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Chocolate macarons, filled with dark chocolate ganache, arranged in a vintage tea cup.

High Altitude Chocolate Macarons

Heather Smoke
Classic French chocolate macarons with a crisp shell, chewy center, and creamy dark chocolate ganache filling.

All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.

5 from 5 votes
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 17 minutes
Rest Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 17 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American, French
Servings27 macarons

Equipment

  • Stand Mixer with Whisk Attachment
  • Food Scale
  • Double Boiler (saucepan and metal heatproof bowl)
  • Piping Bag + #2A Piping Tip
  • Mesh Strainer
  • Baking Sheet + Parchment Paper or Silicone Macaron Baking Mat Template

Ingredients
 

Chocolate Macarons

  • 100 grams fine almond flour
  • 100 grams powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened, dark, Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 100 grams egg whites (about 3 large egg whites), aged
  • 100 grams granulated sugar
  • ¼ tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache

  • 3 oz (85g) heavy whipping cream
  • 3 oz (85g) good-quality dark chocolate, finely chopped

Instructions
 

Macarons

  • Mise en Place
    The first task of making macarons is the mise en place, which means set everything up. Organize your tools, weigh your ingredients, and clean your equipment before you begin.
  • Clean Equipment
    Make sure that the bowl you'll be using for the double boiler as well as the bowl and whisk attachment for your stand mixer is scrupulously clean. Traces of fat, grease, or even egg yolks in your whites, will prevent your meringue from whipping into stiff peaks. For extra insurance, soak a cotton ball in vinegar and wipe down the bowls and whisk.
  • Sift the Dry Ingredients
    Use the mesh strainer to sift the almond flour, powdered sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl. Discard any large bits of almond flour that don't easily pass through the strainer.
  • Dissolve the Sugar in the Egg Whites over a Double Boiler
    Combine the egg whites and granulated sugar in the bowl you'll be using for your double boiler. Bring a saucepan filled with a few inches of water to a simmer, then place the bowl over the hot water. Heat the mixture gently, whisking together the egg whites and sugar, just until the sugar is dissolved - feel it with your finger to check that it no longer feels gritty. This should only take about 2 minutes, and the egg whites shouldn't get hot. Immediately remove from the heat. This step helps to create a more stable meringue.
  • Whip the Meringue to Stiff Peaks
    Pour the egg whites/sugar mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip the egg whites on medium speed (#6 on a Kitchen Aid mixer) until frothy, then add the cream of tartar. Continue to whip the meringue, increasing the speed to high (#8) until your meringue forms stiff peaks. This could take 5-10 minutes.
  • Fold in the Dry Ingredients
    Now remove the bowl from the mixer. Add the vanilla, and 1/3 of your dry ingredients, folding everything together with a spatula until combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients.
    Continue to fold the batter using the correct macaronage technique, making sure to also press the batter against the side of the bowl (to remove excess air and prevent hollow macarons), until the batter is ribbony, flows slowly like lava, and you can drizzle a figure 8. Count 30 seconds to see if the batter starts to disappear into itself after you drizzle the batter into the bowl.
    This video showing how to fold macaron batter in real time is the best demonstration for learning how to master this technique.
  • Pipe the Macarons
    Once your macaron batter is the correct consistency, immediately scoop it into your piping bag fitted with a #2A piping tip, or another medium-sized round piping tip.
    Holding the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet, pipe the batter onto your template until it doesn't quite fill the template, releasing pressure and giving the bag a little swirl to release.
    Depending on how big you pipe your macarons will determine how many you get. I piped about 54 macaron shells, for 27 filled cookies.
  • Bang the Pan
    Once you've piped all the macarons, lift the pan about 12 inches above the counter, hold it level, and let it drop back onto the counter. Do this about 4-5 times to release any bubbles in the batter.
    If your batter is the correct consistency, any little swirls of batter on top of the macarons should disappear.
  • Rest and Dry the Macarons
    Set the pan out of the way and let the macarons rest for 30 minutes. You want the surface of the batter to dry a little and form a skin, so that when you gently touch it, it doesn't stick to your finger.
    Avoid washing dishes in hot water (which creates a steamy, humid kitchen) while making macarons. Also, don't use a fan to dry them, which can make them lopsided. If your kitchen is humid, turn on the range hood fan over your stove, or use a dehumidifier.
  • Bake and Cool
    Preheat the oven to 300. Bake the macarons on the center oven rack (1 pan at a time) for about 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The macarons are done when you touch one and the top of the shell doesn't jiggle from the "feet".
    Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before filling.

Ganache

  • Pour the cream into a saucepan and warm gently over medium heat, just until it begins to simmer around the edges. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until smooth, silky and shiny.
  • Pour the ganache into a bowl, and let it sit at room temperature until cooled and thickened enough to fill your macarons.
    It might take about an hour to thicken. Stir the ganache to check the consistency. If it's so thin that drizzles of ganache immediately disappear into the bowl, it's too thin, and will run right off your macarons. If it's thickened enough that it starts to hold its shape when you drizzle it into the bowl, then it's ready.
  • Match up all your macarons into pairs by size, and turn one of each pair over.
  • Use a spoon to spoon about 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons of ganache onto the bottoms of half the macarons, letting it spread out almost to the edge. Don't immediately place the top macaron on the ganache, or it might slide off. Spoon ganache onto all the bottoms first, and then go back and gently place the top macaron on the ganache, pressing down gently.
  • Place the filled macarons into an airtight container and refrigerate to firm up the ganache.
  • Keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks, or freeze for 3-6 months.
Keyword Chocolate, Ganache, Macarons
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