Doughboy Dental

On fillings.

Macarons can be filled with all sorts of things; really anything that can hold the two halves together, and set enough to keep them in the same place.

Ganache is a popular choice; it provides a rich filling, is the perfect consistency and is easy to make and use. There's lots of different recipes for chocolate ganache; they vary by the intended use, but all contain cream and chocolate in some quantity, and usually butter. Ganache can be flavoured or left plain and deliciously chocolaty.

Basic Plain Chocolate Ganache:
150g Good-Quality Dark (plain) Chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
150ml Double (heavy) Cream

Put the chocolate in a large, heat resistant (ie. not plastic) mixing bowl
Place the cream into a heavy bottomed pan, and slowly bring to the boil. As soon as the cream boils, remove it from the heat and pour of the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and combined with the cream, resulting in a shiny consistent chocolate mixture.

Allow to cool at room temperature until it is thick, but not set. Spoon roughly 1/2 tsp onto one of each pair of macarons, top with a second, and place in the fridge to set.

Basic White Chocolate Ganache:
150g Good-Quality White Chocolate
150ml Double (heavy) Cream

The process for making the white ganache is exactly the same as above. It is worth noting that some brands of white chocolate do not produce the same eventual set on the ganache. Some, namely Green & Blacks, will leave you with a very runny and sticky mixture, even when refrigerated. If you find this to be the case, if it possible to whip the ganache as you would cream, and this usually does the trick.

These two basic fillings can be very versatile, particularly the white chocolate ganache which, with the use of colourings, provides a nice blank canvas with which to make your macarons beautiful.

The dark chocolate ganche lends itself well to being flavoured with liqueurs; the rich flavours go together well. Another interesting avenue of flavour is the use of chili; this combination has come into vogue recently, and while it can be a bit of a flavour fad, a delicate spicing does work well with the deep chocolate.

The white chocolate ganache can be flavoured in a number of ways; it's flavour is far more delicate than that of its darker cousin, and so it lends itself well to lighter flavours such as lavender or green tea. I've found the best way to flavour white ganache is to infuse the cream before hand, and then make the filling as detailed above. A teaspoon of lavender warmed in the cream for an hour or so gives a wonderful flavour to the whole cookie.