Sift the icing sugar, cocoa powder and ground almonds together, twice.

Whip the egg whites till frothy consistency then slowly add the granulated sugar.

Once peaks start to form, (if using coffee instead of cocoa, add in now) add in 1/3 of the almond mixture, fold your spatula under the batter and around the edges to fold.

Add in the rest of the almond mixture and continue to fold until it forms a ribbon off the spatula.

Pipe the mixture onto a baking sheet in 1 inch rounds.

Drop the pan on a surface 6-7 times to release any bubbles and use a toothpick to remove any big pockets of air.

Allow to sit and form a crust over the top for about 1 hour.

Place the macarons in a pre-heated oven of 320 F for 14-15 minutes, until the macarons pull away from the cookie sheet without sticking.

Let them cool completely before removing from the cookie sheet and filling with ganache.

For the ganache, heat the cream, chocolate (or coffee and vanilla pudding) and salt through until the chocolate is melted.

Allow to cool in fridge for 20 minutes, then whisk until smooth and the texture of peanut butter.

Pipe onto half of the macarons and place the other halves on top.