Milk chocolate and coconut macarons (Italian meringue)
These are for all the Bounty lovers out there!
As you know, Bounty is a famous snack with milk chocolate and coconut: it is a great combination of flavours and that’s why World Champion Christophe Michalak tried to recreate it with macarons and so here is his recipe.
I loved making these macarons because 1) they are delicious and 2) they also feature a nice decoration.
Macarons are so aesthetically simple that it is really hard to find a good decoration for them. In this case I piped a few zigzag lines of melted chocolate on top then sprinkled with shredded coconut: so simple, but so nice! (If you don’t remember how to create a parchment paper piping cone, here is an explanation.)
The filling, which should be prepared one day in advance, is “just” a simple ganache with a twist: instead of cream or milk, the milk chocolate (Jivara) is emulsified with coconut milk and then shredded coconut is added. Pure pleasure! 😀
PS: although the step-by-step recipe on this page should be enough, you can check my introductory post on French macarons, in case you’ve never made them.
Milk chocolate and coconut macarons
Print recipeIngredients
Macaron shells
| 250g | Almond flour |
| 250g | Powdered sugar |
| 100g | Egg whites (room temperature) |
| 100g | Egg whites (room temperature) |
| 225g | Granulated sugar |
| 75g | Water |
Decoration
| 50g | Milk chocolate |
| 25g | Shredded coconut |
Milk chocolate and coconut ganache
| 230g | Coconut milk |
| 185g | Couverture milk chocolate |
| 25g | Unsalted butter |
| 75g | Shredded coconut |
Directions
Macaron shells
1
Put the almond flour, powdered sugar in a food processor and mix 2-3 times for about 10 seconds each, with at least 10 seconds of pause every time (or just sift everything well at least three times)
2
Put the dry mixture in a bowl with the first half of the egg whites and stir until you obtain a thick paste
3
In the meantime, put the granulated sugar and water in a saucepan on medium heat
4
When the sugar syrup reaches 108°C, start whipping the egg whites at high speed. Slow the mixer down in case soft peaks form before the syrup is ready.
5
When the sugar reaches 119°C, pour it slowly on the egg whites in a steady stream between the side of the bowl and the beater while the mixer is running
6
Continue beating at medium speed until the egg whites are completely cool. At this point, you have the so-called Italian meringue! The Italian meringue is ready for macarons when it forms a soft peak usually called "bec d'oiseau" ("bird's beak").
7
Using a spatula, fold in a third of the meringue into the macaron paste
8
"Macaronage": carefully fold in the remaining meringue with an upward movement that starts from the centre and reaches the border of the bowl; at the same time, make sure you slightly turn the bowl in the opposite direction of the spatula
9
The batter is ready when it becomes shiny and it is not too thick nor too runny (achieving the right consistency is actually the hardest part of making macarons). You can check if the batter is ready by passing the spatula vertically in it: if the batter return to its initial position in about 5 seconds, it's ready.
10
Optional: to make sure the parchment paper doesn't move when you pipe the macarons, pipe some "dots" of batter in the four corners of the pan
11
Hold vertically a pastry bag fitted with a medium plain tip and pipe the batter into small rounds (about 3-4cm each) on paper-lined sheet pans. (See method in the notes)
12
Lift the pan 20cm above the table with two hands and let it drop twice (or tap it a couple of times on the bottom)
13
Let the piped batter sit at room temperature for 20-40 minutes, then bake in an oven preheated at 150° for 13-16 minutes.
14
In an oven pan, toast the 100g of shredded coconut for 10 minutes at 150°C or anyway until it becomes golden brown
15
In the meantime, heat the coconut milk in a saucepan on medium heat
16
Place the (chopped) chocolate in a bowl
17
When the coconut milk is boiling, pour one third of it over the chocolate
18
Stir with the spatula to create an emulsion, then repeat the process twice until all the coconut milk has been incorporated
19
Add the diced, cold butter and mix with an immersion blender (or simply with a spatula) making sure not to form air bubbles
20
Add 75g of shredded coconut to the ganache and mix again with an immersion blender. Chill overnight in an airtight container.
Assembling the macarons
21
Cool the macarons completely before removing them from the pan. Press the interior of the baked shells gently in the centre (without crushing them!) in order to make more room for the filling
22
Pipe the ganache filling in the middle of a shell
23
Sandwich two shells together to form macarons
25
Cut a small hole in the tip of the cone, then pipe chocolate stripes on the top of the macarons
26
Sprinkle the top with the remaining shredded coconut then finally store the assembled macarons for 24 hours in the fridge before serving
Note
- When the food processor is in action, its blades will heat the almond flour: for this reason it is very important to work with chilled ingredients and to avoid overheating them by pausing the processor regularly
- Macarons require precision in terms of quantities, technique and also temperature: use a chilled almond flour, room temperature egg whites and check the sugar syrup temperature with a thermometer (yes you really need it, but it just costs about 15€)
- Based on personal experience, silicone mats are not the best choice for macarons as the "crown" at the bottom might not develop well; I prefer the good old parchment paper in this case
- To pipe the batter, keep the pastry bag vertically and mechanically apply the following technique: 1) Pipe enough batter - 2) Stop piping - 3) Draw a round on top of the piped macaron and quickly lift the piping bag vertically at the same time
- For best results, pipe the macarons alternately in the pan, like in the pictures
- It is possible to scale this recipe, but be careful when scaling down since it can be very difficult to whip well less than 60g of egg whites
- Macarons need to absorb humidity for at least one day in the fridge . Then they can keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge and can be frozen as well for several months.
