They look so pretty don’t they? and if you saw the party post earlier then you might be inclined to host something similar yourself and macarons make a lovely treat as well as a decorative statement.

Charlotte from Buttercream and Dreams tells me that macarons are widely thought to be a difficult and long process to make. However, once you master them the flavour and colour combinations are endless and you will fast become addicted to making them! She also advised not to worry if they go wrong as they still taste delicious. It’s really important to be very accurate with the measurements and method to ensure that the macarons work, there are many methods out there but this is Charlotte’s chosen one as it is much simpler than some of the others out there.

Her favourite flavours include pretty pale pink rose water macaron, pistachio with a chocolate ganache and lavender with a honey mascarpone filling. The possibilities are endless.

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{Ingredients}
  • 2 large egg whites (at room temp)
  • 1/8 tsp cream of tartar (a pinch will do)
  • 1/4 cup caster sugar
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 3/4 cup finely ground almond flour
{Additional Supplies}
  • 2 baking sheets covered with baking paper
  • 2 mixing bowls
  • Sieve
  • hand blender or stand mixer
  • spatula
  • additional flavours & food colourings

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{Method}
  1. Preheat oven to 190 c.  The shelf should be on the lowest setting possible.
  2. Sift icing sugar and ground almonds in to a bowl. Discard anything left in sieve. 
  3. In the second bowl or freestanding mixer, whisk your egg whites until they start to foam. Add your pinch of cream of tartar.
  4. Continue to whisk until they reach soft peak stage.
  5. With mixer on a low speed setting, gradually sprinkle in caster sugar.
  6. Once all the caster sugar has been added to the egg whites, set mixer to high and whisk until egg whites reach stiff peak consistency. This will take anywhere from 2 – 5 minutes.
  7. Gradually sprinkle in the sifted almond and icing sugar mix from the first bowl into the second bowl with the stiff-peaked egg whites.
  8. Gently fold in the almond flour with your spatula. This is the tricky and critical stage.  You need to be sure to complete around 40-50 folds until the batter is just the right consistency. If you lift up the spatula and let a bit of batter drip back in it should fall back in to the bowl smoothly without leaving a tip. Be careful not to overbeat as this will make your mixture too runny.
  9. If you want to add colour of flavourings do so after about the 30th fold.
  10. To pipe the macarons you can either do by eye or to be more accurate draw perfect circles on the reverse of your paper about 1-2 cm apart.
  11. Use a tiny bit of mixture to paste the corners of your baking paper on to your trays so it doesn’t move around.
  12. Once piped, tap the baking sheet on your worksurface a few times to get the air bubbles out, then allow to rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until the tops of the macarons are dry to the touch.
  13. After the macarons have dried, reduce your oven temperature to 165 c, and put baking sheet in for the first 5 minutes.  You should see the “feet” of the macarons formed after these first five minutes.  Then, turn the baking sheets a half turn to ensure even baking – for a further five minutes.
  14. After the full 10 minutes of baking time, remove from the oven and let the macarons cool on the tray for about 10 minutes. Then gently peel the macs off the parchment paper and allow to cool further and dry out on a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes before filling.
  15. You can fill with anything from jam to buttercream depending on your preference. To make a simple buttercream mix 50g butter with 5og icing sugar and a splash of milk. Pipe a small amount in to the centre of a macaron and then sandwich carefully with another half.
  16. The macarons can be kept in the fridge but bring them back to room temperature before serving.
    Enjoy!

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Vote for us in the Best Lifestyle Blog Category

We are so pleased to be shortlisted in the Best Lifestyle Blog category in the Cosmopolitan Awards 2014 in association with Next! Thank you to everyone who nominated us… All we ask now is that you vote for us! It literally only takes 10 seconds…[raw]

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