Delicious pink bundles of goodness…

Everyone loves macarons. EVERYONE.

These are dairy free too, so lower in fat than your average macarons!

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 240ml icing sugar
• 180ml ground almonds
• 2 eggs
• 120ml caster sugar
• 5 tbsp. butter (soya for non dairy recipe)
• dash of milk (soya for non-dairy recipe)
• vanilla essence
• cocoa powder (2tbsp)
• red food colouring

(This started as an experiment, so everything was weighed in millilitres…sorry…)

1. Sieve the icing sugar and ground almonds into a bowl. Mix the ingredients and set aside.
2. Separate the egg yolks and empty the whites into a bowl. Do NOT throw away the eggs yolks – you will use these later. Whisk the egg whites until there are soft peaks, then add half the sugar. Continue to whisk until the peaks stiffen. Add your red food colouring here until pink.
3. Fold half the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then add the rest. Fold it until fully incorporated. Scrape the mixture against the side of the bowl to get rid of the lumps and the consistency is smoother.
4. Pipe the mixture in equal sized circular shapes onto greaseproof paper. It is very important that you allow these time to set. I usually wait up to an hour, or until I can lightly press the macarons and leave a dent, with none of the batter coming off on my finger. Bake in the oven an 150’C for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how large your circles are.
5. Now the filling. Whisk your egg yolks in a pan with a dash of milk and the other half of your sugar. Continue to whisk over a medium heat until it thickens. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Add the butter, then stir in the cocoa powder and a few drops of vanilla essence.
6. Allow the macarons to cool completely, then pipe the filling evenly onto half of the macarons, using the other half as a ‘hat’ to cover them. Your macarons should look like little burgers!

 

Experiment with your decorations!

 

 

 

Velvet Spice