Crunchie macarons

• Produce

  • 64 200g of cacao barry, Bitter

• Refrigerated

  • 220 g Egg white

• Condiments

  • 45 g Honey

• Baking & Spices

  • 10 g Bicarbonate of soda
  • 500 g Castor sugar
  • 100 g Dark chocolate
  • 1 g Food colouring, Yellow
  • 1 g Food colouring, Brown
  • 300 g Icing sugar
  • 150 g Milk chocolate
  • 2 g Sea salt, flaky

• Nuts & Seeds

  • 300 g Almonds, ground

• Dairy

  • 30 g Butter, unsalted
  • 200 g Whipping cream

• Liquids

  • 80 g Water

• Other

  • 70g of glucose
  • 25g of trimoline

Found on greatbritishchefs.com

Description

Ingredients

• 300g of ground almonds
• 300g of icing sugar
• 110g of egg white
• 110g of egg white
• 300g of caster sugar
• 55g of water
• 1g of yellow food colouring
• 1g of brown food colouring
• 150g of milk chocolate, 46%, preferably Valrhona Bahibe
• 100g of dark chocolate, 70%, preferably Valrhona Guanaja
• 200g of whipping cream
• 2g of flaky sea salt
• 25g of trimoline
• 30g of unsalted butter, softened
• 200g of caster sugar
• 70g of glucose
• 45g of honey
• 25g of water
• 10g of bicarbonate of soda
• 200g of Cacao Barry Extra Bitter 64%, chopped or in chips

Directions

• To make the ground almond base for the macarons, add the ground almonds, icing sugar and egg whites to the bowl of a food mixer and whisk to combine. Set aside until required
• For the Italian meringue base, add the egg whites to a bowl and start whisking on a low speed. Add the water and 280g of the the caster sugar to a pan and place over a medium-high heat. Allow the mixture to come up to 118°C, or ‘soft ball’ stage
• When the sugar mixture reaches 105°C, add the remaining 20g of caster sugar to the egg whites to stabilise the meringue. Increase the speed of the mixer
• When the sugar has reached 118°C, remove the pan from the heat, reduce the speed of the food mixer, and drizzle the sugar down the side of the bowl into the egg whites
• Increase the speed, whisk for 1 more minute, then stop the machine. Add the food colourings and whisk on a medium speed until the meringue has cooled to body temperature and is glossy and smooth in consistency
• Mix 1/3 of the Italian meringue base into the ground almond base until smooth and incorporated. Repeat this twice more until the two bases are combined and you have a smooth, shiny meringue
• Transfer the meringue to a piping bag with a 1cm nozzle, then pipe 4.5cm bulbs onto a baking tray lined with silicone paper, or directly onto a silicone baking mat. Set aside to allow a skin to form over the macarons for 30 minutes
• Preheat the oven to 130°C/gas mark 1
• Cook the macarons for 17-18 minutes, until just peeling away from the baking mat. Set aside to cool before pairing the halves according to size
• To make the chocolate ganache, place the cream and sea salt in a pan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, place the chocolate and trimoline in a blender
• Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and leave for 30 seconds to start melting the chocolate. Blitz on a moderate speed until smooth, then gradually add in the softened butter
• Mix well for at least 1 minute until smooth, then place into a piping bag and allow to set before piping
• For the honeycomb, place the caster sugar, glucose, honey and water together in a pan, place over a high heat and cook until it reaches 150°C
• Remove from the heat and quickly whisk in the bicarbonate of soda. Allow the mixture to cook and rise for 1 minute, then pour out onto a tray lined with baking paper. Set aside and allow to cool completely
• To temper the chocolate for coating the honeycomb, place 150g of the chocolate chips in a microwave-proof bowl. Place in the microwave on a low wattage (300-400W) and melt, stirring every 45 seconds until the chocolate has melted completely. Continue to heat in the microwave until the chocolate reaches 45˚C
• Remove from the microwave, add the remaining 50g of chocolate chips and stir to melt. Once the temperature of the chocolate reaches 32˚C, it is ready to use
• Break the honeycomb into small pieces and dip in the tempered dark chocolate, saving a few pieces to crush into a crumb for decoration
• To fill and decorate the macarons, pipe a bulb of the ganache into the centre of the bottom macaron shells, press a piece of the chocolate-covered honeycomb into the centre and then press the lid onto the top of the macaron
• Place some of the tempered dark chocolate into a paper cornet and pipe lines onto the tops of the macarons. Sprinkle with some of the reserved crushed honeycomb and serve