Light, airy, meringue-like, beautiful French macarons have been on my baking bucket list for 2 years. I’ve been studying, testing, and driving myself crazy in the kitchen for months trying to get these things right. I’ve never been more determined.
French macarons are delicate cookies with a crunchy exterior and weightless interior. They have a nougat-like, chewy texture in your mouth and can be filled with anything from frosting and caramel to curd and ganache
That’s why they’re so expensive in bakeries and restaurants! These are quite particular little cookies, as I’m sure you already guessed.
Again, perfecting French macarons takes practice. I’m not saying this to intimidate you! I’m saying this to prepare you for a French macaron journey. Let’s get started
Ingredients
125g/4½oz icing sugar
125g/4½oz ground almonds
90g/3½oz free-range egg whites
2 tbsp water
110g/4oz caster sugar
food colouring (optional)
desiccated coconut, for sprinkling (optional)
150ml/5fl oz double or whipped cream, whipped
Method
Preheat the oven to 170/C/325F/Gas 3 and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Put the icing sugar, ground almonds and 40g/1½oz egg whites together in a large bowl and mix to a paste.
Put the water and caster sugar in a small pan and heat gently to melt the sugar, then turn up the heat and boil until the mixture starts to go syrupy and thickens - I don’t use a thermometer but if you prefer to use one, it should read 115C/239F at this stage.
Whisk the remaining 50g/2oz egg whites in a small bowl until medium-stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl, then pour in the sugar syrup, whisking until the mixture becomes stiff and shiny. For coloured macaroons, add a few drops of food colouring. Tip this meringue mixture into the almond paste mixture and stir gently until the becomes stiff and shiny again.
Spoon into the piping bag. Pipe a little mixture under each corner of the baking paper to stop it sliding around. With the bag held vertically, pipe 4cm/1½in flat circles onto the lined tray, about 2cm/¾in apart, twisting the bag after each one. The mixture should be quite loose to give a smooth finish. The piping will leave a small ‘tip’ on each circle so, when they’re all piped, give the tray 2–3 slams on a flat surface to flatten them. At this stage, sprinkle with desiccated coconut if you want.
Leave to stand for 30 minutes to form a skin then bake in the oven for 12–15 minutes with the door slightly ajar until firm. Remove from the oven, lift the paper off the baking tray and leave the macaroons to cool on the paper.
When cool, sandwich the macaroons together with whipped cream. They can be kept for a couple of days, if they hang around that long!
i hope you guys enjoyed these lovely,Scrumptious little treats,,and as always it is a new series so dont forget to comment and upvote my post so i can keep this series going,,love you all and see you in my next blog!
