macaronia

i haven't made macarons in ages, but the release of these two books: here and here are threatening to turn me into a macaron maniac. we didn't make a lot of these in school, as very few americans are willing to pay 1.50 for one little bite-sized cookie...i am just now realizing the potential these simple almond meringue sandwiches contain...the flavor, color and filling combinations are endless! pierre herme even flavored them with ketchup! ok, that sounds disgusting, but maybe if you are a super pastry chef you get bored? speaking of ketchup...somehow mine turned out looking like hamburgers?

here, i've used the basic macaron recipe from chef b. and added lemon zest and filled them with dark ganache. ever since i tried martha stewart's buttermilk cake, filled with lemon curd and iced with velvety ganache, i've been intrigued by the combination of lemon and bittersweet chocolate. this recipe is delicious, although i would like to switch it around and try a chocolate cookie with lemon curd filling for more tarty-ness.

lemon and bittersweet chocolate macarons

1/2 cup egg whites, room temp.
1 tbs. granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 cup ground almonds
zest from 3 lemons
few drops yellow food color

1. in electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites and 1 tbs. granulated sugar until stiff peaks form.

2. gently fold in powdered sugar, ground almonds, lemon zest and food color.

3. pipe onto parchment lined baking sheets in 1 inch circles (try to keep as uniform as possible).

4. bake at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes, until tops are dry.

5. cool, then carefully remove from parchment.

6. pipe filling onto half of cookies and sandwich together.
makes about 30 sandwiches.

bittersweet ganache filling

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbs. butter, softened

1. boil cream

2. pour over chocolate and let sit 1 minute.

3. slowly whisk cream and chocolate together until smooth. add butter and combine.

4. let sit on counter until a pipeable consistency (the texture of soft butter).