Chocolate macarons

Chop the chocolate and dice the butter. Heat the cream until simmering and pour over the chocolate. Stir from the centre outwards until smooth, then mix in the butter. Cover and cool. Refrigerate for about 60 minutes until firm enough to pipe.

Sift the icing sugar, almonds and cocoa together to remove coarse particles. Separate the eggs and weigh out 75 g whites. Whisk to firm peaks, gradually adding the caster sugar. Fold in the powders with a spatula until glossy and flowing in a thick ribbon. Pipe 16 evenly sized shells, spaced apart on baking paper. Rest for about 20 minutes until the surface is no longer sticky to a light touch.

Heat the oven to 150 °C. Bake for about 20 minutes until the feet and tops are dry but the insides remain tender. Cool completely on the tray for about 20 minutes before peeling the shells from the paper.

Pair shells of matching size. Pipe ganache onto one shell from each pair and close with the other without pressing hard. Place in a closed box and refrigerate for about 12 hours before serving.