Another weekend comes and two of my friends {now man and her wife} visit, from US. They are getting back after an year, so the excitement of meeting them after such a long time is immense. Actually, they were here last time when they were getting married. That time we could not get much quality time to spend together apart from their shopping. But this time I am hopping to have more moments of fun together, because they are getting back for good this time. I am looking forward to have more get together parties.
I really cherish those days, almost 3 years back, when all of my friends were here together in India. That period lasted for around 6 months or so. Being in the profession of computer software, this is quite usual for people to travel a lot and so is to miss such times of togetherness. Those were the days of weekday parties, late night movie watching or simply gossiping for hours over a cup of tea.
I chose to bake these lovely french coffee macaroons to re-live those joyous moments. Reading through various links over the internet about tip and techniques for getting that perfect smooth surface off the macaroons, I was a bit scared initially. But finally the hesitant baker in me trashed the feeling of fear and moved forward towards conquering these beautiful petit fours.
I followed the recipe by Martha Stewart and modified that slightly to give in a kick of coffee. Though I couldn’t get that perfect smooth finish, probably because I sieved the ground almonds through a broader mesh {and got a lesson for next time}, I was happy that at least they tasted divine.
Ingredients
Macaroons
1 1/4 cups plus 1 teaspoon confectioners sugar
1 cup finely ground sliced, blanched almonds
6 tablespoons fresh egg whites (from about 3 extra-large eggs)
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp instant coffee powder
Ganache Filling
100 gm dark/semisweet chocolate
2 tbsp low fat cream
Instructions
- Line two baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whiz ground almonds with confectioner sugar and coffee powder in a food processor so that there no lumps and keep aside.
- Beat egg whites till they become foamy.
- Add in granulated sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold in the dry ingredients in batches of 2.
- Spoon the mixture in a piping bag and drop the mixture on to baking sheets in even shapes. Sprinkle coffee powder over top.
- Tap the sheets against the work surface to release any bubbles. Let stand for an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 140 degree Celsius and bake for around 15-20 minutes.
- Take out of oven and let them cool completely.
- For chocolate ganache, heat chocolate with cream in microwave gently and mix well.
- Take one half of the macaroons and apply the filling on the bottom and sandwich with another half.
- Let them stand for almost a day to let flavors mature.