Ingredients:
180 g ground almond
210 g icing sugar
80 g aged egg whites at room temperature
30 g cocoa powder
40 g Oreo cookie shell (not cream centre) crushed to decorate
220 g caster sugar
50 ml water
80 g aged egg whites at room temperature
Method:
Blend the almond meal and icing sugar together in a food processor, then add cocoa powder and sift two or three times into a medium bowl. Add one batch of egg whites (80 g) without mixing them.
In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar and start to bring this syrup to the boil. Meanwhile, place the second batch of egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with the whisk attachment. When the syrup reaches 105°C, turn on the beater and start beating the whites on medium speed while the syrup keeps heating up.
Once the syrup hits 118°C, take it off the stove top and slowly pour it over the egg whites as they continue to beat. Keep beating until the temperature of the mixture drops to 50°C and you have a compact and shiny meringue.
Now mix the almond-sugar-cocoa and egg white together, then fold in the meringue until the mixture is uniform.
Place the mixture in a large pastry bag with a plain #11 tip (1 cm).
Pipe 3 cm rounds of the mixture onto baking trays lined with baking paper, spacing them 2-3 cm apart. Sprinkle a little crushed oreo cookie on the surface. Leave them out at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes to allow them to form a crust.
Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan forced). Bake two trays of macarons at a time for 14 minutes. Swap trays in the oven half way through the baking time.
When baked, remove trays from oven and after a few minutes, when cooled slightly, slide the baking paper onto a wire rack and allow macarons to cool completely.
Pair macarons up according to size and sandwich together with a teaspoon or so of the filling (recipe below).
For the Oreo buttercream filling
Ingredients:
120 g icing sugar
150 g unsalted butter, softened
5 Oreo cookies, intact
Method:
Whip the butter and sugar until creamy and pale.
Crush the Oreos by placing in a ziplock bag and beating with a rolling pin, until coarsely smashed (or blitz in a food processor).
Mix the Oreos through the buttercream.
Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Bring to room temperature and whisk lightly to loosen up before using to fill macarons.
Source : allrecipes.com
