Mocha Walnut Macarons Recipes

MOCHA MACARONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in lower third. Place almonds in a food processor; process until as fine as possible, about 1 minute. Add confectioners' sugar; process until combined, about 1 minute.
• Pass almond mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Transfer solids in sieve to food processor; grind and sift again, pressing down on clumps. Repeat until less than 2 tablespoons of solids remains in sieve.
• Whisk egg whites and granulated sugar by hand to combine. Beat on medium speed (4 on a KitchenAid) 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high (6) and beat 2 minutes. Then beat on high (8) 2 minutes more.
• The beaten egg whites will hold stiff, glossy peaks when you lift the whisk out of the bowl. Add instant-espresso powder, and beat on highest speed 30 seconds.
• Add dry ingredients all at once. Fold with a spatula from bottom of bowl upward, then press flat side of spatula firmly through middle of mixture. Repeat just until batter flows like lava, 35 to 40 complete strokes.
• Rest a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch round tip (Ateco #804) inside a glass. Transfer batter to bag; secure top. Dab some batter remaining in bowl onto corners of 2 heavy baking sheets; line with parchment.
• With piping tip 1/2 inch above sheet, pipe batter into a 3/4-inch round, then swirl tip off to one side. Repeat, spacing rounds 1 inch apart. Tap sheets firmly against counter 2 or 3 times to release air bubbles.
• Sift espresso powder over half of unbaked rounds.
• Filling: Dissolve instant-espresso powder in 1/4 teaspoon hot water; mix into Swiss meringue buttercream.
• Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until risen and just set, 13 minutes. Let cool. Pipe or spread filling on flat sides of half of cookies; top with remaining half. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

MOCHA WALNUT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In medium saucepan, melt chocolate and butter or margarine over low heat. Dissolve coffee in 1/4 cup hot water, then stir it into saucepan with sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well. Pour filling into pastry shell. Top with walnuts.
• Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until center is set. Cool.

MOCHA-WALNUT MACARONS

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 275°. Place confectioners' sugar, walnuts, cocoa and coffee in a food processor; process until finely ground and set aside., Add salt to egg whites; beat on medium speed until soft peaks. Gradually add superfine sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high after each addition until sugar is dissolved. Continue beating until stiff glossy peaks form. Carefully fold in walnut mixture until blended., Pipe or drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 1 in. apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Air dry for 30 minutes before baking. Bake 18-20 minutes. Remove macaroons from baking sheet to a wire rack; cool completely. Remove from parchment; store in an airtight container.

HAZELNUT-MOCHA MACARONS

Steps:

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Grind 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar, the hazelnuts, and cocoa in a food processor until powdery, about 3 minutes. Sift mixture through a medium mesh strainer onto a piece of parchment paper, then discard any large pieces of nuts that didn't come through the strainer.
• With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt until they hold firm but not dry peaks, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar, a tablespoon at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed; this can take up to 3 minutes. Beat for an extra 30 seconds until the peaks are firm and shiny but still not dry. Fold the nut mixture gently into the egg whites with a large rubber spatula. Transfer mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain piping tip. Pipe 32 2-inch by about 1/3-inch thick rounds, evenly spaced, on each of the prepared pans. Set aside to air dry for 30 minutes before baking.
• Meanwhile make the filling: Put chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream, with espresso powder mixed in, to a boil. Pour cream over chocolate and shake bowl gently so cream settles around the chocolate. Set mixture aside until the chocolate is soft, about 5 minutes. Whisk gently until smooth, taking care not to incorporate too many air bubbles. Cool at room temperature until set up.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Bake macaroons until set and puffed, about 18 to 20 minutes. Take care not to overcook the macaroons or they'll crack. Cool cookies for 5 minutes then gently peel from paper. Let cool completely.
• Spread 1 teaspoon of mocha filling on a cookie and sandwich 2 cookies together.

BLACK MACARONS

Steps:

• For the macarons:
• In the food processor, mix the almond powder and icing sugar together until it's reduced into a very fine powder, for about 2 minutes. Add 2 egg whites and process until smooth.
• Cook's Note: the texture will be similar to almond paste.
• Add the food coloring and continue processing until the color is all blended in. You can add a few more drops just until you get the color you want. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and put aside.
• In a stockpot, bring the water and sugar to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes, until reduced by 1/2 and syrup is coating the back of a spoon when dropped in cold water or until a candy thermometer reads 230 degrees F.
• Using a stand or hand mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add 1/2 of the hot syrup and continue beating until firm peaks form and the meringue has cooled.
• With a spatula, gently fold in 1/4 of the meringue into the almond mixture. Continue folding the meringue until completely incorporated. The mixture will be shiny and smooth.
• Fit a piping bag with a 3/8-inch/1 cm round tip. Pipe the batter onto the baking sheets. Tap the underside of the baking sheet to remove air bubbles. Let dry at room temperature for 1 hour to allow skins to form.
• For the butter cream:
• Bring the water and sugar to a boil and cook it until it reaches 242 degrees F on a candy thermometer, approximately 4 minutes.
• Using a stand or hand mixer, pour in egg yolks and crack in one extra egg. While beating, gradually pour the remaining hot syrup on the egg yolks. Beat until cooled, light and fluffy, approximately 10 minutes.
• Add the butter and continue beating until smooth. Add the vanilla. Put aside.
• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• Bake the macarons for 20 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet after 10 minutes for even baking.
• Remove the macarons from the oven and transfer parchment to a cooling rack.
• Pair the macarons of similar size, and pipe about 1/2 teaspoon filling onto one of the macarons. Top with the other macaron to sandwich the filling.

MOCHA-HAZELNUT MACAROON DOMES

Steps:

• For macaroons:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 1 large cookie sheet with parchment. Brush lightly with vegetable oil. Finely grind hazelnuts in processor. Add sugar and flour; blend to powder. With machine running, add egg white and vanilla; blend to paste.
• Spoon mixture into pastry bag fitted with no. 4 (3/8-inch-diameter) round tip. Pipe 3/4- to 1-inch-diameter mound onto parchment about 1/2 inch high and spacing 1 inch apart. Dip finger into water and gently press top of cookie to flatten center slightly. Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes (cookies will spread to about 1 1/2 inches.) Turn parchment (cookies will adhere) over onto work surface. Brush parchment with just enough water to moisten. Let stand until parchment can easily be pulled off cookies, about 2 minutes. Peel off parchment.
• For ganache:
• Bring cream and butter to simmer in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add instant coffee granules; stir to dissolve. Reduce heat to low. Add chocolate; stir until melted. Mix in vanilla. Pour into bowl. Chill until firm enough to spread, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.
• Line cookie sheet with foil. Using icing spatula, spread 1 heaping teaspoon ganache onto flat side of each cookie, mounding to dome in center. Place ganache side up on prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining cookies. Chill until ganache sets, 20 minutes.
• For coating:
• Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Melt bittersweet chocolate with vegetable shortening in top of double boiler over simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from over water. Grasp 1 cookie between thumb and index finger. Dip ganache portion into melted chocolate. Shake of excess. Turn chocolate side up and place on foil-lined cookie sheet. Top with raspberry or hazelnut. Repeat with remaining cookies. Refrigerate until chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.
• Melt white chocolate in top of double boiler over simmering water, stirring until smooth. Dip spoon into chocolate. Wave from side to side over cookies, forming decorative pattern. Refrigerate until white chocolate sets, about 15 minutes. Place cookies in single layer in airtight containers; chill overnight. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead.) let stand 10 minutes at room temperature before serving.