Yesterday I spent the majority of my day baking and Instagramming (@BethME) my favourite sweet treat, macaroons! Seeing as the recipe we used proved to be extremely successful, and tasty, I thought that I would share this recipe with you all!
(Recipe Source)
Ingredients:
Macaroon:
170g icing sugar
160g ground
almonds
120ml egg whites
from about 4 medium eggs, separated into 2 equal batches
160g granulated
sugar
½ tsp red food
colouring
Filling:
120g double
cream
110g dark
chocolate, finely chopped
25g unsalted
butter, room temperature
Fresh Strawberries
Method:
Place the icing sugar and ground
almonds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse about 15 times until fully
combined. Sieve this mixture into a large bowl, discarding any particles that
stay in the sieve. Add the first batch of egg whites to the almond mixture, mix
to form a thick paste and set aside.
Tip the second batch of egg
whites into a spotlessly clean, heatproof bowl and have an electric whisk at
the ready. Place 50ml water and the granulated sugar into a small saucepan on
medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the syrup registers 110C, using a
sugar thermometer, at which time start to beat the egg whites on high speed.
Once the syrup is at 118C pour it slowly down the side of the mixer bowl,
avoiding the moving whisk. Continue to whisk on high until the mixture has
cooled slightly and you have a shiny peaked meringue mixture – the bowl should
no longer be hot to the touch, but still warm. Add the colouring and whisk to
combine.
Tip the meringue onto the almond
mixture and gently fold together. It is important not to over-mix the batter –
it should fall in a thick ribbon from the spatula . The ribbon should also
fade back into the batter within about 30 secs – if it doesn’t, fold a few more
times.
Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas
3-4. Line 3 baking sheets with baking parchment. Transfer the batter to a
piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Pipe rounds about 2.5cm in diameter onto
the prepared baking sheets {we printed off templates and placed these under the baking sheets for consistency}.
Leave to rest for 30 mins out of the fridge, or
until the macaroons have developed a skin.
Bake the macaroons for 14 mins
(this needs to be precise so you could test a macaroon first). Immediately
slide the parchment onto the work surface and cool for a few minutes before
gently peeling the macaroons off the paper.
To make the filling, place the
cream in a small saucepan and the chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring the cream
just to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Leave to stand for a few mins,
then stir to combine. Add the butter and stir until smooth, then leave to set
until thickened.
Place the chocolate mix into a clean piping bag with a smaller
nozzle and pipe around the edge of half the macaroons. Fill the centre with a finely sliced strawberry {you could also use jam} and sandwich with another macaroon shell.
These are best eaten on the same day, especially as we used fresh strawberries, or kept in a cool dry place outside of the fridge to prevent them from turning soggy!
Have you made Macaroons before?
Beth
Disclaimer: This recipe was sourced from BBC GoodFood but tasted too good not to share!
