Crumbling like pastries...

Raspberry & White Chocolate Macaroons!!

Ohh macaroons! I think its fair to say that macaroons have taken the pastry world by storm. These colourful little bundles of meringue wonderfulness have been around for many years & gained a high status. I've been dying to have a go at making these little beauties and after months of debating it i thought i would give them a whirl! And i must say i wasn't disappointed with the results! I was pretty sure these macaroons were going to turn out disastrous but by some random act of god they turned out perfectly! I made a basic macaroon mix by using the boiling sugar method, and then filled them with a raspberry & white chocolate cream cheese filling. Heres how i made them! 

You will need!

You will need a piping bag fitted with a 1cm/½in nozzle & a baking sheet lined with greaseproof, oh and a sugar thermometer would be handy!

125g/4½oz icing sugar

• 125g/4½oz ground almonds
• 90g/3½oz free-range egg whites
• 2 tbsp water
• 110g/4oz caster sugar
• food colouring (optional) (i used red) 
  
  
  This is a recipe from Lorraine Pascale, you can find it (here)
  
  
  As for the filling i made a basic butter icing 
  8oz Butter
  16oz Icing sugar
  Then i added 2 large tablespoons of cream cheese, now taste the frosting and add more if you would like a stronger flavour. 
  At this point you may find your butter icing has gone rather sloppy (don't panic) Just give it a vigour us whisk until it regains a stiffer consistency.
  Then add a handful of crushed fresh raspberries and some melted white chocolate 
  (about 3 tbsps) 
  
  
  Now to make the macaroons...
  
  
  1. Preheat the oven to 170/C/325F/Gas 5 and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
  2. Put the icing sugar, ground almonds and 40g/1½oz egg whites together in a large bowl and mix to a paste.
  3. Put the water and caster sugar in a small pan and heat gently to melt the sugar, then turn up the heat and boil until the mixture starts to go syrupy and thickens - I don’t use a thermometer but if you prefer to use one, it should read 115C/239F at this stage.
  4. Whisk the remaining 50g/2oz egg whites in a small bowl until medium-stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl, then pour in the sugar syrup, whisking until the mixture becomes stiff and shiny. For coloured macaroons, add a few drops of food colouring. Tip this meringue mixture into the almond paste mixture and stir gently until the becomes stiff and shiny again.
  5. Spoon into the piping bag. Pipe a little mixture under each corner of the baking paper to stop it sliding around. With the bag held vertically, pipe 4cm/1½in flat circles onto the lined tray, about 2cm/¾in apart, twisting the bag after each one. The mixture should be quite loose to give a smooth finish. The piping will leave a small ‘tip’ on each circle so, when they’re all piped, give the tray 2–3 slams on a flat surface to flatten them. 
  6. Leave to stand for 30 minutes to form a skin then bake in the oven for 12–15 minutes with the door slightly ajar until firm. Remove from the oven, lift the paper 
     off the baking tray and leave the macaroons to cool on the paper.
     
     
     Now add a small dollop of your cream cheese frosting on one half of your macaroon and then sandwich it together with another half.
     
     
     Now enjoy....
     
     
     Joely <3