Mint Macarons (Made with Consternation Part II)

Alas, once I tried making mint macarons with my friend Angela, and it utterly failed. We had no feet and the green color vanished while baking. But we ended with with some nice mint milano cookies.

I told Bryan of our failure, and he begged for me to make mint macarons for him anyway. So for the second batch of macaron baking day with my siblings Chef Sherbert and Chef Hans, I tried mint again (see part I for orange and coffee chocolate macarons).

We discovered we didn’t have green food coloring, however, so Hans went on his green food coloring quest.

Chef Uy: Well, we have red food coloring, let’s just use that.
Hans: NO WAY. MINT MUST BE GREEN. I’LL DRIVE TO HEB RIGHT NOW TO BUY GREEN FOOD COLORING IF I HAVE TO. IF WE SPEND ALL THIS TIME MAKING THESE MACARONS, THEY BETTER LOOK GOOD.

I told him to buy gel or powder rather than liquid but wasn’t sure how the beaten egg whites would hold up while waiting.  He couldn’t find gel or powder, but despite liquid food coloring (and sitting in Texas heat for 30 min) my poor meringue thankfully still turned out green.

Next time I might fold them a little more so they’re not as lumpy and puffy, but in the end we had 15 cute chubby little mint macarons.

Hans: We spent ALL this time making a few bite sized morsels .___.

Mint Macarons

Ingredients
Macaron shells:
3/4 cups ground almonds
scant 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
2 extra large egg whites
1/2 cup superfine sugar

Filling:
4 oz mint chocolate, finely chopped
scant 3/4 cup heavy cream
mint extract
fresh mint leaves, grated

Directions
Macaron Shells: 
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and a piping template underneath.

Sift ground almonds, confectioner’s sugar, and cocoa in a bowl.

Beat egg whites with a mixer until whites form soft peaks. Gradually beat in the superfine sugar until egg whites are glossy, fluffy, and hold soft peaks.

Fold the almond mixture, one third at a time, into the egg whites with a spatula. When the dry ingredients are fully incorporated, keep folding mixture until it forms a shiny batter with a thick, ribbonlike consistency.

Spoon batter into a plastic bag (or piping bag). Cut a corner cut off and pipe small circles (about 1 1/3 inches in diameter) onto prepared baking sheet. If the circles hold peaks instead of flattening, gently fold the batter a few more times.

Tap the baking sheets to get rid of air bubbles. Let stand out at room temperature for 30 min, until they form a hard shiny skin on top.

Preheat preheated oven at 325 F for 10 minutes. Let cookies cool completely before filling.

Filling:
Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until just boiling and pour over chocolate. Stir until smooth. Let cool for 15-20 minutes, stirring until thick.

Assembly:
Size match macarons and align so that the bottom cookies faces up and the top cookies face down. Spoon ganache into plastic bag with corner cut off and pipe to sandwich macarons together.

Macaron Notes in Part I