Mega Mango Macaron

After my first attempt of macarons turned out pretty successful ( for a newbie ) I wanted to a make them again. But the real way! The first time I used rice flour and they were actually good. See HERE. So this time we made the trek to Whole Foods and bought Almond meal. I decided to try mango ones because we had a pile of mangoes on the counter.

Macarons are fickle. The egg whites, the humidity ,and the oven temperature can be your best friend or your worst enemy. This batch tasted 10x better than my first batch but a lot of my shells cracked. Trying to figure out what went wrong and from some macaron reading I don't think I mixed the batter enough (a few shells had cracks). Don't get me wrong these macarons are quite edible. Yummy actually but not all of them are picture perfect. Boohoo.  For the recipe I basically followed the rice macaron recipe and made some adjustments.

Mango Macarons with Mango Ganache

• 1 C. Almond flour
• 1 C. Powdered Sugar
• 3/4 C. granulated sugar
• 1/2 Tsp .Mango Extract
• 4 Egg whites at room temperature
• pinch of salt

1. In a medium bowl sift the flour and powdered sugar. Make sure you sift the almond flour well. I put it in the food processor a couple pulses to make sure it was nice and fine.

 2. In a large bowl whip the egg whites, salt and granulated sugar . Whip for at least 10 minutes. Remember it should be glossy, white with stiff peaks.

3. Stir in 1/3 of  flour/sugar mixture into egg whites. Then fold in the rest with a spatula. After partially mixed add the Mango extract and continue to fold. The mixture should be the consistency of molten lava. 

4. Preheat oven to 310 F. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag with a round tip attached. Squeeze out mounds on parchment paper. I am seriously going to buy a silpat mat though. I just hate dealing with parchment paper. Let the shells sit out for 20-30 mins or until a skin forms on top.  This is the secret to the feet. I wish mine had more feet! Bake for 16 mins.

Mango Ganache

• 1 Whole Mango. Sliced and pureed.
• 1/2 C. White Chocolate Chips

1. Slice and puree Mango until there are no large pieces. In a small saucepan heat pureed mango.

2. In the microwave melt white chocolate chips and add to saucepan with mango. Over low heat mix until well combined.

3. Once mixed pour into a bowl and cool in the fridge.

When you're ready to assemble the shells. Spread or pipe the ganache on one side and then sandwich. 

Although a few of my shells cracked. The texture of these were perfect. Soft and pillowy. Hooray! Getting  better at this macaron stuff. Hope you enjoy!