Made with Creative Nature's cacao powder, these chocolate macarons are filled with luscious salted caramel for an indulgent, gluten free treat!

Yield: 12 macarons
Prep time: 30 minutes
 Cook time: 15 minutes

Gluten Free Salted Caramel & Cacao Macarons

Cacao is the raw ingredient chocolate is made from and is one of the most chemically complex foods known to man. For this recipe, I used Creative Nature's cacao powder, an organic powder ground from the popular Criollo beans. The thing I love most about cacao powder is that you still get a lovely chocolatey taste without the usual concerns associated with chocolate.

Cacao works in this recipe as a replacement for cocoa powder, resulting in a less sweet, but more complex macaron. The harmony of the sweet salted caramel filling and the more bitter cacao is a beautiful combination that you'll enjoy!

Ingredients:

For the macarons
1 egg, separated, yolk discarded
10 grams Creative Nature Cacao Powder
13 grams caster or superfine sugar
25 grams ground almonds
70 grams icing sugar

For the salted caramel
1/2 teaspoon sea salt/span>
70 grams butter, softened
75 grams double or heavy cream
125 grams light brown sugar

Gluten Free Cacao Powder Macarons

Instructions:

1. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Sift the icing sugar, cacao powder and ground almonds together in a bowl and set aside.
3. Beat the egg whites with the caster sugar until stiff peaks have formed.
4. Fold in the icing sugar, cacao powder and ground almonds until incorporated.
5. Scoop the macaron mix into a piping bag and pipe onto the parchment-lined baking tray.
6. Allow the macarons to rest until a skin forms (about 20 minutes), while preheating the oven to 120C.
7. Meanwhile, make the salted caramel by heating the sugar, salt and cream until the sugar has dissolved.
8. Allow the mixture to bubble for two or three minutes and then cool completely.
9. Beat the butter until smooth with an electric whisk and pour in the cooled cream and continue mixing until whipped. 
10. Refrigerate the salted caramel to allow it to set.
11. Once the macarons have baked, allow to cool and then fill with the salted caramel and serve.