Dutch Chocolate French Macarons

I've read and read all the scrumptious macaron (not macaroon, yes, there is a difference) posts that Tartelette writes about and finally decided to give it a go.  They are surprisingly not too hard to bake!  The key is not to over 'fold' the batter.  Instead of chocolate macarons I wanted to make Tartelette's red berry macarons, but I unfortunately didn't have any powdered food dye handy.  (And our craft and kitchen supply stores don't carry it either.)  Hmmmmm, guess I'll be perusing the net for some powdered food dye.

Ingredients

Macaron Batter:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup powdered almonds, pulverized
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, sat overnight
5 tablespoons granulated sugar

Chocolate Filling:
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely ground
1 tablespoon butter, cut into little pieces

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a Ateco 808 ( you could also use a 807 or 809) tip ready.

Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa until there are no lumps; use a small food processor.  Pour the sugar mixture through a sieve and throw away the larger almond chunks.

In a bowl of a standing mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape.  While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.

Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula.  When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag.

Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-in circles, evenly spaced 1-in apart.  Let sit on the counter for 45 minutes.

Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then bake them for 10-15 minutes.  Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

Chocolate Filling:
Heat the cream in a small saucepan with the corn syrup.  When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate.  Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth.  Stir in the pieces of butter.  Let cool completely before using.


Assembly:
Spread a bit of batter  evenly on the inside of the macarons with your finger then sandwich them together.

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze.  If you freeze, defrost them in the unopened container, to avoid condensation which will make the macarons soggy.

Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz