Indulge in your very own macaroon madness with
these gorgeous French almond macaroons. For my first try I was pretty happy
with the results.
Makes
50
Ingredients
300g
icing sugar
300g
ground almonds
5
eggwhites (from 59g eggs)
Pinch
of cream of tartar
1/3
cup (75g) caster sugar
Red
and yellow food colouring
Fillings
250g
unsalted butter, softened
150g
icing sugar, sifted
2
tsp finely grated mandarin rind
1
tsp orange blossom water
1/2
cup raspberries
1
tsp rosewater
Method
1.
Using
a fine sieve, sift icing sugar and almonds, pushing through with a wooden
spoon. Using an electric mixer, whisk eggwhites until foamy. Add cream of tartar
and whisk until soft peaks form. Add sugar, 1 tbs at a time, and whisk until
dissolved. Stir meringue into almond mixture (mixture will be stiff), then
halve. Tint one half pink, the other half orange.
2.
Spoon
1 mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm piping nozzle. Pipe (or spoon)
1.5cm rounds on to baking paper-lined oven trays*, then repeat with other
mixture. Set meringues aside, uncovered, on trays for 1 hour (this will help
minimise cracking).
3.
Preheat
oven to 150°C and bake macaroons, 2 trays at a time, swapping trays halfway
through cooking, for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven
and cool on trays. Slide a knife under each macaroon to release from paper,
then store in an airtight container until ready to fill.
4.
For
fillings, using an electric mixer, beat butter until pale and fluffy, then
gradually beat in icing sugar until combined. Transfer half the mixture from
the bowl to another bowl and add mandarin rind and orange blossom water. Stir
to combine. Add raspberries and rosewater to remaining mixture in mixing bowl
and, using the electric mixer, beat until well combined. Sandwich pink
macaroons with raspberry filling and orange macaroons with mandarin filling.
Serve.
Notes
To create a perfectly smooth top on your macaroons, dip a finger into a bowl of
water and gently smooth out any peaks.
