Chocolate Macarons

Ingredients

• 100 g milk chocolate
• 40 g Butter
• 50 ml whipping cream
• 1 tbsp hazelnut syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 60 g ground hazelnuts
• 110 g powdered sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 20 g sugar
• 15 g cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp chopped hazelnuts
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. 1.

   For the chocolate filling, chop the chocolate and place it in a metal bowl. Melt over a hot water bath. Cut the butter into pieces and add with the cream, syrup, and vanilla; whisk until smooth. Remove from heat, let cool, then refrigerate.

2. 2.

   Preheat the oven to 150 °C (300 °F) with fan and top heating.

3. 3.

   Grind the ground hazelnuts with powdered sugar finely and sift through a fine sieve onto a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 5–7 minutes, then allow to cool.

4. 4.

   Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gradually add the sugar. Stir in cocoa powder. Fold in the hazelnut mixture with chopped hazelnuts and cinnamon. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe about 30 dots onto parchment‑lined tray. Let them dry slightly for about an hour. Then bake again at 150 °C for 10–15 minutes, remove carefully from tray, and cool.

5. 5.

   Reheat the chocolate filling until smooth, fill a piping bag with a star tip, then pipe the chocolate cream onto the underside of half the macarons and gently press a second macaron on top.