EASY MACARON RECIPE
Macarons are the perfect sweet treat to accompany an afternoon tea and make a thoughtful gift for family, friends or the one you love. Easy to bake and even more delicious to eat, try our marvellous, multicoloured and easy-to-follow macaron recipe and we'll will show you how to bake these delicate and delicious cookies in five easy steps.
Ingredients - for the Macarons
200g Ground Almonds
225g Icing Sugar
Pinch of Salt
150g Egg Whites
70g Granulated Sugar
1tsp of Vanilla Bean Paste
Food Gel/Colouring of your Choice
Ingredients - for the Filling
150g Unsalted Butter
250g Icing Sugar
Dash of Milk
Optional - finely chopped strawberries, mango or grated chocolate
Equipment
Two mixing bowls
Electric mixer
Piping bag or freezer bag
STEP 1 - THE PREP
Preheat your oven to 170°C (150°C fan) or gas mark 3. Line two baking sheets with parchment and draw 4cm circles about 2.5cm apart - turn over, so the ink is on the underside. Separate your eggs and place the egg whites into the fridge for 15 mins before using. Take your ground almonds and blitz with a mixer, or push through a fine sieve until they are powder-like inconsistency.
STEP 2 - MACARON MIXTURE
Mix your dry ingredients; ground almond powder, sifted icing sugar, and pinch of salt into a bowl, and put to one side. With an electric mixer, take your chilled egg whites and beat while slowly adding in the granulated sugar and vanilla bean paste/gel colouring if using. When thoroughly beaten, spoon in the almond mixture and fold firmly until the air bubbles are knocked out, and the mixture is worked to a lava-like consistency.
STEP 3 - BAKE
Transfer the mixture to a piping bag or use a freezer food bag with the corner cut out and pipe onto the circles drawn on your baking parchment. Knock the baking tray to dislodge any final air bubbles and bake for 15-20 mins or until the macarons easily lift from the parchment. Leave to cool.
STEP 4 - THE FILLING
In a bowl, beat the butter, sift icing sugar and dash of milk into a thick consistency. Add the filling to one-half of your macarons and add, if using, chopped strawberries or grated chocolate before sandwiching the two halves together.
STEP 5 - GIFT
Place a few macarons into one of our beautiful fine bone china mugs and gift to your loved ones.
