How to make chocolate macarons – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass

When I first tackled macarons, back in 2012 , they’d just taken over from the cupcake as the patisserie du jour – from the glossy American teen TV series Gossip Girl to French branches of McDonald’s, these brightly coloured little meringue sandwiches seemed to be everywhere. These days, they feel rather special again, especially if you’ve wielded the piping bag yourself.

Prep 40 min
Cook 15 min
Makes About 10

65g ground almonds
85g icing sugar
25g cocoa powder
75g egg whites – ie from 2-3 eggs
A pinch of salt
60g caster sugar

For the ganache
100g whipping cream
100g dark chocolate
20g butter
A pinch of sea salt

1 Make the ganache

Heat the cream in a small pan until hot, but not boiling. Meanwhile, roughly chop the chocolate.

Add the chopped chocolate to the hot cream, leave for a couple of minutes while you roughly chop the butter, then stir the chocolate into the cream until melted smooth. Gradually beat in the butter and a pinch of salt, then put to one side to cool and set.

2 Draw out circles on baking paper

Line a large, flat baking tray with greaseproof paper. Put a pastry cutter (or something else round) about 3½cm in diameter on the paper and draw around it in dark pencil or ink, then repeat, spacing the circles about 2cm apart – you’ll need about 20 in total, so if you can’t fit all of them on to one sheet, prepare a second tray.

3 Prepare a piping bag

Cut a second sheet of paper of the same size and lay it on top of the first – you should be able to see the circles (AKA your template) through it; this second sheet will prevent the pencil lead or ink from staining your macarons. Prepare a piping bag with a roughly 1cm nozzle (or cut a 1cm hole in the bottom of a disposable one).

4 Start on the base

Put the almonds in a food processor or clean spice grinder and whizz to a very fine powder. Sift the almond powder, along with the icing sugar and cocoa power, through a fine sieve, into a bowl.

Repeat this sifting, so the three are thoroughly combined – there’s nowhere to hide lumps in macarons, so this is well worth the effort.

5 Beat the egg whites

Use a stand mixer or electric beaters to whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold their shape, then whisk in the caster sugar a spoonful at a time.

Continue whisking at high speed until the egg whites are stiff enough for you to turn the bowl upside down without them falling out – check the consistency regularly, so that you don’t overbeat them.

6 Mix in the dry ingredients

Fold in the sifted dry ingredients with a large metal spoon, then beat the mixture again until it just drops off the spatula: if it’s too thick, it will be hard to pipe.

Don’t worry about knocking some of the air out of it: you don’t want too much trapped in the macaron shells.

7 Pipe into rounds

Spoon the mixture into the piping bag, then carefully pipe it on to the circles you can see through the top sheet of paper.

Pick up the tray and drop it on to a work surface a couple of times, then leave to rest for about 30 minutes, until the macarons feel dry to the touch rather than sticky. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/390F/gas 4.

8 Bake the macarons

Bake the macarons for 15-17 minutes, until firm, opening the oven door briefly a couple of times during cooking to let out steam.

Once you’re sure they’re done, slide the macaron-topped paper off the tray and on to a cool surface to stop them cooking further, then leave to cool completely on the paper. Once cool, carefully peel or lift the macarons off the paper: they should come away pretty easily.

9 Sandwich with ganache

Match up pairs of equal-sized macarons, then, using a small palette knife or spoon, carefully sandwich them together with the set ganache.

The macarons can be eaten immediately, but for that characteristically chewy texture, store them somewhere cool, or in the fridge, for 24 hours and bring back to room temperature before serving.

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