Coffee Macaron Cake with Hazelnut Cream and White Chocolate

Macaron cake layers:

1. Blend icing sugar, almond meal, and instant coffee together.
2. Sift the mixture into a large bowl. It is important to sift carefully and not to leave large blocks of the mixture. If little chunks of almonds remain – do not put them into the mix.
3. Put egg whites and salt in the bowl of a mixer with a whipping-hook and blend at high speed until the mixture foams and white meringue begins to form.
4. Add sugar and continue beating until a glossy and thick meringue forms.
5. Add ground powders to the bowl of meringue and begin to “knock down” the mixture by folding in with a spatula. In the first moments stir slightly aggressively, and then go into a gentle fold until the mixture is uniform and stable, but not liquefied.
6. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a round piping tip and pipe out two 24 cm diameter circles on a baking sheet or silicon mat. The circles should be more or less identical in size.
7. Leave the macarons for an hour at room temperature (before baking) in order to dry a little and create a thin layer.
8. Preheat oven to 150c degrees.
9. Bake macarons for 15-20 minutes, until golden and risen.
10. Cool completely before touching the macarons. It can be separated from the sheet once completely cooled.

Hazelnut cream:

1. Heat milk in a pot until a simmer.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla.
3. Add about 1/3 of the amount of boiling milk over the egg yolk mixture while whisking until mixture is smooth.
4. Add the remaining milk mixture into the bowl and beat well.
5. Return the mixture into the pot and cook while constantly whisking on a medium-high heat until you get a thick pastry cream.
6. Cool the cream in the refrigerator until completely cooled.
7. Transfer the cold cream into a bowl and beat using a whipping-hook.
8. In a separate bowl, beat the butter with a paddle attachment until it softens slightly. Add praline paste and blend well until the mixture is smooth.
9. Add the whipped pastry and mix just until creamy smooth.
10. Transfer the cream into a piping bag with a round 2 cm piping tip.
11. Flip one of the macarons over so that its bottom is facing upwards. Pipe crowded mounds of hazelnut cream on the outline of the macaroon.

White chocolate Chantilly:

1. Chop the chocolate and put in a bowl.
2. Heat heavy cream and salt in a pot and bring to a simmer.
3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, wait a minute, and beat well until a thin and uniform ganache is formed.
4. Cool the ganache for 3-4 hours at least until it is completely cooled.
5. Transfer the cooled ganache to the bowl of a mixer with a whipping-hook, add cream stabilizer whip at high speed, until you get a stable cream.
6. Transfer the cream into a piping bag with a jagged 1 cm piping tip and pipe onto the center of the macaron.
7. Close off with the top macaron base.
8. Pipe the remaining creams to decorate and garnish with roasted and halved hazelnuts, finely chopped hazelnut bits, and dark chocolate shavings.