It’s no secret, macaroons (or macarons as they are originally called in French) have been trending in the food world for years and their popularity just seems to keep growing. You will see pretty pictures infiltrate into your Instagram and Pinterest and their attractive colourful appearance makes them a perfect statement piece for patisseries, cafes, buffets, and even dinner parties.
Despite their vibrant allure, there is a real stigma around macaroons suggesting they are a really complicated bake, when in fact they are relatively simple and cheap to make.

The sky really is the limit with colours, flavours, toppings and decorations, to create a rainbow of round tasty treats and here at Nisbets we stock all the equipment you will need to make the pretty French delicacy. Just check out the links in the equipment list and they will take you straight to all of the essentials.


Ingredients (Makes 20)
175g icing sugar
125g ground almonds
3 large free-range egg whites
75g caster sugar

For the filling
150g butter, softened
75g icing sugar

Equipment
Sieve
Mixing Bowl
Piping Bag
1cm Nozzle
Greaseproof Paper
Cooling Rack
Whisk
Spatula
Scales
Baking tray


Method

1. In a mixing bowl add the icing sugar and ground almonds and mix until blended.
2. In a separate mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with a whisk until the mixture produces soft peaks. Next slowly add the caster sugar and mix until thick and shiny.
3. Take half of the almond and icing sugar mixture, sift into the meringue to get rid of any lumps and blend. Once it is mixed in well, take the other half again sift and gently fold in with a spatula. Once it has a thick, glossy consistency pop it into a piping bag with a 1cm plain Savoy tube.
4. Pipe 40 even circles onto the greaseproof paper and leave to harden for 10-15 minutes.
5. Once they have formed a slight skin pop them in the oven on a tray and bake for 15 minutes @160°C/fan140°C /gas 3.
6. Remove from the oven and carefully slide the greaseproof paper from the tray and onto a cooling rack.
7. To make the filling, mix the icing sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Sandwich between the meringue shells and voila.

Top tip- Although they taste great plain, why not add some flavouring and colour to make them even tastier. Pistachio is a popular combination and can be achieved by exchanging half the almonds for ground pistachio and adding a little green food colouring.

If you are a caterer and wish to make large batches to serve customers, simply double or triple the ingredients and divide into bowls based on how many colours and flavours you would like to make.

By Eva Parks