Collin Goodine

Special to The Lake Report

This Valentine's Day surprise your loved one with a classic French cookie. With the time, effect and patience these beautiful macaroons (or macarons, en francais) take to make, your partner will truly know how you feel about them, and how special you are. 

These macaroons might take a few tries to master, but they are cookies that everybody should have in their back pocket. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

Red Velvet Macaroons

Ganache:
13 oz bitter sweet chocolate
1 cup 35% cream
Pinch pink sea salt
Pinch cinnamon 

The Cookie:

100 g almond flour 
160 g icing sugar
20 g red cocoa powder
5 g cinnamon
100 g egg white (room temp)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
35 g white sugar

Directions:
For the ganache: Place chocolate into food processor and mix until chocolate is like coarse meal or pea size.
Bring cream, salt, cinnamon to a boil. Pour over the chocolate and mix until smooth, 10-15 seconds. Do not over-mix.
Set aside at room temperature until ready to use. When finished, place in the fridge. Reheat on a double boiler or in microwave.

For the cookie: Place first four ingredients into a bowl together. Sift through a fine strainer twice to remove any undesirables. Set aside.
Place egg whites into a stand mixer and, using the whip attachment, mix on medium speed until egg whites begin to come together.
Add cream of tartar. Continue to mix on high until soft peaks begin to form.
Reduce speed and add 1/3 sugar until dissolved. Continue this process until you are out of the sugar.
Return the mixer to high and mix until stiff peaks form when you lift the whip out. (You should be able to turn the bowl of egg whites over your head and have them stay in the bowl.)
Fold in the almond flour mixture in four stages, until both mixtures are incorporated and the batter is glossy and all clumps of ground almond are gone.
Place the batter into a piping bag without a tip, or with a round tip (not star). Now you are ready to bake.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Starting in the upper left corner, pipe the batter into small rounds (about the size of a loonie) straight onto the paper.  Move 1 inch to the right and pipe another the same size. Continue to do this until all the batter is gone.
Lift the sheet pans and lightly drop them from 4 inches off the counter, onto the counter. This helps remove a little air out of the cookie and create the “feet” or a smooth flat bottom. Repeat 3-4 times.
Set aside for 45-60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 300F. Place cookies into the oven for 16 minutes.
Allow cookies to cool.
Flip cookies over and fill every other one with chocolate ganache (from a piping bag). Use just enough to cover the cookie when they are pressed together. Place the other cookie on top and push together gently.
Enjoy.