Chocolate Hazelnut macarons
Chocolate Hazelnut macarons are a dream for chocolate and hazelnut lovers in a lovely, bite-sized French macaron format. The macarons are filled with silky chocolate ganache and hazelnut paste with the most delicious natural nutty flavor.
Servings: 22 macarons
Calories: 125kcal
Equipment
- Small enough saucepan to measure sugar syrup correctly
Ingredients
Macaron shells
Almond & Hazelnut paste
- 75 g Almond flour finely grounded
- 75 g Hazelnut flour finely grounded
- 150 g Icing sugar
- 55 g Egg whites room temp
Sugar syrup
- 120 g Granulated sugar
- 50 g Water
Meringue
- 55 g Egg white room temp
- 30 g Superfine sugar
Chocolate ganache filling
- 300 g Milk chocolate eg. Decorate with melted white chocolate and chopped pistachios
- 180 g Heavy Cream 36% fat
- good pinch of salt
Hazelnut paste filling
- 50 g Hazelnut paste homemade hazelnut butter or store bought
- Small amount of roasted chopped hazelnut optional
Decoration
- Melted chocolate + hazelnut
Instructions
Make the Chocolate ganache filling
- Start by making the ganache as it needs to set in the fridge before using
- Place finely chopped high-quality chocolate eg. Callebaut Milk Chocolate (callets) into a bowl
- Semi-melt chocolate in the microwave stirring every 30 sec
- Heat cream until just simmering. Pour warm cream over the chocolate. Add a good pinch of salt. Let the mixture sit for a minute then stir together or use a blender to emulsify.
- Place ganache into a shallow container, cover the surface with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for min 6 hours or overnight. The ganache will set into a pipeable consistency that is appropiate to fill your macarons
Make the hazelnut paste
- Make hazelnut paste by processing roasted hazelnuts in the food processor until it becomes creamy. Alternatively purchase ready made 100% hazelnut paste
Macaron shells
- Measure all your ingredients with a Digital scale and prepare all the tools you need at hand
- Properly clean your mixing bowl and whisk attachment by wiping them down with vinegar
- Pulse blend icing sugar with almond and hazelnut flour for 5-10 seconds then shift them together. The mixture should be very fine powder like.
- Move one of the 55g egg white into your Stand mixer.
- Star whisking the egg white on low / medium speed then gradually add the superfine sugai into it
- Start making the sugar syrup by boiling granulated sugar with water in a saucepan
- Move one of the 55g room temp egg white into your Stand mixer
- Start making the sugar syrup by boiling granulated sugar with water in a saucepan. Boil the sugar syrup until it reaches 118C-120C / 244-248F. Use a Infrared thermometer gun or any other thermometer to measure the correct temp
- By the time syrup reaches 118C-120C / 244-248F, the egg white & fine sugar mixture should be already reaching a consistency of somewhere between foamy and soft peak
- Once the syrup is at the right temp, remove from the heat. Keep the Stand mixer speed on medium and begin slowly pouring the syrup down on the side of the mixing bowl making sure that the syrup flows on the side only and does not get onto the whisk
- Increase Stand mixer speed to medium / high and continue whisking the meringue until it forms early stiff peaks meaning it is strong enough to hold its shape but not over whipped
- In the meantime mix the remaining 55g egg white into the almond & hazelnut flour and icing sugar mixture until it forms a paste, use a flexible Rubber spatula.
- Once meringue as well as nut paste ready, gently fold in meringue into the paste with the help of a Rubber spatula. Fold meringue in thirds, making sure that each third is fully incorporated before adding the next
- The first third is about loosening up the paste, the second third already working on the macaronage process and somewhat pressing the air out and the last third is fine-tuning the consistency to the stage you need that is ribbon stage
- After adding the last third of the meringue make sure you check the consistency of the macaron batter every few seconds. When you lift the Rubber spatula over the mixture the batter should fall slowly forming a ribbon. Try to write number 8 with the ribbon, once the consistency allows writing the number 8, it is very likely that your macaron batter is ready
- Move macaron batter into a Piping bag fitted with round nozzle tip and while holding the piping bag fully vertical pipe equal-sized round shapes, leaving enough space in between them to slightly spread. You can pipe on Silicone baking mat or parchment paper
- Tap the baking tray onto the kitchen counter a few times to release any air bubbles then pop air bubbles out using a toothpick
- Rest the macarons at room temp for about 25-40 minutes depending on your kitchen temperature and humidity. Test by gently touching the macarons, they should feel dry on the touch and proper skin should form on the surface of them
- Pre-heat the oven while macarons are drying. I recommend baking the macarons 155C / 311F but I pre-heat my oven +20C / 68F more as when I open the oven door, the temp drops. Make sure you use a Digital oven thermometer to check your real oven temp
- Bake the macarons for 14-15 minutes, adjust if necessary to your oven
- Once macarons are done, remove them from the oven and cool them on a cooling rack but leaving them on the parchment or Silicone baking mat for 30 minutes. They are not supposed to come off the baking mat until they are properly cooled
- Once the macaron shells cooled, remove them from the baking sheet. In case they ended up slightly different in their sizes, make sure you pair the similar sizes next to each other
Filling
- Pipe the chocolate ganache filling onto one side of the macaron shells around then pipe hazelnut paste into the middle. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts then press two shells together evenly so the filling will come out to the side
Decoration
- Decorate with melted chocolate and chopped hazelnut
Storage
- Macarons require about 12h aging time in the fridge, within this time frame the filling will soften the shells.
Nutrition
Calories: 125kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 12mg | Potassium: 15mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg