French Macarons- Baking Partner challenge #7

This time  Baking Partners group came up with cute but devilish recipe..yes..MACARONS. The recipe was suggested by Swathi and Vidhya from Martha Stewart. These are such cute and delicious treats that seeing them and the ingredients you definitely will want to try them. They are easy to get hold on  but it requires lot of patience, perfection and homework to achieve that.I went with the basic recipe and the things I did are written in notes and have kept a few links too.Felt great baking them and getting it right. A note of thanks to the lovely ladies in this group. Feels great to work together and this time it was more evident that we are awesome together.. :)
So here are my attempts...Need to perfect a lot..

Icing sugar/Confectioners' sugar-3/4 cup
Almond flour-3/4 cup
Egg whites- 2 large at  room temperature(aged)
Cream of tartar- Pinch
Superfine sugar-1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon

1.  Pulse confectioners' sugar and almond flour in a food processor until combined. Sift mixture twice/thrice.
2.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy.
3.  Add cream of tartar, and whisk until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low, and then add superfine sugar. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes.
4.  Sift flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny.
5.  Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, dragging pastry tip to the side of rounds rather than forming peaks. 6. Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.
7. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macarons are crisp and firm, about 10 minutes.
8. After each batch, increase oven temperature to 375 degrees, heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees.
9.  Let macarons cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack. (If macarons stick, spray water underneath parchment on hot sheet. The steam will help release macarons.)
10. Sandwich 2 same-size macarons with 1 teaspoon filling. Serve immediately, or stack between layers of parchment, wrap in plastic, and freeze for up to 3 months.

Chocolate Ganache
Bitter sweet chocolate-8oz
Heavy whipping Cream-3/4 cup

Method of Preparation:
1. Chop the chocolate to small pieces and keep aside in a bowl.
2. Heat cream in a pan on medium heat and when it starts to boil turn off the heat.
3. Pour the hot cream on chocolate and keep for 2 minutes without stirring.
4. Then mix until smooth and set aside to cool and thicken for some time. Once thick to the consistency you need it add to a piping bag with round nozzle and squeeze little to center of nacaron. Then press the other one on top and twist it to spread the ganache.

Notes:
1. Making Almond Flour:
         I used blanched almonds. Powdered them along with the little icing sugar to fine powder without releasing oil. If you feel that the almonds stick to the wall just tap on outside of mixer and if the powder falls back its fine, but if it starts to stick then oil is generated. In that case stop grinding and dry the flour.
2. Now sieve the flour to get fine powder. Mix remaining sugar to it and sieve again for 3 times. If any big particles are there then powder it again and if they cant be powdered future discard them.
3. I kept the egg whites separated for 11/2 days outside closed with a kitchen tissue. You can keep it up to 5 days in refrigerator. To beat the whites use a clean oil and dirt free vessel.
4. Have used an extra baking sheet to slow the process of having feet and dome due to high heat at the bottom.
5. Tap the tray and any air bubbles not broken is poked with a toothpick. Any air bubbles left will lead to cracks.
6. The temperature for baking perfect macarons depends on your oven settings. It need notbe the same as I have mentioned here. The above temperatures were perfect for my oven.
7. Macarons  can be filled with buttercream, ganache, jam, lemon curd. Once filled they taste great after 24 hours of resting in fridge.
8. There are a lot of videos and sites I have checked. some of them are:
 http://www.ironwhisk.com/2012/05/french-macarons/
 http://foodnouveau.com/2010/03/destinations/europe/france/how-to-make-macarons-a-detailed-illustrated-step-by-step-recipe/
 http://daydreamerdesserts.com/2010/11/demystifying-french-macarons.html/
 http://www.syrupandtang.com/201003/of-ovens-and-baking-and-macarons/
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDo0SgDKLVw
 http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/08/macaron-troubleshooting-new-recipe.html