Almond Macaroons and Chocolate Ganache

Today in class we topped the brownies with chocolate ganache and white chocolate stripes (napoleon style).  These were the most amazing brownies I have ever tasted.    I never actually made the ganache, as the chef instructor prepared one batch for the whole class, but the recipe is in Gisslen.

My Splenda brownies from yesterday turned out to be a fail.  They are not sweet enough at all.  Perhaps I need more Splenda in the recipe.  The texture is okay, but they are also a little dry and less chewy.

Almond macaroons were difficult to replicate at home.  These came out terrible!  They tasted floury, not crisp and sweet like meringue.  I used way too much flour and not enough Splenda.  Next time I'll try using 240 g almond flour instead of bread flour.  I would also try to use more Splenda (30 g of Splenda).   They were more bready than crisp, but I am glad they kept their shape, as deflated meringues were a common issue in Splenda meringue recipes I've been reading online.

Almond Macaroons
480 g bread flour (try reducing to 240 g almond flour)
150 g egg whites (about 4.5 eggs)
75 g sugar
15 g Splenda

Here's what almond macaroons from Gisslen look like.  Yum!