Cocoa Macaroons with a White Chocolate Filling

The last 4 times I tried to make macaroons at home, it was a disaster. I think I quietly sobbed on my third attempt. But 5th time lucky, as they say! I used the recipes from L’atelier des Chefs,  though I stupidly misread the super simple instructions and completely deflated the meringue. I tried to rescue it by whipping up extra sugary meringue and folding it into the flat mixture… and it seemed to work out ok! The macaroons turned out a little squishier than normal, but they were a considerable improvement from my last attempts.

I baked big ones (about 5 to 7cm wide) and small ones (about 3cm wide) to see which cooked better, and the small ones cooked more evenly. I could really see the importance of leaving the uncooked macaroons out for 10 mins before putting it in the oven, as the final finish had a good shine on the surface.

The filling was white chocolate, cream and vanilla essence. The texture of the macaroons usually improve after filling the centre and leaving it for a few hrs, and it was certainly true in this case.