French Cooking Food

 Serves 6 :

Preparation and cooking time : 65 minutes

Ingredients :

• 3 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 4 oz dark cooking chocolate
• 20 drops red food colouring
• a piping bag

Into a deep bowl, sift the cocoa with ground almonds and icing sugar.

Whisk the egg whites to form stiff peaks. Add a spoonful of sugar when the egg whites begin to hold shape. Add the remain of sugar and mix on full speed to stand the mixture in peaks. Add the red food colouring to the egg whites and mix thoroughly. Then sprinkle gradually the sifted powder over the egg whites and mix meticulously until the mixture is shiny and smooth.

Place a sheet of wax paper over an oven tray. With the piping bag, place 1 inch heaps of the mixture onto the wax paper making sure there is enough space between the heaps for the mixture to expand. Let that crust up for 30-45 minutes. For 10 minutes at 150 celsius degrees/300 F : bake the macaroons, then keep the oven door open with a wooden spoon.

Now the 'ganache' : melt the chocolate, cream and butter over a low heat, mixing it well until it takes a smooth consistancy.
Leave to cool.

Remove the macaroons from the oven.
Leave the trays to cool for a few minutes.
Lift the macaroons from the paper and leave them dry upside down on a plate.

Take 2 macaroons and stick them together in the middle with a spoonful of 'ganache'. Same operation for the rest of the macaroons.

Top tip :
- To lift the macaroons easily from the paper : pour a small amount of water under the wax paper and wait for 1 minute.
- For the finishing touch : let the mixture crust up before baking to prevent the macaroons rising too much in the oven. In this situation it makes the surface of the macaroons cracking.