Macarons

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you had a great weekend! I've been having a great time visiting my hubby, walking a lot, sightseeing and trying awesome food.

Lately, macarons have become one of my favorite deserts. They are perfect size mini treats; great for my after dinner tea ritual. 

STRAWBERRY MACARONS

Ingredients

1. 50g ground almonds
2. 140g icing sugar
3. 2 large egg whites
4. 1 tbsp caster sugar
5. Pink food coloring paste
6. 3 tbsp good-quality strawberry jam

Method

1.  Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5. Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
2.  Sieve the ground almonds and icing sugar together into a large bowl. Put the egg whites into a separate bowl, and using an electric hand whisk, beat to soft peaks. Add the caster sugar, and whisk until glossy. Fold into the almond and icing sugar mixture, along with a very small amount of the pink food colouring. Mix until just combined and evenly pink – the mixture will reduce as the air bubbles in the meringue burst.
3. Put the mixture into a disposable piping bag, snip off 1cm from the end. Pipe small blobs (about 1 heaped teaspoon each) onto the baking paper, spaced apart, so you have about 50 in total. Set aside for 10 minutes to dry – this is important as it gives the macaroons the correct texture. Bake for 5 minutes, then turn the whole sheet of paper over – the macaroons will be stuck so won’t fall off. Bake for another 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
4. Peel off the baking paper from the macaroons, then sandwich 2 together with a tiny blob of strawberry jam in the centre. Repeat to give you 25 in total.