Chocolate Macaroons

O.K.  here we are once more trying to share with you recipes for you to be able to create your own lavish afternoon tea party. Well now we have a few nice cakes for your cake stand or however you wish to display your delights I'm going to move on.
Every afternoon tea party needs some biscuits so I bring you Chocolate macaroons which are absolutely Yum,Yum and while looking in to the background of the macaroon I found this interesting story Accredited to Wikipedia and rather than you having to search it I thought I would share it with you.

 The earliest recorded macaroon recipes are for the almond meringue variety similar to amaretti, with a crisp crust and a softer interior. They were made from egg whites and almond paste. Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management[6] gives a recipe for a macaroon of this kind.
The name of the cookie comes from an Italian word meaning paste, maccarone. While origins are uncertain, some culinary historians claim that macaroons can be traced to an Italian monastery. The monks came to France in 1533, joined by the pastry chefs of Catherine de Medici, wife of King Henri II. Later, two Benedictine nuns, Sister Marguerite and Sister Marie-Elisabeth, came to Nancy seeking asylum during the French Revolution. The two women paid for their housing by baking and selling macaroon cookies, and thus became known as the "Macaroon Sisters."[7] Recipes for macaroons (also spelled "mackaroon," "maccaroon" and "mackaroom") appear in recipe books at least as early as 1725 (Robert Smith's Court Cookery, or the Complete English Cook).
Italian Jews later adopted the cookie because it has no flour or leavening (macaroons are leavened by egg whites) and can be enjoyed during the eight-day observation of Passover. It was introduced to other European Jews and became popular as a year-round sweet.[7] Over time, coconut was added to the ground almonds and, in certain recipes, replaced them. Potato starch is also sometimes included in the recipe, to give the macaroons more body.    
Don't you just love these kind of food stories? so with all that history finally to the recipe.

Sorry just have to mention This month I am entering the great chocolate challenge organised by Choclette @ http://choclogblog.blogspot.co.uk/ and Chele@http://thechocolatepot.blogspot.co.uk/
also standing in for Chele this month is Laura@  http://www.howtocookgoodfood.co.uk/Every month this competition is held with a different special ingredient must be used,a great idea and seeing as I already posted this before I new about the ingredient this month being Almonds I thought I would give it a go

Chocolate Macaroons

Ingredients

Rice paper

2 egg whites
225g/8oz/1 cup caster sugar(superfine) sugar
175g/6oz/1 3/4 cups ground almonds
225g/8oz dark chocolate

Instructions

1.Cover the  baking trays (cookie sheets) with rice paper.Whisk the egg whites in a large mixing bowl until stiff, then fold in the sugar and almonds.

2.Spoon into a large piping bag fitted with a 1 cm/ 1/2 inch plain nozzle (tip)..Pipe the mixture 7.5 cm/ 3 inches long spaced well apart to allow the mixture to spread

3. Bake in a preheated oven, 180oC/ 350oF/ Gas Mark 4, for 15-20 minutes or until  golden. cool on a  wire baking rack.Remove the excess rice paper from around the edges.

4.Melt the chocolate and dip the base of each biscuit into the chocolate.Place the macaroons on a sheet of baking parchment and leave to set.

5. Drizzle any remaining chocolate over the top of the biscuits and leave to set before serving.

Macs tip

Rice paper is edible so but if you wish you can remove all the rice paper not just the excess if you prefer.

Chocolate facts.

Chocolate in a blue wrapper won’t sell in Shanghai or Hong Kong, because the Chinese associate blue with death.

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