I made these simple macaroons for Vanessa Kimbell’s Let’s Make Christmas. They were taken home by Laura of Craftstorming. As it was Christmas I used a little edible glitter for some extra glitter but you could also drizzle on top some chocolate like on these Pistachio Macaroons or add some popping crystals like these Orange ‘Bucks Fizz’ Macaroons.
You’ll need
- 250g icing sugar
- 250g ground almonds
- 220g caster sugar
- 160g egg whites
- 4 tbsp water
- Zest of two lemons
- Yellow food colouring in powder or paste form
- Some Lemon Curd made using
- 4 unwaxed lemons, zest and juice
- 200g unrefined caster sugar
- 100g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 3 free-range eggs
- 1 free-range egg yolk
- 2 star anise
Equipment
- Food Processor
- KitchenAid with whisk attachment or a handheld electric whisk
- 4 baking trays lined with greasepoof paper
To make them
- Draw circles of your desired macaroon size onto the greaseproof paper using a dark pencil. Turn the paper over and then set aside. (Basically if you pipe on top of the pencil, it will leave unsightly marks on the underside of your macaroons).
- Measure out the caster sugar and water into a small heavy bottomed pan and set aside.
- Prepare a large piping bag with a 1cm nozzle and set aside.
- Put the ground almonds into the food processor and give them a quick blitz to break up any lumps.
- Add the icing sugar, the zest, food colouring and give it another quick blitz. Note – Put more food colouring in than you want the colour to be. It will look quite a garish version of orange but the next steps will tone it down.
- Add 80g of egg whites and blitz again until it’s all well combined. It should be a smooth, thick paste.
- Whisk the remaining 80g of egg whites til you get soft peaks form.
- Turn the heat on for the saucepan with the sugar and water that you set aside earlier. Let the sugar melt on a low heat and then turn the heat up slightly and boil the mixture til it is syrupy and thicker. It will be 115C on a sugar thermometer when ready.
- Give the egg whites a quick whisk to bring them back together and then slowly add the sugar syrup as close to the centre of the bowl as possible. Keep mixing until this is smooth and shiny and makes stiff, glossy peaks.
- Tip the paste mixture out of the food processor into a large bowl and add the glossy egg whites to this until it is all well combined.
- Spoon this into a piping bag and then pipe blobs onto your prepared greaseproof paper.
- When you have finished piping, pick the tray up and then let it drop on to the work surface. Do this a few times to flatten any tips left from piping and immediate air bubbles.
- Put the baking trays in a cool place for about 30-40 minutes.
- At this point put the oven on to 170C and make the lemon curd filling.
- Put the lemon zest and juice, the sugar and the butter into a heatproof bowl. Sit the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl. Stir the mixture every now and again until all of the butter has melted.
- Lightly whisk the eggs and egg yolk and stir them into the lemon mixture. Whisk until all of the ingredients are well combined, then leave to cook for 10-13 minutes with the star anise, stirring every now and again, until the mixture is creamy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove the lemon curd from the heat and set aside to cool, stirring occasionally as it cools. Once cooled, spoon the lemon curd into sterilised jars and seal. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
- Bake the macaroons for 12 minutes one tray at a time with the door slightly ajar. I bake them on the middle shelf.
- Once baked, leave them to cool completely and then sandwich them together using the lemon curd.