Chocolate Macarons with Raspberry Champagne Filling

This post brought to you by Andre Champagne. The content and opinions expressed below are that of The Taylor House.

Hey, guys! I am thrilled to share this delicious new recipe with you today. I made French Macarons for the very first time and guess what!! They turned out amazing! To be honest, I've been scared to death of making these little goodies but decided it was time to face my fears and see what happens. To all of you that have been in my shoes and are worried about having a disaster in the kitchen, I'm hear to tell you that if I can make these - anyone can! Seriously! They're not that bad! Check out our recipe with this amazing raspberry champagne filling that you're going to want to eat by the spoon full out of the bowl. It's that good!

There are a couple things to keep in mind when you start this recipe. First, you really do need to use almond flour/meal. I thought I could just use a normal all purpose flour, but you really can't. You can find this at several grocery stores or order it off Amazon if you don't want to go on a hunt.

Second, give yourself a few hours to make these. They are time consuming but totally worth it!

Third, if you want your filling to turn out amazing like mine did, you MUST use Andre Extra Dry Champagne. I swear it made all the difference. This recipe was a total win because of the amazing ingredients! Plus, you always need to have a delicious drink in your hand while you're in the kitchen. Right? I made myself a Mimossa while I was baking with some fresh orange juice and Andre Brut. YUM!

How to Make Chocolate Macarons

Ingredients For Macarons

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup almond flour or almond meal
3 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon fine salt
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch cream of tartar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Instructions

Step 1 - Line two baking sheets with parchment paper

Step 2 - Fit a food processor with a blade attachment and add the powdered sugar, almond flour/meal, cocoa powder and salt and pulse several times to aerate.

Step 3 - Process about 30 seconds to combine well

Step 4 - Sift the mixture and set aside

Step 5 - To make the meringue, you place the egg whites in a clean bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until they are foamy and opaque which is about 30 seconds.

Step 6 - Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to high and beat until they are white start to hold a line which is about 1 minute

Step 7 - Continue to beat slowly adding the sugar until it's all combined and the peaks are stiff with the whites shiny. Do NOT overwhip.

Step 8 - Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the dry mixture into the egg whites about a fourth of the batch at a time until it is combined.

Step 9 - Transfer the batter to a pastry bag (½ inch plain tip) and pipe out 1 ¼ inch rounds about an inch apart. Bang the baking sheet on the work surface a couple times. Let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to dry the tops.

Step 10 - Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 7 minutes, rotate the pan and bake another 7 minutes. Cool on a rack completely.

Recipe adapted from Chow.com

How to Make Raspberry Champagne Filling

Ingredient You Need

¾ Cup Butter, room temperature

3 ½ cups Powdered Sugar

1 Tablespoon Raspberry Jam

2 Tablespoons Andre Champagne

Instructions

Step 1 - Cream the butter in a stand mixer

Step 2 - Add the powdered Sugar ½ cup at a time

Step 3 - Add the raspberry jam and Andre to the butter mixture and mix well until you have a frosting consistency

Try not to eat this all before you frost the Macarons! After the Macarons have cooled completely place a cherry sized amount of frosting on the bottom of one Macaron and top with a second. Enjoy!