Delicious

Each time I’ve made French Macarons with this simple recipe they managed to turn out quite well. Before finding this recipe in the pages of Woman’s Day magazine, I tried MANY other recipes and failed each time. I don’t know what it is about this recipe, but the “webbing” always works! Honestly, the one thing that I still haven’t mastered is the smooth top, but with a bit more practice that too will work one day, I’m sure.

So here’s that magic recipe with which I baked these macarons for my sister’s birthday tomorrow. Enjoy!

MAKES: 20 PREP: 1 Hour (Plus resting & cooling) COOK: 15-20mins

INGREDIENTS:

Icing sugar – 2 cups, firmly packed
Almond meal – 1.5 cups, firmly packed
Egg-whites – 4
Caster sugar – 1/3 cup
Food colouring – a few drops (personal preference on colour!)

STEP 1 – Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper. In a medium- sized bowl, sift icing sugar and almond meal together.

Step 1 - Sifting

STEP 2 – In a large bowl, beat egg-whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add caster sugar, beating between each addition, until sugar dissolves.

Step 3 - Adding Caster Sugar STEP 3 – Using a large metal spoon, carefully fold in icing sugar mixture and food colouring to the egg white mixture. The consistency should be like lava, flowing and not runny. Try not to over do it (maximum of 50 folds should be fine)

Step 4 - Mixture Folded STEP 4 – Transfer mixture into a large piping bag, cut the tip off or fit with plain nozzle, and pipe straight down to create 4 cm rounds, 2.5 cm apart on the baking paper. (As you can see, I’m using a macaron template for greater ease). Lightly tap trays once on bench. Set aside for 30 minutes in a cool dry place, allowing a skin to develop over the top.

Step 5 - Piping

STEP 5 – Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool on trays.

STEP 6 – Prepare the ganache. I love to melt some white chocolate and combine it with sour cream. Google has heaps of recipes you can try! Pipe the ganache on one shell and prepare an identical sized shell to partner it with.

Step 7 - Frosting STEP 7 – Voila! Your macarons are complete. I enjoy them more after they’ve been in the fridge for a few hours!

Step 8 - Combine Shells Enjoy!

If anyone has tips on making the tops smooth and not pointy, please let me know! I tapped the tray and tried smoothing them down with a spoon but obviously they’re still not quite perfect. Oh well, practice makes perfect.