Trace 1.5″ inch circles onto 4 pieces of parchment paper. Flip the parchment over and place on baking pans. Make sure the paper sits flat.
Measure out all macaron shell ingredients. A digital scale is critical for this!
Sift together the icing sugar and almond flour
Whip egg whites, gradually adding caster sugar, until they form firm, glossy peaks. About half way through whipping, add your food colouring.
Once whipped, combine the egg whites with the almond/icing sugar mixture until you have a uniform mixture
Next, take a patisserie scraper and press the oxygen out of the mixture for no more than 5 minutes. This is called macaronnage
When your mixture is ready to be piped, insert your piping tip into the bag and then flip the tip up so it faces you and closes off the bottom of the bag. Insert the bag into a clean drinking cup and fold the top of the bag down. Now, easily fill your piping bag with the macaron mixture.
Pipe the mixture onto your parchment lined trays, using the circles as guides. I hold my bag at a 30 degree angle and use firm pressure to pipe the mixture onto the tray, stopping when the mixture is about 1/4″ away from the circle that I drew. Finish piping each macaron with a flick of the wrist like so:
Bang each tray on the counter a couple times to release any air bubbles
Allow the macarons to set up for 30 minutes before baking (crouter). This helps form the feet that are characteristic of macarons. Preheat your oven at this time. 325 degreed Fahrenheit.
While the macarons are setting up, make your ganache. Combine the cream and tea in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
Once the cream is simmering, take it off the heat and strain the cream into a bowl containing the chopped chocolate. Allow to sit for 2 minutes before whisking into a deliciously smooth and luscious ganache
Allow the ganache to cool in the fridge, stirring frequently until it hardens enough to be piped. You want it to be hard enough that it doesn’t run out of the shells, but not so hard that it’s difficult to get it out of the piping bag
Bake the macarons one tray at a time for about 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, test to see how wiggly they are. They should wiggle only slightly when done.
When the macarons have cooled and the ganache has set, fill a piping bag with a round tip. Marry up the macaron halves and flip one half over to reveal the underbelly. Pip a small amount of ganache onto each upturned shell and sandwich immediately.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 24 hours before consuming
After 24 hours indulge yourself and enjoy macaron making bliss 🙂
Recipe Notes
I use Wilton gel food colouring for my macarons. For these shells, I used equal amounts of rose petal pink and burgundy, adding small amounts with a toothpick.