S'mores Macarons with Toasted Marshmallow

MARSHMALLOW

1. Sift together the corn starch and powdered sugar. Spray a Half baking sheet (18" x 13" or 46 x 33cm) with cooking spray, then liberally dust with the corn starch and powdered sugar mixture. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the first measure of water and gelatine. Mix well with a fork, and leave to bloom while you prepare the sugar syrup.
3. In a medium pot, combine the water, corn syrup, vanilla, and sugar. Heat over medium to high heat, stirring occasionally. Heat until the syrup reaches 240˚f /120˚c, then remove from the heat and leave to cool to 210˚f /100˚c.
4. Turn the mixer on to medium, and mix for a few seconds to help break up the bloomed gelatin. With the mixer running, VERY carefully pour the hot sugar syrup into the mixer. Turn the speed up to high, and whip for 4-5 minutes, until the marshmallow has doubled in volume, has turned white, and holds somewhat of a peak when you stop the mixer and lift out the whisk. Scrape into the prepared baking sheet and spread with an oiled offset spatula, smoothing as much as possible. Dust liberally with the corn starch mixture and allow to cure for at least 1-2 hours.

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMB

1. Place the graham crackers and cinnamon in the bowl of a mortar and pestle, and grind until a fine dust. Sift the mixture, and stir through the sugar. Set aside. If you do not have a mortar and pestle, a food processor will do the trick!

MACARON SHELLS

1. Preheat oven to 300˚f / 150˚c, and position the oven rack in the centre of the oven. Using a round cookie cutter or the base of a large piping tip (something about 1.5 inches in diameter), draw a "template" for your macarons on a piece of parchment paper, leaving about ¾" between each circle.
2. Combine the almond meal and powdered sugar together in a large bowl. Sift the mixture twice, to ensure there are no large lumps and that the mixture is properly aerated. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add the sugar, increase the mixer speed, and whip on high until the meringue starts to firm up. Add vanilla and mix until incorporated. Continue to whip until the meringue forms stiff peaks (there is a good example here).
4. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add half of the ground almond and powdered sugar mixture, and fold into the meringue. You want to deflate the meringue just a little at this stage, to combine the meringue and ground almond mixture.
5. Add the remaining ground almond mixture, and stir lightly to combine. Now comes the important part - mixing the batter to the correct consistency. Again, this video does a good job of explaining it. Fold the mixture in a series of 'turns', deflating the batter by spreading it against the side of the bowl. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat the movement - scooping the batter from the bottom of the bowl, and spreading it against the side. Continuously check the consistency of the batter - you want it to flow like lava when you lift the spatula from the bowl, and you should be able to 'draw' a figure 8 with it, without the batter breaking (again, watch lots of videos to get an idea! They help so much). This step can take some practice until you know what it should feel and look like. If in doubt you are better to under mix them than over mix them - the process of putting the batter into the bag and piping out will help mix a little too.
6. Fit a large pastry bag with a medium sized round tip, such as an ateco #805. Place the macaron template on a sheet pan, and place a second piece of parchment over it. Holding the piping bag at a 90˚ angle to the surface, pipe out the batter into blobs the size of the circles drawn on the template. Finish off each piped circle with a little "flick" of your wrist to minimise the batter forming a point (it will still form a small one, but we can get rid of this with banging). Remove the template from under the macarons.
7. Hold the baking sheet in two hands, and carefully but firmly, evenly bang it against the bench. Repeat this a few more times - this will get rid of any air bubbles, remove points on the top, and help them to spread out slightly.  Sprinkle the macarons shells with graham cracker crumb.
8. Repeat the piping and banging process until you have used up all of the batter - I usually make three sheet pans worth.
9. Allow the macarons to dry at room temperature for approximately 30 minutes, or until they form a skin that you can touch without your finger sticking to them. This time will drastically vary depending on the humidity.
10. About fifteen minutes before you are going to bake the macarons, place a spare sheet pan in the oven to preheat - this is going to be used to place under the pan with the macarons on it, to double up, which should help with even baking. Bake the macarons one sheet at a time - place the sheet with the macarons on the preheated sheet, and place in the oven.
11. Bake for approximately 18 minutes, rotating the pan once during the cooking process, and checking for doneness after 15 minutes. The macarons should develop a foot (the ruffled part on the bottom of the macaron), and bake without browning. To see if they are done - press down lightly on a shell. If the foot gives way, it needs a little longer, if it is stable, then it is close to being done. Test a macaron shell - if you can peel it away cleanly from the paper, they are done. If they are stable but cannot yet peel away cleanly, give them another minute or so. Again, this part takes a little trial and error depending on your oven. If they seem done but do not peel away cleanly, do not worry - there is a little trick for that!
12. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool on the sheet pan for 10 minutes before peeling off the parchment paper and allowing to cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat the baking with the remaining trays, using the same spare sheet pan to double up.
13. If your macs do not peel away cleanly, place them, on the parchment paper, into the freezer for 5-10 minutes, then peel away from the paper.
14. Store cooled macarons in an airtight container until ready to use.

DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE

1. Place the chocolate and butter in a small heat safe bowl. Heat the cream in a small pot over medium heat, until boiling. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and butter, and immediately cover with a plate. Leave to sit for 5-6 minutes. Whisk well until smooth, microwaving for 10 second increments, if needed, to melt any additional pieces of chocolate, stirring well. Transfer the ganache to a small piping bag fitted with a round piping tip.

ASSEMBLY

1. Match up the macaron shells into pairs of equal size. Using a cookie cutter slightly smaller than the macaron shell, cut out circles of marshmallow (I usually cut it when it is still in the baking sheet), dusting the cutter in the corn starch mixture between each one you cut out. Secure the marshmallow disc to one of the macaron shells using a dab of chocolate ganache, then blow torch the marshmallow until golden brown (I did this on a turntable). Repeat until one half of each macaron has a marshmallow disc.
2. We chose to torch the top shell of the macaron as well - this step is entirely optional. To do this, we put two unfilled macaron shells, flat side facing it, then briefly torched the outside. Torching them together means the middle of the shell does not get burnt.
3. Pipe a blob of ganache on top of each marshmallow disc, and top with the second shell.
4. Best eaten on the day they are made - if you can, store any leftovers separately and torch just prior to eating - however they will keep assembled for a few days in an airtight container.