Hazelnut And Almond Macaroons With Orange Semifreddo Food

HAZELNUT AND ALMOND MACAROONS WITH ORANGE SEMIFREDDO

Steps:

• Make macaroons:
• Preheat oven to 200°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Draw or trace 12 (3-inch) circles 1 inch apart on parchment and turn paper over on baking sheet.
• Put egg whites in a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water and gently whisk constantly until barely warm. Remove bowl from heat and beat whites with a pinch of salt with an electric mixer until they just hold soft peaks. Gradually add 1/2 cup superfine sugar, beating until whites just hold stiff, glossy peaks. Fold in remaining 1/4 cup sugar, then nuts.
• Transfer meringue to pastry bag and pipe 12 rounds of meringue inside drawn circles on parchment. Bake in middle of oven until dry to the touch and crisp, about 1 1/2 hours. If macaroons are not crisp after 1 1/2 hours, turn off oven and let stand in oven 30 to 40 minutes more. Peel macaroons off parchment and transfer to a rack to cool (macaroons may stick if cooled on paper).
• Make semifreddo:
• Finely grate enough zest from oranges to measure 1 1/2 teaspoons. Squeeze 2 cups juice.
• Whisk together yolks, sugar, and potato starch in a 1-quart heavy saucepan. Gradually add juice, whisking until smooth. Cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and registers 170°F on an instant-read thermometer, 5 to 6 minutes. Pour through a very fine sieve into a metal bowl and stir in zest. Set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir occasionally until mixture is cold.
• Freeze in ice-cream maker until soft-frozen. Spread semifreddo on flat (bottom) side of 6 macaroons and top with remaining macaroons, flat sides down. Wrap each in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to serve.
• Make wine syrup:
• Remove zest from orange with a vegetable peeler, then remove any white pith from zest. Julienne zest. Squeeze 1 tablespoon juice.
• Cover zest with cold water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Drain in a sieve and rinse under cold water. Pat dry.
• Cook sugar in a dry 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar is melted into a deep golden caramel.
• While caramel is cooking, bring wine and zest to a boil in a small saucepan. Tilt caramel pan and carefully pour in wine with zest (caramel will harden and steam vigorously). Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. Stir in orange and lemon juices, then cool.
• Let filled macaroons soften 20 to 25 minutes at room temperature, then serve with wine syrup.

ALMOND ORANGE MACAROONS

Steps:

• Place the oven rack in the lowest position possible in your oven.
• Preheat the oven to 300°F.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Place the sugar, confectioners' sugar, orange zest and salt in the bowl of a food processor together with the steel knife.
• Grind the zest very find with the sugar.
• This will usually take 3 20-second whirls of the processor.
• Scrape the work bowl with a spatula in between whirls and stir up the sugar mixture.
• Scatter the diced almond paste evenly over the sugar mixture and give the processor about two more 10 seconds whirls.
• The texture should be like coarse meal.
• Again, scrape the work bowl in between whirls.
• Add the egg whites and mix with about two 5 second whirls.
• Don't forget to scrape the bowl at half-time.
• Remove the steel knife and set aside.
• Working directly from the food processor bowl, scoop up the dough in rounded 1/2 teaspoonfuls and drop onto the parchment lined baking sheets.
• Space the cookies about 2 inches apart, these babies really spread as they bake.
• Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until lightly browned and crackly on top, about 20-25 minutes.
• Remove the cookies together with the parchment paper to a wire rack to cool.
• To remove the cooled cookies from the paper, loosen them carefully around the edges with a spatula, using short strokes.
• These are not brittle cookies, and you should get the hang of it soon enough.
• You can layer the macaroons between sheets of wax paper in an airtight Tupperware, and store them in a cool, dry spot.

ALMOND-AND-HAZELNUT-CHIP MACAROONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread hazelnuts across baking sheet, and bake until skins are lightly browned, about 5 minutes; do not turn off oven. Roll nuts in a clean kitchen towel. Pressing lightly on towel, roll back and forth to loosen skins of nuts. Transfer skinned nuts to a food processor. Chop until nuts are the size of chocolate chips. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
• Spread almonds on a baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, about 5 minutes; remove from heat. Reduce oven to 350 degrees. Allow nuts to cool, and place in bowl of a food processor. Add sugar, and process until almonds are very finely ground, 30 to 40 seconds. Add 2 egg whites, jam and lemon zest. Pulse until blended; mixture should be thick and tacky when pressed with fingertip. If dry, add a teaspoon of remaining egg white, and pulse; repeat if necessary to reach desired consistency.
• Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Add hazelnuts, and knead by hand until blended. Lightly wet hands to prevent sticking. Divide dough in half, then divide each half into 8 pieces, for a total of 16 pieces. Shape pieces into balls, and place eight balls on each of two parchment-lined baking sheets.
• Position oven racks in top and center thirds of oven. Bake macaroons until golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes, reversing baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through cooking time. Store for up to one week in an airtight container, or freeze for up to one month.

HAZELNUT MACARONS

Steps:

• 1. Mix the 158 g water and 236 g granulated sugar in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Gently mix the mixture until the sugar is dissolved. 2. Place the probe of the thermometer into the syrup and cook until it reaches 248F degrees. (see Note 1 at the bottom).3. Remove from heat immediately when the temperature is reached.* If the syrup has crystallized, discard and start over. Use the syrup cooking time (it might take about 10-15 minutes) to sift the dry ingredients and prepare the egg whites.
• 1. Sift the 106 g of almond flour and 106 g of hazelnut flour, 30 g of cocoa powder and 212 g of powdered sugar twice into a large bowl.2. Heat 172g of egg whites in the microwave in 5-7 second intervals, mixing after each, for about 30 seconds or until the egg whites are barely warm to the touch. 3. Add 82 g of egg whites to the sifted mixture. Pour the rest of the egg whites into a grease-free bowl and add a 1 tablespoon of sugar and set aside. 4. When the syrup is at about 240F, with a sturdy wooden spoon quickly mix egg whites with the sifted mixture until paste forms.
• 1. When the syrup is at about 243F to 244F, start to whip egg whites and sugar on medium speed, getting them ready for when the syrup reaches 248F and you can pour it into the fluffy egg whites.2. Once the egg whites are foamy and the syrup is at 248F degrees, remove the syrup off the heat, increase the mixer speed to high and slowly pour the syrup into the egg whites between the whisk and the bowl. Continue whipping until the bowl is cool to the touch and the meringue has reached stiff peaks.
• 1. Fold the whipped meringue into the almond/sugar paste in 3 additions, trying to reach the "lava" stage when the batter flows off the spatula into the bowl like lava, or when the batter dropped into the bowl takes about 30 seconds to dissolve into the rest of the batter, or when you're able to draw a figure 8 with the batter falling off the whisk. Stop immediately once you reach this stage as overmixing the batter will ruin the macarons. It is better to under-fold, then over-fold.
• 1. Fill the prepared piping bag fitted with the 1/2 inch round plain tip with the macaron batter. You can drape the empty bag over a tall glass to make it easier to fill the pastry bag.
• 2. Pipe the macarons onto the prepared parchment-lined (or a Silpat, but with Silpat you will need to increase baking time) baking sheet by pressing out 1.5-inch circles about 1 inch apart.
• 3. Rap the sheet against the counter 5-10 times to remove any large bubbles. If you use a softer surface to avoid the loud noise that comes with rapping the sheet on the counter, increase the number of raps. 4. Next, use a pin or something sharp to pop any remaining bubbles that have risen to the surface of the macarons, but haven't popped.
• 1. Place into a preheated to 350F oven and immediately reduce the heat to 325F. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing off the parchment paper.2. Bake the rest of the macarons in the same fashion, preheating the oven to 350F each time a new baking sheet is placed in the oven.
• 1. Fill a piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round piping tip with the Nutella filling and pipe about a tablespoon of the filling onto the first half of the macaron shells, then top with the second cookie, matching them by size and shape. 2. Press gently to adhere.
• Place the macarons into a container fitted with a lid and refrigerate or leave at room temperature for 24 hours before eating. This allows the flavors to mend and for the macaron to reach a fudgy and soft inside.

CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT MACARONS

Steps:

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Put the hazelnuts, cocoa powder and 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until the nuts are very finely ground and powdery, about 3 minutes. Sift with a medium-mesh strainer and discard any pieces of nuts that didn't pass through the strainer.
• Beat the egg whites and salt in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium-high speed until they hold firm but not dry peaks, about 2 minutes. While beating, gradually add the remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed until the peaks are firm and shiny. Fold the nut mixture into the egg whites with a large rubber spatula until just blended. Transfer to a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe 32 two-inch rounds on the prepared pans. Set aside to air-dry for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Bake until the tops of the cookies are puffed and set, 18 to 20 minutes. Take care not to overcook the cookies or they will crack. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes, then gently peel from the parchment and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Heat the cream to a boil in a small saucepot over medium heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate and set aside until the chocolate is soft, about 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth; let stand at room temperature until thick but still spreadable. Sandwich about 1 teaspoon of the chocolate mixture between two cookies and repeat with the remaining filling and cookies.

HAZELNUT-MOCHA MACARONS

Steps:

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Grind 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar, the hazelnuts, and cocoa in a food processor until powdery, about 3 minutes. Sift mixture through a medium mesh strainer onto a piece of parchment paper, then discard any large pieces of nuts that didn't come through the strainer.
• With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt until they hold firm but not dry peaks, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar, a tablespoon at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed; this can take up to 3 minutes. Beat for an extra 30 seconds until the peaks are firm and shiny but still not dry. Fold the nut mixture gently into the egg whites with a large rubber spatula. Transfer mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain piping tip. Pipe 32 2-inch by about 1/3-inch thick rounds, evenly spaced, on each of the prepared pans. Set aside to air dry for 30 minutes before baking.
• Meanwhile make the filling: Put chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream, with espresso powder mixed in, to a boil. Pour cream over chocolate and shake bowl gently so cream settles around the chocolate. Set mixture aside until the chocolate is soft, about 5 minutes. Whisk gently until smooth, taking care not to incorporate too many air bubbles. Cool at room temperature until set up.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Bake macaroons until set and puffed, about 18 to 20 minutes. Take care not to overcook the macaroons or they'll crack. Cool cookies for 5 minutes then gently peel from paper. Let cool completely.
• Spread 1 teaspoon of mocha filling on a cookie and sandwich 2 cookies together.

HAZELNUT MACARONS

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a small bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 350°. Place hazelnuts and confectioners' sugar in a food processor; pulse until nuts are finely ground., Add salt to egg whites; beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add superfine sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high until stiff peaks form. Fold in hazelnut mixture., With a pastry bag, pipe 1-in.-diameter cookies 2 in. apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned and firm to the touch, 9-12 minutes. Transfer cookies on the parchment to wire racks; cool completely., For the buttercream, in a heavy saucepan, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil; cook over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, whisk a small amount of hot syrup into egg yolks; return all to pan, whisking constantly. Cook until thickened, 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Stir in espresso powder and vanilla; cool completely., In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat butter until creamy. Gradually beat in cooled syrup. Beat in confectioners' sugar until fluffy. Refrigerate until mixture firms to a spreading consistency, about 10 minutes., Spread about 1-1/2 tsp buttercream onto the bottom of each of half the cookies; top with remaining cookies. Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

SIMPLEST ALMOND MACAROONS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Place almond paste and sugar in food processor or mixing bowl. Mix or process until thoroughly combined. Add egg whites and mix until smooth dough forms.
• Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets, about 1 inch apart and bake 18-20 minutes, or until golden. Cool completely on baking sheets.
• Peel macaroons from paper when completely cool and store in an airtight container.