Christmas Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Tonka Bean Macarons Recipe

The chocolate-tonka ganache: Chop the chocolate and set it aside in a small bowl. Heat the cream with a bit of grated tonka bean (use a fine grater). Pour it over the chocolate in two batches. Mix with a spatula, then add the remaining liquid cream and mix. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the fridge while you prepare the macaroon shells.

Macarons
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Blend the hazelnut flour and powdered sugar. Sift them and then set aside in a bowl. In the bowl of your mixer, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt.

In a saucepan, put the sugar and water. Heat over low heat until you obtain a syrup; this syrup should reach a temperature of 118/119°C (so you will need a kitchen thermometer). Once this temperature is reached, pour it very gently over the egg whites (which are still being whipped, so do not stop the mixer).

A beautiful Italian meringue is obtained (for your information, French meringue is made without a syrup). Using a spatula, fold the meringue into the hazelnut and powdered sugar mixture in three additions. Fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip with the macaron batter. Pipe small rounds of batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Let sit for about 25/30 minutes.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let rest before removing.

To finish, take your ganache out of the fridge and mix it with a whisk. Fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip with ganache, then fill some of the shells and cover with the remaining ganache. Refrigerate before serving.