Chocolate Macarons (朱古力馬卡窿)

Thinking of the gift for Valentine's Day,  it would always be flowers and chocolate.  Giving flowers to your love will always make her smile and the temptation of chocolate will always make things sweet in the end.  It is worth the effort of making this chocolate macarons for your Valentine as it is light, crunchy on the outside and the inside is as soft as pillow.  The sweet tastes is balanced by the bitterness of the dark chocolate.  I like to use whipped cream for the fillings as it gives the macaron a more boldly look.  It is always nice to receive home-made or hand-made gift.  It is the thought that counts.  

Happy Valentine's Day!           

Chocolate Macarons

Ingredients:
1 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup almond meal
2 egg whites
5 tablespoons castor sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Fillings:
90g dark chocolate, break into chuck pieces
2 tablespoon thicken cream, whipped

Methods:

1. Sift the icing sugar and almond meal into a mixing bowl.  Repeat the sifting process one more time and remove any coarse lumps from the almond meal.  Add in the sifted cocoa powder.
2. Whip the egg white in another bowl until foamy then add the castor sugar into the mixture and continue beating until the egg white becomes so stiff that it won't fall from the beater.  You have to be patient in this process as macaroon would not rise up nicely if the egg white is not beaten enough.
3. Fold in the egg mixture lightly into the icing sugar and almond meal mixture in two batches.   
4. Snip 1cm from the corner tip of a zip bag and scrape some of the batter into the bag.  Pipe out the  batter onto a lined baking tray.  Each mould should be around 4cm and 3cm apart.  Repeat the process until all the batter is used. 
5. Tap trays on bench to remove air bubbles.  Set aside for 15-20 minutes.
6. Preheat oven at 160C.  Bake for 12 minutes or until the top is firm.  Let cool for a few minutes before peeling the macarons off from the baking sheets.  The macarons may stick and easily crack if they are not cooled enough. 
7. By using a pipe bag, pipe the filling over the flat sides of half the macarons and sandwich together with the other half.  Stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.
8. Chocolate fillings: melt chocolate in microwave at medium heat until melted.  Let cool for a minute then add in the whipped cream until combined.  Refrigerate the mixture until thicken and spreadable.   

The recipe is adopted and modified from Eat, Live Run from Jenna's Project Food Blog Challenge #7 video 411: raspberry rose macaroons

朱古力馬卡窿

材料：
糖花 1 杯
杏仁粉 3/4 杯
雞蛋白 2 個
幼砂糖 5 湯匙
可可粉 2 湯匙

夾心料：
黑朱古力 90g，弄碎
發好忌廉 2 湯匙

做法：

1. 篩糖霜和杏仁粉到大碗，重覆一次，除去大粒杏仁粒, 然後加入篩過的可可粉。
2. 用電攪拌机打發蛋白至起泡，隨隨加入砂糖，再攪至蛋白企身為止。如果把碗倒轉，蛋白不倒下便成。
3. 分 2 次加入糖花杏仁粉，輕輕攪好。
4. 把卡馬窿料放入piping袋, 榨出一個個小圓形模於放好蛋糕紙的烤盆，每個保持 3-4 cm 距離，直至所有蛋糊做完為止。
5. 輕輕敲烤盆於桌上，弄去氣泡，靜放 15-20 分鐘。
6. 預熱焗爐 160c, 焗馬卡窿 12 分鍾。待涼。
7. 用微波爐中熱溶化朱古力，待涼一下便混上忌廉。用刀或 piping 袋填上夾心料便成。