French Almond Macaroons

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.