French Macarons

Have you ever thought of the answer to the question, "Where do you want to live?"? I mean, let's assume we're just about to be born. Then God asks us, "Ok, baby girl (or boy) #832582972, where do you want to live?" What would be your answer? For the sake of being politically correct, let's assume we're just basing on what we know of the place and culture of the place, not necessarily the people, and we're not saying we don't like our country right now. Have you ever really thought about it?


I'd probably take less than a millisecond to answer that: "Paris, France, Lord!" I mean, the place where cooking was virtually born? It's France's question to lose!

Yes, my big dream is to live in France. I don't need to live there forever, I still like living in the Philippines and Filipino food is still the best, but to get to experience living there. Maybe a year or two or three. And while we're at it, throw in a scholarship for baking and pastry arts at Le Courdon Bleu, Paris. And a small house in Italy where I can vacation from time to time. Heey, dream big, right?

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French Macarons are technical to make. Practice makes perfect. I still can't claim consistency in making them perfect every time, but I'm getting there and this recipe that I've been tweaking for some time now, works the best for me.

FRENCH MACARONS
Yield: 20 macaron shells = 10 macarons

Ingredients
30g ground almonds/almond meal
45g powdered sugar
30g [2pcs] egg whites
25g white sugar
0.5g [or 1 pinch] cream of tartar

63g dark chocolate, chopped
43g heavy cream

Procedure
1. In a food processor, combine powdered sugar and ground almonds. Pulse for a few seconds, sieve into a bowl. Discard big pieces that remain. Set aside. --- This step is important, you want the powdered sugar and ground almonds to be as homogenous and lump-free as possible so that your shells will be smooth. If you don't have a food processor, sieve them together at least three times.
2. Whisk egg whites until frothy. Add in cream of tartar and white sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. ---If you're adding color, now is the time to do it. Make it a few shades stronger than you'd like, it will lighten up during baking. You can use gel/powdered/liquid food coloring, though powdered is preferred by most.
3. Fold in almond mixture into the whipped meringue in 3 stages. --- Fold in carefully, you don't want the air bubbles to burst. Do not overdo this step. You know your meringue mixture is ready for piping if it resembles flowing magma. Don't worry, you'll know.
4. Put mixture in piping bag with a round tip. Or you can just cut the piping bag to the desired hole size. Pipe out small mounds, about 1 inch in diameter, onto a silicone mat or a parchment lined baking sheet.
5. Allow to dry until the top forms a skin, at least 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven at 300F.
7. Bake for 10-12 mins. Cool.
8. Make chocolate ganache: scald heavy cream and pour over chopped chocolates. Let stand for about 5 mins, then mix well together until smooth. Using the whisk attachment or a hand mixer, whip the ganache to spreading consistency.
9. Assemble: sandwich the whipped ganache between 2 shells.
10. Refrigerate until ready to serve.