Ginger and Chocolate Macarons

I´m super excited to share this post with you.. for two very good reasons.. one because it´s my 1st Christmas post in 2013 (Christmas is my all time favourite time of the year!!) and 2nd because it´s my 1st time that I blog about Macarons (or Marcaroons.. or whichever way you would like to call them..)!!

Estoy súper emocionada de compartir este post con ustedes .. por dos razones muy buenas .. una porque es mi primera entrada de Navidad en 2013 (la Navidad es mi época favorita del año!) y segunda porque es la primera vez que escribo sobre Macarons (o Marcaroons .. de la manera que le guste llamarlos ..)!



Let me tell you these Macarons are tricky.. I had to make a couple (to be truthful 4 batches) before they came out like this.. when you look at them they seem to be só simple to make, but the steps need to be followed precisely to ensure the end result is perfect.. and because it´s my 1st Christmas post, I flavoured my MACARONS with ginger and filled them with chocolate buttercream made of melted chocolate..YUM..YUM..

Déjenme que les cuente que estos Macarons tienen truco .. Tuve que hacer un par (para ser honesta, 4 lotes) antes de que salieran de esta manera .. cuando nos fijamos en ellos parecen que son sencillos de hacer, pero los pasos se deben seguir de manera precisa para asegurar que el resultado final sea perfecto .. y por ser mi primera entrada navideña, el sabor que les di a mis MACARONS fue jengibre y los llené con buttercream hechas de chocolate derretido .. mmm .. mmm ..



I dont know if you guys remember but I made a Ginger and Chocolate MERINGUE PIE awhile ago and I absolutely fell in love with the flavour combination Click here if you would like to see that Post!  It´s perfect for the Christmas season too.. when I smell ginger, it reminds me of Christmas.. the next few weeks I´ll post about flavours/combinations that makes Christmas time real to me!!

No sé si ustedes se acuerdan, pero hice un PIE DE MERENGUE con  Jengibre y Chocolate hace un tiempo y me enamoré del sabor de la combinación Haga Clic aquí si desea ver esa Entrada! Es perfecto para la temporada de Navidad también .. cuando huelo el jengibre, me recuerda a la Navidad .. las próximas semanas voy a publicar unos sabores / combinaciones que me recuerdan mucho a la Navidad!



Another reason to celebrate is that we have a long weekend (´puente´ as they say here in Spain) coming up and that means more time to spend with my family, bake, put up our Christmas tree.. etc etc.. Like the song says "It´s the time to be jolly, tralalalalalala"

Otra razón para celebrar es que tenemos un fin de semana largo ('puente' como se dice aquí en España) por delante y eso significa más tiempo para estar con mi familia, hornear, poner nuestro árbol de Navidad .. etc etc.  Like the song says "It´s the time to be jolly, tralalalalalala" 



So lets get to the making of these MACARONS.. one of the most important things that I can tell you is that when you make these, make sure that the oven temperature on the recipe is stipulated as convection or fan (because this I learnt makes a huge difference in the success of your Macarons.. trust me!!).

Así que vamos a llegar a la elaboración de estos MACARONS .. una de las cosas más importantes que puedo decir es que cuando hagan esto, asegúrense de que la temperatura del horno (de la receta) depende de si es con o sin ventilador (porque esto hace una gran diferencia en el éxito de sus Macarons .. confíen en mí! !).


Recipe

(Haga clic en el galleta de jengibre para ver y imprimir la receta en Español y Inglés)



Ingredients:


Method:

Sift your icing sugar, ginger, salt and almond together and leave on the side.  Beat your egg whites until soft peaks form and while continuing to beat on high, slowly add your granulated sugar until your egg whites have formed stiff peaks, now add your vanilla and continue to beat on high until the vanilla is incorporated.  Sift your already sifted dry ingredients, again, into the same bowl you used for the egg whites. Now use a rubber spatula to mix all the ingredients together (you need to work in wide circular movements, about 25-30 times). Don´t overmix but make sure that all the almond flour mixture is well incorporated into the stiff egg whites). 

Fill a piping bag with a round nozzle and pipe your Macarons on wax paper placed on a baking tray (try to ensure the circles are all the same size) or like me, you can use a silicone pad made specifically for Macarons (this ensures your cirlces are all equal).  Once they are all piped, tap your tray a few times to ensure the bubbles are popped.  Leave to stand for 1 & 1/2 to 3 hours or until the Macarons have formed hard shells on the top (if you live in an area where it is very humid, like I do, you could use a humidifier in the room).  Bake at 130ºC  in a (fan) or 150ºC (convection) oven for 15 minutes. Put the oven off and leave for a further 5 minutes to ensure your Macarons are ready. You will know they are ready if they rised and have their famous bottom part ´feet´ and if they come loose easily and none of the Macarons is stuck to the paper or silicone tray.. Leave to cool at room temperature and fill with your favourite filling.. I used chocolate buttercream, which I made the following way...



Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients:
Method:

Cream your butter and icing sugar together, add the vanilla and finally add the melted dark chocolate (that has cooled down to room temperature) and mix on high for a further 5 minutes.. Fill your Macarons with this mixture.. believe me the ginger and chocolate flavours work together beautifully :-)  Finally dust your Macarons with some pure cocoa powder and they are READY to eat!



I´m planning my recipe selection for the next few weeks and I truely hope you guys like them as much as I like sharing them.. Have a great week and I hope to see you all VERY soon!!

Estoy planeando mis recetas para las próximas semanas y yo verdaderamente espero que les guste tanto como me gusta compartirlas .. Que tengan una gran semana y espero veros a todos muy pronto!










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