Easy Bear Chocolate Macarons

Instructions

• Chocolate ganache
• Finely chop the chocolate on a cutting board and place in a large bowl.
• In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil and pour it over the chopped chocolate, mixing until it comes together.
• Stir butter into the ganache until very smooth and cover with plastic wrap, so that the plastic is in contact with the ganache.
• Chill the ganache at room temperature and then refrigerate for one hour or until it has a thick/ creamy consistency.
• Chocolate macaron shells
• Combine the almond flour, powdered sugar and cocoa powder in a food processor and pulse to obtain a fine powder.
• With an electric hand mixer whisk the egg whites to a foam. Once they are frothy, add a third of the granulated sugar and whip until sugar is dissolved; add another third of the granulated sugar, whip for another minute; finally add the remaining granulated sugar and whip for 1 more minute.
• Sift the almond flour, powdered sugar and cocoa powder mixture through a sieve into the whipped whites and fold it with a rubber spatula.
• Transfer mixture to the piping bag fitted with a plain tip.
• On a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat pipe the teddy macarons (you can find the template that I made for the bear shaped macarons below).
• Lightly tap the sheet so the macarons spread fully.
• Preheat the oven to 300°F/150°C.
• Allow the macarons to sit uncovered for 10 minutes and then place in the oven.
• Bake for approx 15 minutes until they form a slight crust.
• Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and allow to cool completely.
• Use the edible ink marker (I used this one) to make the bear faces in half of the macarons shells.
• Pour the chocolate ganache into a clean piping bag fitted with a plain tip.
• Pipe onto the macaron shells and top each with the remaining macaron shells.
• Enjoy!
  
  Tip for better test: Keep the macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 12 hours before tasting, they taste so much better.