Mastering Macaroons

Macaroons are beautiful (End point - no arguments!). I first came across these beautiful jewel coloured treats in patisseries when I was living in France. Needless to say, I very quickly became addicted to their slightly chewy texture and vibrant flavours (my personal favourite is violet and cassis - last tome I was in Paris we splurged in Laduree as you can see below!)

Since I have joined the world of food blogging I have been reading about how hard and tempremental these babies are to make at home. With my sister , we decided to spend a weekend mastering the art of the macaroon (at least for home cooks anyway!)

Armed with lots of egg whites and almond meal, a tried and true recipe and a whole day, we set about it. And guess what? We did it! Our little babies had feet and tasted delicious - so maybe my hand isn't the steadiest in piping small circles of batter, but the texture was wonderfully chewy and the lemon and line clearly shone through the sugar and the almonds.

I think I'm going to have to say it...

My macaroons were a success!

Lemon and lime macaroons

3 egg whites

50g caster sugar

200g icing sugar

110g almond meal

Zest of 1 lime and 1/2 a lemon

Lemon curd, to fill (my sister made this, and it was amazing!)

1. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add caster sugar to egg whites until a glossy merengue forms. If you tip the bowl upside down, nothing should fall out!

2. Sift icing sugar and almond meal together twice to make sure you have a fine homogenous mixture. Add to merengue along with zest. Fold aggressively for about 10 "turns" to incorporate the almonds into the merengue. Continue folding for another 35 turns. Lift a small bit up, if the tip fades after about 30 seconds, then you are good to go! Otherwise, do a few more turns and test again.

3. Fill a piping bag with the mixture, pipe small rounds onto lined baking tray. Once complete, let tray "proof" for about an hour.

4. Pop the macaroons into a 150 degree Celsius oven for 10-12 minutes.

5. Cool and fill with the lemon curd

Makes about 24 macaroons