocolate Macarons with Orange Chocolate Ganache (adapted from Bon Appetit) 

Cookie:

• 2 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 1 1/2 cups plus 1 T almond flour (if you want to process whole almonds, please refer to original recipe)
• 3 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons egg whites (from about 3 large eggs), room temperature, whisked to loosen
• 1/4 cup sugar 

Arrange racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; preheat to 325°. Line 3 rimless baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift together dry cookie ingredients (except for granulated sugar). Using an electric mixer, beat 1/3 cup egg whites in a medium bowl on medium speed until white and frothy, about 1 minute. With mixer on medium-low speed, gradually add sugar by teasponfuls. Increase speed to medium-high; beat until firm peaks form. Stir in remaining 3 Tbsp. egg whites. Fold meringue into dry ingredients in 2 additions, mixing well between additions. Spoon meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4" tip. (Alternatively, spoon into a plastic freezer bag, then cut 1/4" off a corner of bag.) Twist top of bag and pipe quarter-size rounds onto 2 of the 3 prepared baking sheets, spacing 1" apart. Let stand until tops appear dry, about 10 minutes. 

Ganache:

• 3 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Place chocolate and butter in a medium bowl. Bring cream just to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat; stir in orange zest, cloves, allspice, and salt. Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate and butter; whisk until smooth. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. (Or up to 2 days). Spoon ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4" tip. (Alternatively, spoon into a plastic freezer bag, then cut 1/4" off a corner of bag.) Twist top of bag and pipe about 1 tsp. ganache onto flat side of 1 cookie, leaving 1/4"–1/8" plain border. Top with a second cookie, flat side down. Repeat with the remaining cookies and ganache. Layer in an airtight container between sheets of parchment paper and refrigerator overnight. 

There you have it! I still feel like there are many more secretes I lock before I am remotely proficient at cranking out these little beauties, but the possibilities are pretty endless. I have a feeling they're going to crop up again on this blog before long. 

I also found this website, which seems to have a lot of wonderful tips about troubleshooting macarons. Check it out: Troubleshooting

Enjoy!