Macaroon Making.

Macaroons have, for a long time, both tempted me into making them and completely avoiding them at all costs. They are both simply glorious and scary impossible looking at the same time. There is no other dessert on earth, I think, that fills me with the joy and fear I face when thinking about giving these a go.

It's all because they are so simple in ingredients, you see. A few basic store cupboard bits and you've got the makings of these bad boys. But they are so EASY TO GET WRONG! And that fear, that fear alone is why I have avoided them like the plague!

But this past weekend I said no more... So I cast my fears to the side and began on a journey to make macaroons.

If you Google macaroons, you will be inundated with recipes claiming to be the best, the most tested, the super supreme, the one and only.

Essentially all the macaroon recipes I saw were the same. Using the same ingredients just varying in quantity and yield. Most recommended having time on your side when making these little treats. A rushed macaroon is surely set for disaster. Armed with Google pictures of how the process should look, I began my french patisserie journey.

Turkish Delight Macaroons

• 30 grams granulated sugar
• 3 egg whites (mine were cold from the fridge)
• 125 grams of ground almonds
• 225 grams of icing sugar

1.     Blitz the ground almonds and icing sugar in a blender. Then sift them through to ensure there are no almond clumpy bits in the mix.

2.   Toss the granulated sugar into the egg whites and  until thick and glossy. You will know the meringue is done when a ball of it is stuck inside the whisk attachment of your mixer. 

3.   If you are going to add colour to the shells, I did it here. Just one or too drops of pink for that Turkish delight colour. 

4.   Fold in the almond/icing sugar mix to the egg whites. It will look funny and clumpy but here you want it to look like lava, so if you dollop a bit of the mix on top of the mixture itself, it'll reincorporate into the mix. 

5.   If adding flavour, add to your taste here. I added 1 and 1 quarter teaspoons of rose water here.

6.   Put mix into a piping bag with a round piping tip (this is the exact one I used) and pipe onto a tray lined with baking paper. (Cheaty tip!! On the underside of the baking paper, I drew out my circles for the size I wanted the macaroons to be and then piped them out onto the clean side. This helped me get all, more or less, the same sized macaroons!)

7.   Pick the tray up and bang it hard onto the worktop (to form the feet and get all the air bubbles out) and leave to sit for 15 minutes. They form a slight skin on top.

8.   Half way through those 15 minutes, preheat the oven to 150°C.

9.   Pick the tray up again and bang it onto the worktop before going into the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes. Watch your oven though, remember no rushing. Not all ovens will take 20 minutes. You know they are done when they are crisp on the top and sides and are firm to touch. You should be able to peel them off the paper.

10. Remove and allow to sit on the baking tray until cold. Then peel away to your hearts content.

11. Fill with the sandwich of your choice, I used a plain chocolate buttercream here, and sample one... or two, or five. You know for quality control purposes!

Perfect for today's Tea Party don't you think? 

I got out some of my oldest china and set the table while the sun shone in my window for the briefest of seconds. It felt like spring for a bit, then it rained and it got dark and cold. So I poured myself another hot cuppa and dived into another macaroon. What else could I do on this dreary Tuesday morning?

Joining up with the lovely Sarah, do pop by and have a look. There will be lots of other treats in store today. 

So what do you think? Have you tried these little treats? I know there is room for improvement but I am very happy with my first attempt. If you have any pearls of wisdom, then I would love to hear! I will be making a Valentine's themed batch ("so pretty much red with pink frosting, ya Momma?" "Yes Doll. But Valentine's theme sounds better.") for the school fair later on today. Hope the kids like them...

As always, thank you so much for popping by. X