These batch of chocolate macarons was baked last year, the same day with the Green Tea Macarons.
In the top left photo shown how I dry out my macarons.
Yield: 8 pairs of macarons
Ingredients:
5g unsweetened cocoa powder
40g icing sugar
30g egg white (~1 egg)
40g caster sugar
a pinch of salt
a few drops of brown colouring (Wilton icing colour as I don't have AmeriColor in brown)
Filling:
100g Philadelphia cream cheese
150g homemade azuki paste
Method:
1. Prepare the filling: Cream the azuki paste together with cream cheese. Mix it well, place in the fridge for later use.
2. Heat up the oven at 150C.
3. Sieve the ground almond, cocoa powder and icing sugar, twice. Set aside.
4. Beat the egg white with a pinch of salt using KitchenAid speed 2, when it is foamy, add half of the caster sugar (20g), change the KitchenAid speed to 6, whisk for 3 mins. Add brown food colouring and the remaining half of the caster sugar (20g), change the KitchenAid to speed 10, whisk until stiff peak form.
5. Sieve in the dry ingredients to the egg white mixture, all in one-go. Fold the mixture with rubber spatula, deflate the meringue as you fold. Stop when the meringue able to drop down and ooze a bit when you lift it with the spatula. This is lava stage.
6. Add the batter into pipping bag with a plain nozzle. then pipe out small circles on the baking tray lined with non stick parchment paper.
7. Rap the baking tray on the worktop a few times, smooth the top of the macaron tip with moist finger. Use the toothpick to prick any stray bubbles trap on the macarons.
8. Let the macarons dry out beside the hot oven. When the macaron shells are dry to touch, then is time to place the baking tray inside the preheat oven at 150C for 10 mins. (The feet should appear in 5 mins time) Then lower the oven temperature to 140C and continue to bake for another 8 mins.
9. When the macarons are done. Remove the baking tray from the oven, lift the parchment paper at one edge and slide the whole parchment paper with macarons on to the cold surface or worktop. (As my worktop is marble) The baked through macarons should be able to remove from parchment paper without sticking on it.