Forget about serving up the usual after dinner mints at your next dinner party, and treat your guests to a plate of these refreshing mint chocolate macarons instead!
Mint Chocolate Macarons
Makes 20-25
Ingredients
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For the macaroons:
- 175g icing sugar
- 125g ground almonds
- 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
- Pinch of salt
- 75g caster sugar
- Green food colouring
- Cocoa powder for dusting
For the ganache:
- 150g dark mint flavoured chocolate 150ml double cream
- 70% cocoa solids
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/gas mark 3. Line the base of two baking trays with baking paper.
- For the macaroons, place the icing sugar and ground almonds in a food processor and whizz into a very fine mixture. Sift into a bowl then set aside.
- Place the egg whites in a clean, grease free bowl and add a pinch of salt. Whisk until soft peaks form then gradually whisk in the caster sugar until thick and glossy. Add a few drops of green colouring using a little more colouring than you think you should because they will fade when baking.
- Fold half the almond mixture into the whisked egg whites and mix well using a metal spoon. Add the remaining half of the almond mixture and fold in until it is a shiny, thick, ribbon-like consistency. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle.
- Pipe 3cm circles of the macaroon mixture onto the baking sheets leaving a 3cm gap between each one. Tap the baking sheet gently on the work surface. Stand for 10-15 minutes to form a slight skin then bake for 15 mins. Remove from the oven and cool. You may not fit all the macaroons on the two baking trays at once so you will need to cook them in batches.
- For the ganache, break up the chocolate into small chunks. Place in a saucepan, add the cream then gently heat until the chocolate has melted. Mix thoroughly. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool until the mixture is of a spreadable consistency – this can take up to 2 hours.
- Pipe or spread the filling onto half the macaroons and sandwich together with the other half. Decorate with a dusting of cocoa powder.
