Home Sweet Kitchen & Garden.: BLACK FOREST MACARONS

I love a good macaron, crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. I am often left disappointed when I purchase them though. Not because they don't meet that criteria but because the fillings are often somewhat insipid. That's why I love to make my own, my fillings pack a punch, they taste of what they should. And this one is no different, a chocolatey punch with a tang of sour cherry.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

40 grams cream
1 vanilla bean split and seeds scraped
200 grams dark chocolate
65 grams butter
80 grams cherries (I used frozen cherrie you could also used fresh or jarred)

Heat cream vanilla including bean and cherries until almost at the boil. Pour over chocolate and blitz with a bar mix until chocolate has melted and been incorporated, once this has happened start including butter until smooth and glossy. Please note you are supposed to include the vanilla bean when blitzing, it will break down and incorporate into the ganache. Put ganache aside.

CHERRY JELL

200 mls cherry wine (or liquor if you want a stronger punch, you could also use cherry juice if you wish to omit the alcohol although the alcohol will cook off.
150 grams sugar
1 packet jamsetta (found in the baking section of the supermarket)
90 grams glucose

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer for 5-10 minutes until thick and syrupy. Test the jelling quality by placing on a refrigerated plate and waiting for mixture to cool down. If set the mixture can be taken off the heat.

MACARON

140 grams egg white
70 grams caster sugar
230 grams icing sugar
120 grams almond meal
2 grams salt

Preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius. Whip egg whites and sugar until stiff and then continue to whip for 2 minutes. Sift icing sugar and almond meal twice discarding any bits that do not pass through the sieve. Fold into egg white with a metal spoon in as little folds as possible aim for less than 20. Place mixture into piping bag and pipe onto trays lined with baking paper and bang the tray down on the bench a couple of times. Dust with cocoa powder and let them sit for 10 minutes before baking them in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.

ASSEMBLY

Match up the macaron shells so that both top and bottom are even sizes. On one side spread the chocolate ganache and make a well in the center with a butter knife (I forgot to take a picture while filling the macarons but if you would like a picture of what I mean by making a well in the ganache and filling with the jell, I did a similar thing when making the salted caramel butter popcorn macaron and have pictures there). Fill the well with the cherry jell and then place the lid of top with a bit of a twist to ensure that it is stuck on well. Store in the fridge and serve either at room temperature or cold (the jell is slightly more chewy straight from the fridge, so you decide what you like better) and ENJOY!