I'm playing with macaroons because these things are things I'd like to get good at making. The most popular, so far, has been the chocolate-almond macaroons with white chocolate-orange ganahce filling, but I am trying some meringues right now with melted chocolate folded in.
Take 1: one egg, 1/2 cup icing sugar, 1/3 cup couverture wafers (chocolate chip size).
French meringue method while the chocolate melts then cools, then a little meringue added to the chocolate and mixed in, then that folded into the rest of the meringue. Piped little spirals, baked at 350F for 10 minutes after the tops dried a bit in open air. Turned out OK but a little too crisp, the feet flew out like mad, which I think is mostly to blame on the oven being too hot for a meringue without almond flour in it, and that the oven seems to go a mavericky 50 degrees over what I ask it to.
Cookies were scrumptious, the tops stayed gorgeously smooth and round, but the bottoms falling out were an issue. Will re-try later with lower temperature and a little more pre-drying time.
Take 2: one egg, 1/3 cup icing sugar, 1/3 cup chocolate chips.
Same as above. Man, chocolate chips are nowhere near as smooth as couverture! I have used nothing but the good stuff for ages now. The chocolate got a little separated and grainy when I folded it in, so that is not ideal. Piped these into sticks and dried them in the oven. They are forming delicious little cookies but I think the weight of the chocolate is causing them problems with being light like meringues. I think it's got to be good melting chocolate here or nothing.
To do: Re-try couverture macaroons, more drying time, lower temp (like 250F probably).
ps did I mention how delicious the raw meringue is once you've folded melted chocolate into it? my lord!
