Chocolate Macarons

Grind almonds and icing sugar together until finely powdered. Stop grinding every once in a while to push down any mixture that creeps up the side. If you don't use all the icing sugar while grinding do remember to sift the sugar to get rid of all lumps.

Sift cocoa powder into flour and mix thoroughly.

Wipe down a large mixing bowl and your whisk with a bit of vinegar. Add egg whites and caster sugar into bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form.

Add cream of tartar and almond extract, then whisk briefly until incorporated.

Now fold almond/sugar flour into the meringue. Keep folding about 40-45 times, remembering to scrap along the bottom of the bowl to incorporate and push/scrap along the side of bowl to deflate. The mixture should flow slowly like lava.

Scoop into a piping bag with a 1/2 inch piping tip.

Pipe 1 1/4 inch circles on to a parchment paper covered baking sheet, remembering that what you pipe will spread out.

When done piping, hold both ends of the baking pan and bang the pan firmly down, turn and bang one more time. This will get the air bubbles in the mixture up and out. Inspect the pan and if you see any more bubbles pop them with a toothpick.

Let the piped macarons rest about 30 mins to form a skin on top.

Preheat the over to 300°F/150°C/130fan°C.

Bake 10 mins, rotate the pan, then bake 10 more mins. Check for doneness by gently lifting a macaron to check if it lifts easily and cleanly from paper. Cool on baking sheet before removing.

Pipe 1 tsp chocolate ganache onto a macaron, then top with second macaron and press down lightly and evenly until the ganache almost reaches the edge. Leave the macarons overnight to allow the ganache to soften the macaron.