Makes about 2 dozen
Ingredients
215 grams (7½ ounces) confectioners’ sugar
100 grams (3½ ounces) egg whites (about 3 large) at room temperature
130 grams (4½ ounces) peeled, lightly toasted hazelnuts
2 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa
25 grams (2 tablespoons) castor or superfine granulated sugar
Pinch salt
Gianduja Buttercream (recipe follows)
Directions
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper adhering them to the sheets with a little butter.
Grind the hazelnuts very fine in a food processor with about half the confectioners’ sugar, scraping regularly. Add the remaining confectioners’ sugar and process until homogenous. Pass through a medium-coarse sieve and regrind the remaining nut bits if necessary. Whisk in the cocoa.
Beat the whites and salt with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the granulated sugar and beat until stiff and shiny. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula fold in the nut mixture in two additions until just homogenous. The mixture will deflate.
Fit a piping bag with a 3⁄8-inch (1 cm) round tip. Pipe the batter onto the baking sheets in circles about 1 inch in diameter. Let the macarons dry about 20 minutes (a little longer is OK if you need to cook them in two batches) so a little skin forms on the outside.
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Set the macarons in the center of the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 350°F. Prop the door slightly ajar with a wooden spoon or something similar. For small macarons, bake about 10 minutes, larger ones will take about 15. They are done when shiny and hard on the outside. When you pry one apart it should be a little moist in the middle. Set on a cooling rack and cool briefly. Remove from the macarons from parchment while still warm. Cool on cooling racks.
Sandwich the macarons with 1-2 teaspoons of gianduja buttercream. Set in an air-tight container and refrigerate overnight.
Gianduja Buttercream
Makes about 1 cup buttercream
Ingredients
125 grams (4½ ounces or 1 stick + 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, softened
70 grams (2½ ounces or 5 tablespoons) granulted sugar
3 egg yolks at room temperature
2 ounces gianduja
Directions
Melt the gianduja along with 2 tablespoons water in a double boiler. Set aside to cook to room temperature.
Beat the butter until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with an electric mixer until thick and foamy.
Combine the sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan and boil to the soft ball stage (238°F). Very gradually add the syrup to the egg mixture in a thin stream, beating rapidly between each addition. Beat with an electric mixer until thick and fluffy and room temperature. Beat in the butter, a tablespoon at a time. If the mixture looks curdled keep beating at high speed. If it gets soupy, refrigerate for about 15 minutes and beat again. Finally beat in the gianduja buttercream.
Recipe Copyright by Michael Krondl