Semi Charmed Cookies.

Making macaroons, honestly, scares the hell out of me. I've heard enough horror stories about all the different things that could go wrong with it and had the pleasure of having it gone wrong not once but all four times i've tried my hand at it. The first two times were so bad they went straight into the trash can. The third time was well documented here and last but not least, the fourth time, well, let's just say they ended up looking more like meringues :) So you can understand why i'm pretty pleased with how these turned out though i still clearly have a lot of improving to do.

Hard as they might be to get right, there's nothing quite as thrilling as a good challenge in the kitchen. There's something about these little babies which goes beyond their amazing texture that keeps me trying to perfect them, working on my techniques and learning how stiff the whites should be beaten to, sifting through recipe after recipe in hopes of getting one to work for me. It could be my amazement at how egg whites can be whipped into such glossy and fluffy foam or the anticipation one gets after putting the unbaked macaroons in the oven, not knowing if the feet will form or the macaroons will crack while baking. Either way, i'm currently hooked on making these Italian cookies.


While these are not perfect by any means, i actually love how these look. The little cracks give them character in my humble opinion and i think it's cute how no two sandwiched macaroon looks the same.

These little babies were amazing, taste wise. Almost as light as air and crisp yet chewy at the same time. Sandwiched between chocolate ganache only serves to make it even more heavenly (think Nutella) and way more tempting to polish off the entire batch :)

Chocolate-Sandwiched Macaroons [adapted from here]


Ingredients
60g (about 2 eggs' worth) egg whites
17g caster sugar
75g hazelnut meal
75g icing sugar

75g caster sugar
25g water

1/3 cup cream
1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Line 2 baking sheets with nonstick baking paper and set aside.
2. Beat 30g of egg whites with electric mixer till soft peaks form. Add caster sugar and beat till well combined.
3. In a medium saucepan, combined caster sugar and water. Over high heat, allow mixture to boil, stirring well, then remove from heat. Pour boiling syrup slowly into egg white mixture and continue to whip till mixture is completely cooled and glossy.
4. Add remaining 30g of egg whites into mixture. Beat to combine well. Sift hazelnut meal and icing sugar over mixture and gently fold to combine well.
5. Using a plain tip, pipe macaroons onto prepared baking sheets in 3cm rounds, leaving about 2cm space between each macaroon. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Macaroons are done when they slide off baking paper easily.
   
6. To make filling Place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside. Heat cream in a medium saucepan till just before boiling point. Remove from heat and pour cream immediately over chopped chocolate. Let stand for 2 minutes then stir well till mixture is combined and smooth.
7. When both filling and macaroons have cooled completely, spread a scant teaspoonful over one macaroon and sandwich it with another. Repeat with the rest of the macaroons and fillings. Makes about 25 sandwiched macaroons