Great British Bake Off 2014 finalist, Richard Burr says that he'd never had a macaron as a child, as he doesn't think they were popular in this country back then. But now he makes them, there’s no looking back for him. Bravery and patience are key ingredients, but once you've got the knack, they're easy. A little practice makes perfect and let's not forget- any misshapes along the way are still fantabulously tasty.
10 ingredients8 steps
Vegetarian
Ingredients
MetricImperial
For the Shells
3Egg white(s) (free range) (large)
30gBillington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
1 tspNielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste
A dropPurple food colouring
210gSilver Spoon Icing Sugar
150gAlmonds (ground)
For the Filling
100gMascarpone cheese
75gDouble cream
100gSilver Spoon Icing Sugar
2 tbspCassis liqueur
Utensils
Bowl
Whisk
Piping bag
Baking parchment
4cm round cutter
Method
Step 1
To make the shells, whisk the egg whites with the caster sugar and vanilla, using an electric whisk, until very soft peaks form. Add the food colour and whisk until stiff peaks form; these look good with a strong colour, but add as much as you like. (Gel colours won’t alter the texture of the mixture too much.)
Ingredients for this step
3Egg white(s) (free range) (large)
30gBillington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
1 tspNielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste
A dropPurple food colouring
Step 2
In a separate bowl, sift the icing sugar and mix in the ground almonds. Fold in the whisked egg a couple of spoonfuls at a time. Once the mixture is smooth, load it into a piping bag and set aside.
Ingredients for this step
210gSilver Spoon Icing Sugar
150gAlmonds (ground)
Step 3
Prepare 2 sheets of baking parchment by drawing around a 4cm round cutter, or similar-sized template, to give a guide for piping. Draw 20 circles on each sheet, with the circles at least 2cm apart. Turn the baking parchment over and put each on to a baking sheet or tray, so the pencil is on the bottom side, but still visible.
Step 4
Pipe the mixture on to the parchment, within the circles. Try to keep the piping bag as still as possible when piping and to leave a single dimple in the centre of each blob as you pull the piping bag off.
Step 5
Firmly slam each baking tray on to a worktop a few times to flatten the dimples caused by the piping and set aside for 45–60 minutes.
Step 6
Preheat the oven to 150°C/fan 130°C/gas 2. Bake for 18–20 minutes. Leave to cool completely before peeling away the baking parchment.
Step 7
Make the filling by beating the mascarpone and cream together until fully combined. Add the icing sugar and beat together until the mixture just begins to thicken. Finally add the cassis and continue beating until thickened, then load into a piping bag.
Ingredients for this step
100gMascarpone cheese
75gDouble cream
210gSilver Spoon Icing Sugar
2 tbspCassis liqueur
Step 8
Pipe the filling on to a shell, then gently pop on another shell. Be careful when pressing the top shell on, as they are fragile. Repeat until all the macarons are sandwiched together.
3 Baker Ratings
We baked these as part of a team building exercise on national macaron day. As you can expect we had heaps of fun making them, some turned out better than others but they all tasted really good! :)
Love this?
Lovely I thought it would be extra sugary but I can always count in baking mad
