Pre-order your Easter Feast
From juicy smoked ham and savoury sides to decadent desserts, there’s something for everyone to enjoy! Pre-order by April 15.
Macarons
Macarons
Ingredients
- 250 g (2 3/4 cups) ground almonds or almond flour
- 250 g (2 1/4 cups) icing sugar
- 190 g egg whites at room temperature, divided (6 large eggs)
- 250 g (2 1/4 cups) granulated sugar
- 63 g (1/4 cup) water
- 50 g (2 tbsp) white corn syrup
- 1 tbsp liquid food colouring *
- 200 g (1 cup) chocolate ganache, recipe follows
Directions
- Two days prior to making the macarons, sift the almond flour and icing sugar together onto 2 baking trays lined with parchment paper. Leave the tray out to dry the almond flour for 48 hours.
- Using a food scale, weigh egg whites so that you have two containers of 95 grams each. Cover each bowl with plastic wrap, then make several holes in the plastic wrap to allow water from the whites to evaporate. Leave whites in the refrigerator for 48 hours.
- Place the almond flour mixture into a food processor, run the machine for 10 seconds. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir together.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add the first 95 grams of egg whites. Begin whipping whites on low speed.
- Meanwhile, place the water in a small sauce pan and stir in the sugar slowly to avoid splashing onto the sides of the pot. If there is sugar on the sides, wash down with a clean, wet pastry brush. Add corn syrup and food colouring.
- Bring the sugar mixture to a boil over medium heat. Without stirring, cook syrup to 244°F/118°C**.
- Increase stand mixer to high speed. Carefully and slowly pour syrup into egg whites by pouring between the inside of the bowl and the whisk. Make sure to avoid getting the syrup on the whisk as this will cause syrup to go onto the sides of the bowl and not into the whites.
- Once all the syrup has been added, continue on high speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to medium and whip for another 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the second portion of egg whites to almond mixture, mixture will be stiff.
- Add meringue to almond mixture. Fold together until mixture is uniform and one colour.
- Once the mixture looks uniform, continue to fold mixture for 20 seconds. Lift the spatula up above the bowl and let some of the batter fall back in. Wait 15 seconds to see if the drip falls back into the mixture. Mixture should be smooth and mix together easily. If it does, the batter is ready. If not, mix for another 10 seconds and test again.
- Scoop batter into a pastry bag with a 3/8 in round tip. Hold the bag straight above a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Pipe 1-1/2 in rounds onto the tray leaving 1 inch space. Let the macarons sit at room temperature to form a skin, about 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 300°F.
- Using middle rack only, bake one tray at a time for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. The shells should be hard to the touch, but not brown. The bottoms will be a little darker than the rest of the macaron.
- Once cooled, turn half of the rounds over and spoon or pipe on about 5 grams of filling. Top with another round, press together gently. Filling should be just visible.
- Place macarons in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 36-48 hours to moisten. When the center is moist, the macarons are ready.
Nutritional analysis per cookie:
105 calories, 5 g fat, 1.9 g protein, 14.7 g carbohydrate, 0.9 g fibre, 9 mg sodium
Tip:
For best quality we suggest using weighted measurements for this recipe. All given volumes are approximate and may not yield satisfactory results.
**Be sure to watch your egg whites while working on your syrup. When the syrup comes to temperature, the egg whites should be frothy. If not, increase your speed slightly. When the temperature hits 239°F/115°C they syrup will soon be ready to be poured. Make sure all the whites are beaten at the bottom of the bowl.**
You can also fill macarons with icing or jams.
Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
- 300 g (1 3/4 c) chopped dark chocolate, 58-64% cacao
- 50 g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed
- 275 g (1 cup) whipping cream
Directions
- Place chopped chocolate into a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power. Remove bowl from microwave and stir. Repeat this process until the chocolate is just half melted.
- In a small sauce pan over medium heat, bring cream to a boil. Remove pan from the heat and immediately pour cream over the half-melted chocolate. Cover the bowl with a tight lid or plastic wrap and let sit for 1 minute.
- Remove the lid and shake off the condensation on the underside of the lid into the ganache. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir mixture until smooth and uniform.
- Cool chocolate mixture to 100.4°F - 104°F, add butter and stir gently until butter is melted and ganache is smooth and shiny. Clean down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula; cover. Ganache can be refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for 1 month.