Milk Chocolate Salted Caramel Macarons

Method

1. Chocolate, salted caramel ganache
2. Finely chop the chocolate and put in a heatproof bowl
3. In a small pan combine the sugar, glucose syrup and water, stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar
4. Increase heat and bring to boil, do not stir, use a wet pastry brush to dissolve any crystals that form on the sides of the pan
5. Boil until the caramel is medium amber colour, swirl the pan occasionally but no stirring!
6. Remove from heat, add the cream, take care as it will bubble up frantically, when the bubbles subside,  return the pan to the heat, stirring until smooth
7. Stir through the sea salt, then pour the caramel over the chopped chocolate, leave for 5 mins then stir until glossy and smooth
8. Allow to cool completely and thicken before filling the macarons

1. Macarons
2. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper
3. Combine the caster sugar and water in a small, heavy based pan and set aside
4. Put the ground almonds and icing sugar in a food processor and blitz on the pulse setting for a minute or so then sieve over a large bowl, you may have a small amount that won't go through the sieve, just toss it out, any more than a teaspoon and it's worth repeating the blitzing stage
5. Pour 50g egg white over the ground almonds and icing sugar, add food colouring gel, mix together to form an even coloured paste
6. Add the remaining 50g egg white to the bowl of a stand mixer
7. Over a low heat stir the sugar and water until the sugar dissolves, increase heat to high and bring the syrup to a boil, it's ok to swirl the pan but do not stir (!) Use a wet pastry brush to remove any crystals that form on the side of the pan
8. Check the temperature with a sugar thermometer, you are aiming for 118ºc, but as the temperature reaches 110ºc whisk the egg whites until firm peaks form
9. When the sugar syrup reaches 118ºc turn the mixer to low and slowly pour the syrup into the bowl, increase the speed to high and whisk until cool
10. Add half the meringue to the almond paste, and using a spatula, mix together in a circular motion, lifting the batter from underneath; when the meringue and almond paste are evenly combined, repeat with the remaining meringue. This method takes a bit of mixing, the batter is ready when a ribbon of batter falls from your spatula and will form a figure of 8 on top of the macaron batter in the bowl
11. Use a spot of batter under the corners of the baking paper to stick it to the trays
12. Fit a piping bag with a 10mm nozzle and fill with the batter, pipe 3cm rounds, about 2cm apart, onto the baking paper
13. Tap the trays on the bench, turn through 90º and tap again
14. Preheat the oven to 145ºc while the macarons rest on the bench for half an hour or so
15. Bake for 18 minutes, lightly push a macaron from the side, if it moves away from the ruffled foot around the base, put them back in the oven for another couple of minutes, then check again
16. Cool on the tray for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack
17. Pair each shell with a similar sized partner; pipe the ganache filling on the underside of one shell and gently press its partner on top