So I went to my mom's house to pick up my Christmas tree out of the basement and to take it back up to my apartment. When I walk in the door my mom informs me that she wants to make cookies because it's the holidays, and she surprises me by telling me I have to make them. I don't particularly like baking. It's too exact, and cooking usually lets me pretend I am somewhat creative. Anyway, I bought some pre-made sugar cookies to make and decided to try making some macaroons with some orange ganache.
My mom also decided to help out. Needless to say it was a mess, and I really don't like dirty kitchens. I also made some steak and potatoes for dinner, and really didn't want to waste a lot of time making these. I also didn't like them very much. I like the macaroons, but not the ganache. The macaroons were crunchy on the outside, and chewy on the inside. The ganache had allspice in it. I like allspice, but it is very strong and I think it over powered the chocolate. I also strongly suspect my mom didn't measure the amount I told her and just added it til she thought it was good.
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
Cookies:
- 2 cups powdered sugar, divided
- 1 1/4 cups slivered almonds
- 3 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons egg whites (from about 3 large eggs), room temperature, whisked to loosen
- 1/4 cup sugar
Ganache:
- 3 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Preparation:
Set the oven to 325 F. Arrange the oven racks to that it is on the top one is 1/3 of the way down from the top and 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. And line two cooking sheets with wax or parchment paper.
In a food processor or blender, mix the almonds with the powdered sugar for about 30-60 seconds. Add the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar and the cocoa powder and blend to mix it up. Shift the mixture and you take the leftover nuts and re-blend it and then shift it further.
Take the egg whites, about 3 eggs and whisk or use a mixer to beat the whites till they are white and frothy. I usually just whisk it, but an electric mixer would probably be faster and easier. Then add the sugar a few tablespoons at a time. Then add some extra egg white, I used one egg white and whisk until it forms hard peaks.
Fold in the meringue into the shifted powder. Spoon the mixture into a zip lock bag, and pour it out onto the wax paper into circles that are about the size of a quarter. The total cooking time is 16 minutes, but you will want to rotate the trays after 8 mins.
For the ganache, but the chocolate and butter into a bowl. Use a double boiler, or put a glass bowl over a pan with hot water to melt it. Or just microwave it. I'm not some chocolate purist. You can microwave it for 2 mins at about 50% power and the mix it together. Just check it and make sure it doesn't burn in the microwave. I did it for 2 mins at 50% power and the butter melted and when I whisked the chocolate into the butter it was basically melted.
Bring the cream almost to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and mix in the orange zest, salt, allspice and cloves. I think if I ever do it again I will leave out the cloves and allspice, or put less into the chocolate. Place that into the fridge for 20 mins until you are ready to add it to the cookies.
Then just place one cookie on the bottom, then pipette the chocolate through a zip lock bag onto the cookie and place another one on top. They are small, almost bite size, and not too bad.
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