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Girly indulgence time: Macaroons

February 25, 2011 by Katie Bryson

Feeding my boys and a firefighter is hard graft at times, so to reward myself I’ve decided to write sporadic blog posts that are ultra girly. I need to embrace my inner pink and glittery side every now and again to try and balance the hurly burly testosterone that fills my home!

It’s not that I’m a particularly girly girl, maybe I’ve been watching a bit too much My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, but whatever it is, I need to let it out!

So without further ado, I’ve had my first go at making one of the girliest sweet delights on earth – macaroons!

My friend Sarah from Maison Cupcake, aka the mistress of macaroons showed me how to make them a few weeks ago. Then watching Lorraine Pascale whip them up on her show, it reminded me to pull my finger out and actually have a try myself.

I used the basic recipe from Ottolenghi The Cookbook and then princessed them up with pink food colouring and rosewater.

Macaroons fit for a princess

It was a nerve wracking process – Sarah had warned me that sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. In fact she made them a staggering fifteen times until they finally worked – zoinks!

To start off with I thought mine were a total disaster. They weren’t entirely circular, were a bit on the big side and some got a bit stuck to the greaseproof paper.

However once I’d put them together with the buttercream they actually looked fairly respectable.

Matthew and the boys didn’t like them at all… I’m not sure if it was the colour or the perfumey flavour of the rosewater or probably both! However I thought they were delicious. Crunchy, chewy and delicate. I ate them all myself – oops!

Pink macaroons with rosewater buttercream

For the shells

110g icing sugar
60g ground almonds
2 free-range egg whites (60g)
pink food colouring

Buttercream filling

100g unsalted butter, at room temp
45g icing sugar
1 tbsp roswater
pink food colouring

Method:

1: Heat the oven to 160’C, 150’C Fan Oven. Blitz the almonds and icing sugar in a food processor to get it to the finest possible consistency.

2: Beat the egg whites and caster sugar on full speed until you achieve a stiff peak consistency. This mean when you lift the beaters out of the white foam a little mountain should rise up and stay proud rather than drooping back down.

3: Sieve the almond and icing sugar mixture on top of your meringue and with a spatula sweep around the outside edge of the mixture and then bring your spatula through the middle up and down 10 times. Add in your food colours and then repeat the spatula round and up and down ritual  5-6 times until the mixture has gradually combined and has a thick consistency that oozes like lava. Fill a disposable piping bag with the mixture – I sat it in a tall glass to do this more easily. Snip the end across at about 1.5cm width.

4: Line a couple of baking sheets with greaseproof paper – get them to stay on by dotting small amounts of the mixture in each corner to act like glue. Then pipe £2 coin sized discs of  your mixture onto the sheet spaced evenly apart. I got about 26 discs out of mine but it could vary. Tap your baking sheets firmly on the work surface a couple of times to even out the mixture and then let them sit out for about 20 minutes or until the surface has formed a slight skin. When you gently touch the mixture will no longer be sticky – if it is then leave it a bit longer.

5: Cook in the oven for 12-18 mins – check frequently to see how they’re doing. They should have formed ‘feet’ which is that crinkly layer at the bottom and the tops should be smooth. Take out of the oven and allow to cool completely. Then very carefully use a large palette knife to sweep underneath each shell and place gently on a cooking rack.

6: To make your filling cream the butter and sugar, then add the rosewater to taste and colouring gradually to achieve your desired shade.

7: Carefully spread a layer of filling on the underside of one shell and gently use another shell to create your pretty sandwich.

They will store in a sealed container for a few days – but I don’t fancy your chances resisting them!

Feeling fired up to perfect my macaroons I decided to try making chocolate ones next. I needed to make a special gift for a few people doing me huge favours this week and as they’re all ladies I knew they would be appreciated for their frivolousness.

I used the same basic recipe for the shells, just adding 12g of cocoa powder. For the filling I decided to use the quick and simple fudge icing from my express chocolate fudge cake.

I achieved a stiffer consistency with the egg whites this time around and so they were much easier to pipe onto the baking sheets. I made sure they were much smaller and more even this time around.

I cooked them for about 14 minutes – some were ready and some were still a bit sticky underneath. Next time I think I’ll leave them for about 15-16 minutes. It’s a tricky balance because you want them to be dry on the bottom but still squidgy in the middle.

The fudge icing made a great filling – easy to spread and a lovely rich dark colour to contrast with the paler shell.

It took ages to find the right packaging for my little chocolate beauties. I had a go at covering an old smoothie box with wrapping paper but it looked like something the dog had got hold of. After an extensive rummage in my baking cupboard I came up trumps with these miniature loaf cases from Sainsburys.

Then Matthew suggested wrapping them in greaseproof paper and I found some gold twine left from Christmas, and the little parcels ended up looking pretty classy.

I never thought i’d be able to make something like macaroons so I’m really proud of my efforts. I feel inspired to experiment with colours and flavours so do let me know of any cool combinations you may have tried!

Filed Under: Bakes, Gifts, Party Tagged With: cake, chocolate macaroons, home baking, Macaroons, posh baking, rosewater

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Comments

  1. Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says

    February 25, 2011 at 9:57 am

    Katie,

    they are lovely. I need to get back to the kitchen and have another go for me!

    • Katie Bryson says

      February 26, 2011 at 3:41 pm

      I bet you’ll come up with some cool inventive flavours Helen… let me know how you get on!

  2. Rosemary Hamilton says

    February 25, 2011 at 10:38 am

    I was one of the lucky ones to receive one of the super parcels, they looked and tasted fabulous, just right to cheer me up after a very stressful time. Thankyou!

    • Katie Bryson says

      February 26, 2011 at 3:41 pm

      So chuffed you enjoyed them mum 🙂

  3. Pumpkin and Piglet says

    February 25, 2011 at 11:44 am

    Well done you! They look fab 🙂 I really want to try making macaroons but they scare me a bit! Having seen yours though, I think I’ll be brave and give them a go.

    • Katie Bryson says

      February 26, 2011 at 3:40 pm

      Yes they totally scared me too – but if anyone can do it YOU can lady!

  4. Aveen says

    February 25, 2011 at 12:49 pm

    I’ve only tried making macarons once and it was a complete disaster! The recipe was from Delicious magazine and it put me off so much that I’ve never tried again… but I love macarons so I’ll have another go with the Ottolenghi recipe. Yours look perfect. Absolutely LOVE the little mini loaf cases, I’ll be stopping by our local Sainsburys later in search of some 🙂

    • Katie Bryson says

      February 26, 2011 at 3:39 pm

      Yes they’re quite challenging to make, but def worth making again to get your confidence up. My friend was given some fabulous Macarons as a gift and let me try one – chocolate and passionfruit – sooooo incredible! I’m def going to have a play with flavours now.

  5. Carrie says

    February 26, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    I saw Lorraine doing these, and have been waiting for a free afternoon to give them a go – you have inspired me! Laudree charge £2 for one macaroon -maybe there’s money to be made!

  6. Jen says

    February 27, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    Mmmm can I share your next batch with you please 😉 they look beautiful!

    • Katie Bryson says

      February 27, 2011 at 5:38 pm

      I’ll make you a batch when we next get together 🙂

  7. El Moorish says

    March 25, 2011 at 4:04 am

    They look gorgeous and I love the packaging. Personally, I love sweets flavoured with rose water but not everyone likes the taste and I can see that perhaps they’re a bit too girly for some 🙂

    I have only made “regular” macarons (chocolate or vanilla) before but I’m feeling inspired to give some other flavours a go. I’m a bit scared of them but might attempt some carrot “cake” ones I saw on Tartelette’s blog http://www.tarteletteblog.com/2010/12/recipe-gluten-free-carrot-cake-macarons.html

    Also, if you’re looking for some future flavour inspiration, there’s a great virtual macaron kitchen at http://mactweets.blogspot.com/ where lots of macaron obsessed people post. Now I want macarons!!!!

    • Katie Bryson says

      March 25, 2011 at 6:14 pm

      Thanks for those links :-). I have to say macs are the most satisfying thing I’ve mastered so far…

Trackbacks

  1. Tweets that mention Girly indulgence time: Macaroons | Feeding boys and a firefighter -- Topsy.com says:
    February 25, 2011 at 8:50 am

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Simone & Ian Clarkin, Katie Bryson. Katie Bryson said: My first macaroon making session http://wp.me/pU5T8-zD […]

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I’m Katie Bryson – Freelance Food Writer, wife of a strapping vegetarian and mum of two boisterous boys – keeping them all fuelled and trying to stay sane is a daily challenge so I thought I’d share my experiences. Read More...

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