whoopie pie mocha & hazelnut macarons | a recipe

What do you do when you decide to make macarons at 1am and then realise you can't find your piping bag or icing nozzles for love nor money? You throw them onto baking sheets and when they come out six times the size of actual macarons and a little bit weird looking, you call them whoopie pie macarons, hope you're not being completely insulting to the French and pat yourself on the back for being rlly, rlly clever. Also, it means you don't even need an excuse to eat six macarons, you just get to eat one massive one and no one can question it. And do you know what? This was the second time I've made macarons (the first time was an unmitigated disaster!) and I don't think they came out all that badly, and they've been hoovered up at work pretty quickly. I didn't fancy this week's bakealong (again!) because batter is not my thing! 

I used this recipe, which I'll be bookmarking because the instructions are some of the most simple I've seen when it comes to making macarons. However, there were a few changes I made because I found that the ganache needed a few changes, and I also added a small amount of hazelnut liquer to give it a little bit of an alcoholic nutty kick. 

INGREDIENTS: 

• 4 egg whites
• 75g caster sugar
• 225g icing sugar
• 115g ground almonds
• 1 tbsp instant coffee (for macarons)
• 1 tbsp instant coffee (for filling)
• a pinch of salt
• 150g dark chocolate
• 125ml double/whipping cream 
• 1 tbsp frangelico

STEP ONE:

Preheat oven to 150° Celsius. Separate your egg whites into a mixing bowl. Add the caster sugar and whisk with a mixer until stiff peaks form. 

STEP TWO:

Whizz the icing sugar, ground almonds, one tablespoon of instant coffee, and a pinch of salt in a food blender to make sure there are no lumps. I always buy my ground almonds from Marks and Spencer because I think they come pretty clump free, and are also pretty affordable. 

STEP THREE:

Mix everything from the food processor into the egg whites and sugar mixture until everything is fully combined. The mixture should be smooth. 

STEP FOUR:

Line two baking sheets with non-stick paper. Then, using a piping bag and a round nozzle, pipe circles onto the tray. Once complete, firmly rap your baking tray on a hard surface a few times (I completely forgot to do this, which is why mine are a little cracked. My only excuse is that it was 1am!). Place into the oven for approximately 20-25 minutes. They should come off the tray easily when ready. Leave them to cool on a cooling rack.

STEP FIVE:

Break your chocolate up into small pieces and leave in a small bowl. Heat your cream in a saucepan and once warm but not boiling, stir in your remaining tablespoon of instant coffee and pour over your chocolate. Stir until the mixture has thickened and all the chocolate has melted. Then add the frangelico and stir in. Once finished, spoon onto half of your macaron shells and sandwich the other halves on top. 

And there we have it! Next time - lessons include making sure I rap the bloody things and trying to find my icing nozzle to get proper circles!