Chocolate Raspberry Macaron 'eclairs'

I've been seeing a bit of a trend for long eclair type macarons going around so I thought I might give them a try.

I whipped up a batch of macaron batter piped them into a long oval shape, baked and filled them with ganache.

When I was almost finished and had only a few long macarons to fill I realised I had some raspberries in the fridge. Of course I had to add them.

The raspberry filled version ended up being the most delicious macarons I have had for quite a while, oh my goodness they were so yummy. So seriously yummy that I'm going to call it and say there were superdooperscrummy.

Yup that yummy indeed.

In truth I was not the biggest fan of the long thin macarons that were not filled with the raspberries. To my tastes they had more shell and less of the soft macaron filling as a result of the shape. I am not saying they were not good, we ate every single last crumb, but I guess the traditional round shape is popular for a reason. Others may think differently :)

I was not confident enough to leave the raspberry macarons in the fridge for too long, usually with a regular macaron I would make them and leave for a day or so before eating, Raspberries seem to be highly perishable in these parts so I erred on the side of caution and ate them 6 hours after making them.

Or maybe that was as long as I could wait, my memory is a bit fuzzy about the reasoning behind the timing.

To make the shells I used my regular macaron mixture coloured brown CLICK HERE for recipe.

For an actual chocolate macaron recipe CLICK HERE - however I was using dark chocolate ganache so I did not feel the need for chocolate shells as well. Truthfully I find my recipe for chocolate shells a tad temperamental if I do not source the exact same chocolate each time. I have been experimenting on a new recipe - maybe I will put together a blooper/failure post sometime so you can all have a giggle.

Anyhoo, after you have made up your macaron batter, pipe into long oval shapes around 2cm (3/4") by 7cm (2 3/4") which after baking seemed to fit 3 raspberries nicely. If you like you can draw up templates to pipe to try and ensure your shapes are even, or I just did it by hand. Also I do not use a piping tip, I just cut the end of a disposable piping bag.

Follow the directions on the macaron recipe post for leaving to set for 30 minutes and baking, then allow to cool.

Mix up a batch of ganache using around 400g (14oz) dark chocolate (bittersweet chocolate) with 200g (7oz) cream and heat in microwave for 2 minutes on high. Whisk until silky smooth and then allow to sit at room temperature until set enough to pipe.

To assemble pipe on ganache, press raspberries in place and then pipe a very thin line of ganache onto another macaron and press it onto the raspberry filled macaron using a tiny amount of pressure to push into place, but not so much you will crush the delicate shell.

Refrigerate in an airtight container, allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

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