Espresso Mocha Macaron with Salted Dark Chocolate Filling
Get a coffee fix in these deliciously decadent macarons. Espresso Mocha Macaron with Salted Dark Chocolate Filling taste like a fancy cup of mocha espresso with a pleasant hint of salt in the buttercream.
Somewhere along the lines, I lost my touch with the macaron. So, what’s a blogger to do? Keep trying until I get it back! Thankfully, I didn’t have to go far to find it.
The last perfect-ish batch of macaron I made were the fluffernutter macarons in July of last year. Wow! Was it really that long ago? Almost a year!! Granted, I haven’t spent much time in the kitchen making them. I get a bit lazy on Sunday’s sometimes. Well, I mean, most times. If you had some of the work weeks I have, you’d rest on Sundays, too.
Then I made some pistachio macarons in January. They were okay. They were nice and chewy on the inside like I’d never made before. I know they’re supposed to be, but I was always afraid of under cooking them and have them just not peel off the silpat. So, I always cooked them just a little longer and tested to see if they could peel off the silpat easily. But not this batch. I trusted the wiggle test and took them out when they just didn’t wiggle. I didn’t even check to see if they would peel off the mat.
Okay, so, the wiggle test. I learned this when I took the class as Sur la Table. You simply grab the shell of macaron at the top; above the feet. Now, gently try to shift the top from side the side. If it easily moves from side to side, cook them another 2 minutes. If not, then take them out; they’re done. Trust. Trust me on this one. It’s how I have managed to get crisp shells and chewy centers every time.
I always say that I go big or go home. I never half-ass anything. When I make a mistake it’s a loch ness and not baby alligator. I also jump with both feet blindly off the cliff. Sometimes I land a perfect 10 and sometimes I face-plant. You don’t know if you don’t try, right?
Since I’ve heard that chocolate macaron are one of the hardest to make, I figured, why not? From what I understand, it’s the oils in the cocoa powder that can make or break the shells. In the class, they suggested not using America’s sweetheart of cocoa powder, Hershey. I used Nestle, instead. Maybe that’s why they weren’t a disaster. I don’t know. I do know that I prefer Nestle over Hershey for regular cocoa powder, but love the dark chocolate cocoa powder that Hershey offers. Maybe one day I’ll be able to get all KAF cocoa powders.
I did, however, use some of their espresso powder in these Espresso Mocha Macaron with Salted Dark Chocolate . It’s so yummy. Did you know that adding just a little bit of espresso to your chocolate baked goods makes them taste more chocolatey? Oh yeah. You should seriously try it. It makes chocolate taste amazing. And their espresso powder is totally decadent. If you get a chance, get a jar. It smells amazing when you first open; just the best cup of espresso you’ve ever tasted. Then you bake with it and you get this amazing coffee aroma with the perfect coffee flavor.
I decided to make espresso after seeing some gorgeous looking coffee and espresso macaron on Pinterest. Shocker, I know. I found an idea on Pinterest. I have a whole board of macaron inspiration to view when I’m looking for a recipe or flavor combination inspiration. Keep scrolling and you’ll see the black coffee ones that inspired this idea. I almost… ALMOST added black dye to make them darker, but I decided not to do that. I wanted the gorgeous chocolate espresso color to shrine through.
See what I mean? That beautiful brown color that tricks you into thinking these are just chocolate macaron, but then you open the package and that aroma of rich, dark, espresso hits you smack in the face. And it truly does smack you in the face. I was almost a little worried that some might be put off by the strong coffee smell, but then you just take a bite and oh my word does it taste amazing!
So, normally I just share these with those in the know in my office, but since we’ve moved into the other building almost a year ago, I thought I’d put some out on the communal treats table for others to try. I saw B take one and when I took another lap around the floor I stopped in to ask him how he liked it. He said that he couldn’t believe how mocha they truly tasted! Like a café mocha you get on the corner shop. I thanked him, which surprised him, because he didn’t know I had made them. I was so proud to receive new compliments about these beauties.
I couldn’t resist eating a few of these rich, delicious beans that Mom sent from Maui. It’s Lion brand coffee, which is a local brand, I think? Anyway, it’s really good coffee! I’m guessing it’s a Kona blend, being from Hawaii and what not, but don’t quote me. They have amazing coffee flavor and I nibbled on several while I was doing this photo shoot.
No. I wasn’t bouncing off the walls. Caffeine has no effect on me. I can drink it and go to sleep. I drink a few cups in the morning and used to get another cup later on in the day. My drink of choice at the fancy coffee place is a quad skinny mocha. That’s four shots of espresso in a nonfat mocha. To say I like it strong is an understatement.
How do you like your coffee?
Espresso Mocha Macaron with Salted Dark Chocolate Buttercream
Get a coffee fix in these deliciously decadent macarons. Espresso Mocha Macaron with Salted Dark Chocolate Filling taste like a fancy cup of mocha espresso with a pleasant hint of salt in the buttercream.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces almond meal
- 7 ounces powdered sugar
- 1/2 ounce espresso powder
- 1/2 ounce cocoa powder
- 4 ounces egg white
- Pinch cream of tartar
- 50 grams sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
For the shells:
- Pulse the powdered sugar, the almond flour, espresso powder, and the cocoa powder together in a food processor to form a fine powder. Sift three times into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer (or large, metal mixing bowl). Sprinkle the cream of tartar over the eggs and hand mix the two together with the whisk attachment for the stand mixer (or hand mixer). Fasten the whisk attachment and beat the mixture on medium speed until foamy. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Sift 1/3 of the almond mixture into the bowl with the meringue. Fold the ingredients together with a large spatula until incorporated. Continue sifting and folding until all the almond mixture is incorporated into the meringue and the mixture should drip slowly off the spatula; like lava flowing. (Think conditioner dripping out of a bottle. That works for me.)
- Transfer the batter to a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch tip and pipe 1 1/3 inch rounds onto a silpat covered baking sheet. There are several different templates out there. Two that I like are here and here.
- Preheat oven to 325.
- You’re going to LOVE this next part! Once all the batter has been piped or your sheets are full, grab the edges of the pan, secure the silpat with your thumbs (or any extra batter) and rap the pans on the counter. That’s right! You heard me! Bang them on the counter!! This releases any remaining air bubbles in the meringue. Continue rapping the sheets, turning occasionally, until no more air bubbles surface. Allow the macaron to rest on the counter at least 30 minutes or more depending on the humidity level of your kitchen.
- Once they’ve rested and the tops are no longer sticky to the touch, bake at 325 for 7 to 9 minutes. Rotate the pans front to back and top to bottom and bake an additional 7 to 9 minutes. Do the wiggle test to see if the meringue is cooked; carefully grab the top of the shell and if it moves easily from side to side when wiggled, indicating the meringue isn’t completely cooked, then continue to cook in 2 to 3 minutes intervals until they no longer wiggle.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before filling.
For the buttercream:
- Combine the butter and powdered sugar together in a medium mixing bowl and beat until combined. Add in the cocoa powders and the cream. Continue to beat until the mixture is light, fluffy, and no longer grainy. Add the sea salt and stir intil blended.
- Place the filling in a piping bag fitted with a plain tip (or glam it up and use a star tip like I did) and pipe the filling onto one shell, almost to the edge. Top with another shell and allow to rest before serving.
Chocolate Recipes
- Baked Chocolate Donuts by That Recipe
- Chocolate Fudge Raspberry Bars by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Chocolate Oreo Bars by Family Around the Table
- Chocolate Walnut Caramels by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Espresso Mocha Macaron with Salted Dark Chocolate Filling by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Low-Sugar Double Chocolate Muffins by Blogghetti
- Mini Chocolate Sandwich Cookies (Small Batch) by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Old Fashioned Chocolate Pudding by Home Sweet Homestead
- S’mores Pie by Art of Natural Living
- Summer Hot Chocolate by Our Good Life
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I made these and on the same pan some tops cracked and some were perfectly fine. My other pan didn’t rise at all, just cracked. I turned and rotated the pans on both oven racks. Any ideas?
What kind of cocoa powder? If it’s Hershey’s it has a lot of oil in it and could make them crack. The meringue might not have been whipped enough. Mine usually fills the whisk attachment when it’s ready. They’re super stiff high peaks. Lastly, check the oven temperature. I have an oven thermometer to make sure mine is at the right temp. Let me know if you try them again.
What brand espresso powder did you use? I can only find instant espresso coffee…same thing?
Not really but you could use it in place of the espresso powder. I received some from King Arthur Flour.
I have a question- Everything is in ounces and then when I get to 50 grams of sugar it’s a bowlfull. I just want to make sure this is accurate? Because the 50 oz of sugar is much less. Just checking. Thank you!
Thank you for your question. 50 grams of granulated sugar is just shy of a 1/4 of a cup. Maybe you’re using powdered instead of granulated?
Reminds me of me resolve to try making macarons with my daughter. Pinning these to my macaron board!
I hope you do! They’re so rewarding. I am always here to help trouble shoot, but I know you will nail them.
I am super impressed. All my macarons either crumble into a mess or are flat. These look delicious. I could eat all of them.
Thanks! It takes practice, so don’t give up. Just keep trying.
These are stunning!!! I did have some success once with Ovaltine believe it or not (just 25 grams) and then had a complete fail with cocoa. Just when you think you’ve got it down! Congrats!
Thank you! Some cocoa powders have lots of oil in them. So, keep an eye out for that.
I have never ever made macarons….the whole process scares me. You make it so easy that I am going to try!! Soon…lol. This may be the one recipe that will make me try!
I hope you do! They’re so rewarding. Let me know how it goes. I can trouble shoot almost any problem.
Oh yeah! I love macarons and totally want to try these ones. If my brother could eat chocolate I’d have him make these but I guess I’m on my own!
I hope you do try them. They’re so fun to make.
I want these NOW. Unfortunately we have some monsoonal moisture in the area for awhile so I probably should wait until the humidity drops to give it a try. But I could just make that buttercream.
That’s why you weigh the ingredients. Humidity makes or breaks macaron, but weighing ingredients helps with that.
Oh my Christie, those are perfect macarons.
Thank you!
This macaron recipe unfortunately did not work for me…I had to find a different recipe, but the filling for this recipe was absolutely fabulous! I only added 2 cups of powdered sugar and a little bit more heavy cream, and that did the trick!
It’s trial and error with macaron. I’m interested in seeing what your results looked like. I’m pretty good at trouble shooting. I’ve had just about every problem ever making them. Glad to hear you liked the filling!
My macaronage came out very thick and cakey. It wasn’t even worth trying to pipe and bake, just an utter fail. Do you think that is an indication of overdoing the egg whites?
Maybe you didn’t fold it enough. It’s rough at first, but keep folding until the batter turns from dull to have a glossy sheen to it. I sit on the couch with the bowl between my legs folding and folding and folding again. It does take a bit of folding.
I just made these Macarons, They came out pretty good aside from the feet not rising as much as they are supposed to. From what I read online that happens because of humidity. I even let the batter set on the cookie sheet for an hour, ill try it for 2 hours next time just to be safe. The buttercream however tasted good but there was way to much sugar, I had to add extra cream because it came out so dry from the excess sugar. I remade it only using 2 cups of powdered sugar and that came out a lot better. I would probably cut the icing recipe in half though because I had so much extra icing left. All in all a good recipe.
Thank you! I have the same issue with too much buttercream.
I made these macaroons today and followed the instructions carefully and exactly. Unfortunately, my macaroons had a very runny consistency and when I piped them on the baking sheet, they settled and spread. I believe that this was because the egg whites were beat to make smooth peaks, and that making them stiff peaks would have significantly improved the recipe.
Yes, you definitely have to beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
How many does this recipe make?
One batch usually makes 24 1 1/2″ cookies. If you make them larger you won’t make as many, obviously. It just depends on how large you pipe them.
Why are the ingredients for the macaroons in ounces :/
The ingredients are in ounces because humidity and moisture can cause ingredients to weigh different. By using ounces as the measurement you can control the weight including any moisture content of your powdered sugar and almond meal. Half a cup of almond meal in winter will weight different in summer. The fewer variables you have in making macarons, the higher the success rate.
I have never made macarons before, and so this was my first shot at it. I failed!! Twice! I just read through and saw you mention that I shouldn’t use Hershey cocoa powder….which I did both times…lesson learned (I thought I had already learned that lesson where you read instructions first, but I guess not 🙂 ). However, even though I didn’t have nice smooth tops with little feet, and instead just flat regular looking cookies, they are still DELICIOUS!! And that buttercream! Yummm!! I shall try again with some new cocoa powder! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
You’re most welcome! I’d be interested in seeing photos to see if I can trouble shoot for you. Feel free to shoot me an email with some pics and hopefully I can help. Not sure why the Hershey, but I used Nestle for mine.
yield?
The yield depends on the size shell you make. I normally get about 18 cookies, but if you pipe larger circles you’ll get less yield.
sea salt?…assuming it’s added in the making of the filling, hence, the name ‘salted dark chocolate buttercream’..can’t wait to make them.
How much cream of tartar are we supposed to use? its not in the ingredient list
It’s just a pinch of cream of tartar. I’ll add it now. Thank you!