I didn’t know that I actually believed in fate until I met Victor. There is no other explanation for why someone who completes me this much has entered my life, especially when I’ve been beaten down with so much pain and heartache. This man has a darkness to him, rich and luxurious, something that’s palpable whenever I’m standing at his side. Yet that darkness doesn’t consume him. It’s balanced by fragility, tenderness, and a sweetness that coaxes away any of the sharp or bitter edges that he might present. He offers a sense of comfort when things become heavy, just being in his presence makes me feel like a queen. He is decadence personified. I will never love another the way I love this man.
Ingredients:
Shells:
- 1 cup sugar, ground into a fine powder with a pestle (icing sugar)
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup almonds
- ¼ cup sugar, non-ground
- ¼ cup bittersweet chocolate, melted
Filling
- 1/3 lb bittersweet chocolate
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup sugar, ground into a fine powder with a pestle (icing sugar)
- 1 tbsp corn syrup
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup red currants
- ¼ cup blackberries
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1 cup sugar, non-ground
Directions:
FOR THE SHELLS: Blanch the almonds. Using a mortar and pestle, grind them down to a very fine powdery state, and add the ground sugar, continuing to work until it becomes a well-blended powder combination. Sieve this mixture well, and grind whatever solids are left to mimic the rest of the powder. Separate the egg white and whisk with the non-ground sugar, and chocolate. Whisk until it’s stiff, and your arm feels like it is about to pack up and leave the rest of your body. Add in the almond mixture, and fold in very carefully and thoroughly. Fill a pastry bag with this mixture, and line a baking sheet with parchment. Pipe ½ inch above the sheet and make rounds slightly smaller than an inch in diameter. Space one inch apart. Tap to release bubbles, and then bake in a 375 degree oven for 12 minutes. Only bake one sheet’s worth at a time.
FOR THE FILLING: While all the macarons are baking, sieve all the berries to get a relatively seed-free puree from them, and combine in a pot with the sugar and cook over a medium flame for fifteen to twenty minutes, as needed to thicken. Allow to cool a bit, then transfer into a chilled area.
In a small pot, over very low flame, combine the chocolate, cream, butter, syrup, and salt, and allow the chocolate to melt well, and becomes very shiny. Cool until it thickens substantially, then whisk it until fluffy. Pipe a swirl of the chocolate mixture onto one half of each macaron, and dollop some berry jam into the center. Press a macaron onto the top to sandwich it all together.
