Heart-shaped Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

heart-shaped macaron

OK, maybe I am cheesy, but this year I decided to make something for Valentine’s. I still think if you want to express your love for somebody, you don’t need a special day to do so. But hey, let’s just ignore that and instead be happy that we get to make French macarons again. Heart-shaped French macarons that is to say. With chocolate ganache. Do I need to say more?

heart-shaped macaronsSince I first tried French macarons, I have praticed making them quite a bit. Because people are really crazy about them. Don’t ask me why, I still don’t get it completely. But regardless, I have hosted French Macaron Baking Parties and I have tried many fillings. For today’s recipe I decided to even try another recipe. Because, why not?

heart-shaped macaronsAnd I am super happy with the outcome. My husband munched them away stating that I should keep the recipe. So I will.

I think the trick to let the macarons dry in the turned off oven does the trick. Because Hamburg is so humid. And it is really hard to dry anything. I have had macarons with cracks, with no feet, a lot of issues. Just because of humidity. But look at the ones from this batch, perfect, don’t you think?

heart-shaped macaronsSo let’s make these beauties!

Credit: Macaron’s recipe as found on Mainbacken (in German)

Heart-shaped Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

Serves: About 14-16 macarons, depending on size
Cooking Time: 40min preparation + 16min of baking

Ingredients

  • Chocolate Ganache
  • 150 grams/milliliters of heavy cream
  • 150 grams of semi-sweet chocolate

  • Macarons
  • 90 grams of eggs whites (about three eggs) at room temperature
  • 110 grams of blanched almonds
  • 160 grams of icing sugar
  • 30 grams of regular sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • Red food coloring

Instructions

1

For the chocolate ganache heat the heavy cream until it starts boiling.

2

Meanwhile cut the chocolate in pieces. Once heavy cream is hot, pour over chocolate and stir until you get a nice brown cream. Chill until ready for use.

3

For the macarons if you forgot to take out the eggs on time, leave them in warm water for a few minutes, then separate them. Choose a metal or glas bowl for the egg whites and make sure it is clean and free of any grease.

4

Put the almonds and icing sugar in a food processor and process for a minute.

5

Sift into a bowl. Don't skip this step. If you have larger almond chunks, put them back into the food processor, process and sieve again.

6

Weigh the regular sugar and put aside.

7

Now start beating the egg whites with a mixer on low for two minutes. Add the salt once they look foamy. Switch to medium speed for three minutes. Once you have soft peaks, add food coloring and the sugar. Change to high speed for another three minutes. Your meringue should look glossy and form very stiff peaks.

8

Add the almond/sugar mix to the meringue all at once and start folding with a spatula delicately.

9

Most important part, the creation of the batter (macronage) This is really important, read carefully! If you undermix the batter, you will not have proper macarons at the end, but this holds also true if you overmix. Finding the right constistency is key for the macarons to turn out beautifully. The first important thing to keep in mind is to only fold the whole mix. First it will look like the almonds and the meringue don't like each other. This is normal. Simply continue folding slowly. Continue doing so until the batter starts moving back slowly if you take out the spatula. Your final batter should have the constistency of honey. It is liquid, yes, but it will move very slowly. If you have pancake batter, you went too far. The best vido for knowing the right constistency is this one in my opinion.

10

Once you are happy with your macronage, prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper and pipe heart shapes of about 3-4 centimeters onto each. You should be able to fill both baking sheets with macarons.

11

Once you are done, rap and bang the baking sheets to get out any air bubbles. If the macronage has the right consistency, for example any "swirls" will move back into place.

12

Let the macarons sits between 15-20 minutes. This will help them dry and also help to create a shell so they rise properly. If you happen to live in a humid place (I have had problems here in Hamburg), turn on your oven to 120 degrees Celsius, turn off the oven and place both baking sheets in the turned off oven instead. If you touch the macarons with your dry finger, they should feel dry. Take out both baking sheets.

13

Preheat oven to 145 degrees Celsius meanwhile.

14

Place first baking sheet in the middle and bake between 15-17 minutes. Repeat with the second batch.

15

Let cool completely before filling.

16

Take out the cool chocolate ganache and beat with mixer for a few minutes. You should get pipleable cream. Pipe on one shell and place second matching shell on top.

Notes

No idea what to do with the leftover egg yolks? Check out see this blog post including how to freeze them properly. Prepared macarons are kept best in an airtight container in the fridge. They will get soft after about 2 days. Macarons also freeze beautifully. I like to freeze the macaron shells. Take them out 20 minutes before serving.

heart-shaped macaronsAs always, I am taking this to the link party Fiesta Friday. Today’s host are Laurena from Life Diet Health and Jhuls from The not so creative cook.

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10 Comments

  • Reply
    Jhuls
    Saturday February 10th, 2018 at 02:31 PM

    Heart-shaped macarons? I couldn’t even make a regular one (round). Well, I still haven’t tried. I am afraid to. Sigh! And you made these? How amazing!! These are so cute, Jenny! These would be gone in no time at this week’s FF party! Thanks for sharing! x

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Saturday February 10th, 2018 at 02:45 PM

      Jhuls, they really aren’t that hard! Please at least try the regular ones! I would be happy to share!

  • Reply
    TurksWhoEat
    Sunday February 11th, 2018 at 06:20 PM

    These are beautiful! Perfect Valentine’s day gifts 🙂

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Sunday February 11th, 2018 at 06:21 PM

      Thanks, I agree!

  • Reply
    Judith Graber
    Tuesday February 13th, 2018 at 10:40 PM

    I’m with Jhuls – I haven’t made a regular one yet! I did take a class and have some good recipes (and now yours). One of these days I need to give them a try!

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Wednesday February 14th, 2018 at 06:15 AM

      Yes, please do!

  • Reply
    Angie | Fiesta Friday
    Friday February 16th, 2018 at 05:13 AM

    Bravo!! I made macarons a few times but strangely my best results were my first try, go figure. Definitely beginner’s luck! Yours look perfect, I can see those feet 🙂

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Friday February 16th, 2018 at 06:51 AM

      Thanks, I have also had my problems, but I feel I am getting better over time…

  • Reply
    Lathiya
    Tuesday February 20th, 2018 at 07:55 PM

    The Macarons looks amazing..

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Tuesday February 20th, 2018 at 09:06 PM

      Thanks, Lathiya!

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