Chocolate Macarons

Preheat the oven to 160 C degrees
Arrange all the ingredients measured and ready on the work table before you begin to work.
In a mixer pulse together the almond powder, cocoa powder and icing sugar .Scrape down the side and pulse again. Sift the mix several times, the more the better. What remains will be the larger lumps of almond pieces. Just discard those, or use them in another cake or cookie.

Ensure that the egg whites are at room temp. Beat egg whites until foamy, add cream of tartar and white sugar and continue whipping until they form a peak that stands upright.
Fold in gently flour/cocoa/ icing sugar mixture into the whipped stiff egg white mixture. This is where all your hard work can really go wrong. Fold in the almond and sugar mix in 3 parts. Do not over mix nor under mix the batter, just gently fold in, till all of the mix has been completely incorporated.

Transfer the batter to a pastry bag, fitted with a ½ Inch nozzle.
Pipe out 1 inch rounds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or on a macrons silicon mat. You can use a template to pipe exact size and at equal distance, if you are directly piping on a baking paper.
Remove the template (if you are using) and tap the pan few times to release the air bubbles. This prevents the tops of your macarons from cracking.
Let them sit out for 30 to 40 mins, or even up to an hour. This will give them enough time to dry until the top of the macarons are no stickier. This is very important step to ensure that the macarons develop feet.
Bake for 16 to 18 mins. The macarons are done when you can just separate the cookies from the baking paper.
Do not try to remove the macaroons immediately after baking from the sheets. Let it cool completely and then remove from the baking sheets.
Meanwhile prepare the icing for the filling. You can use butter cream with any desired flavors and colours, ganache, or cream cheese icing.
Transfer to a pastry bag, fitted with a small tip about ¼ ” in diameter.
Reverse cookie shells on their backs, and pipe a small mound of filling on one of them.
Top with the other shell.
You can serve it right away or keep refrigerated. I love having it chilled, after few days.
Tip 1: Try to use the best quality ingredients.
Tip 2: Try using aged egg whites, separate the egg whites few days in advance and store in an air tight container in refrigerator.
Tip 3: Pulse together the almond powder, cocoa powder and icing sugar, scrape down the side and pulse again. Sift almond flour, cocoa and powdered sugar, the more the better. Do not skip this step.
Tip 4: Do not over mix or under mix the batter, just very gently fold in, till the mix has completely incorporated. If you under mix,  then the macarons will be lumpy and will crack. If you over mix ,the macaroons will be flat and won’t have feet
Tip 5: To make macarons of the same size, it is always advised to use templates to pipe, 1 ½ Inch circles drawn 2 Inches apart.
Tip 6: Tap the pan few times to release the air bubbles. This prevents the tops of your macarons from cracking.
Tip 7: Let them sit out for 30 to 40 mins, or even up to an hour. This will allow them time to dry until the top of the macarons are no stickier. This is very important step to ensure that the macarons develop feet.
Tip 8: Do not try to remove the macaroons immediately after baking and removing from the oven. Let it cool completely and then remove from the baking sheets.