Macarons made with love!

If you and your loved one has a sweet tooth that what better way to show your love this St Valentine’s Day than with these adorable home-made macarons?! Follow this easy recipe and savour good times together!

To make approx. 25 macarons

– 150g almond flour
– 150g icing sugar
– 55g egg whites

For the Italian-style meringue
– 150g caster sugar
– 40g water
– 55g egg whites (use 2 large eggs)

For the filling
– 2 tablespoons raspberry jam
– 150g white chocolate
– 80g liquid cream for desserts
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional food markers for decoration

Method

Prepare the white chocolate ganache (best prepared the night before):
In a blender, chop the white chocolate.
Pour the cream into a saucepan, add the chocolate and melt it, stirring continuously with a whisk. Transfer to a bowl, cover with cling film, leave to cool and refrigerate for 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Prepare the macarons dough:
Grind the almond flour in a mixer with the icing sugar intermittently. Sift everything well. Add 55g of egg white, mix well and set aside.

Prepare the Italian meringue:
Pour the water and sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil. At the same time whip the egg whites in the mixer. When the water and sugar have reached a temperature of 117°, pour the liquid into the egg whites and continue to whisk. Knead the meringue until it is firm (for about 8-10 minutes).
Add a tablespoon of meringue to the almond flour and egg white mixture, stirring with a spatula in movements from the bottom to the top. Add the remaining meringue gently so as not to disassemble the mixture.
Transfer the mixture to a sac à poche with a round nozzle and form well-spaced disks (circumference about 2cm as they will spread) on a baking sheet with baking paper or on a macarons mat. Remove any bubbles with a toothpick.
Let them stand without covering for 60 minutes at room temperature so that a surface film forms that is not visible to the naked eye but can be felt by touch. Bake in a preheated static oven in the middle position at 125° for 12 minutes (minute plus minute minus depends on the power of your oven), then turn off the oven and leave another 2 minutes with the door open.
Allow to rest at least 30 minutes before removing them from the pan.

Filling the macarons:
Place the ganache in a sac à poche and the jam in another. Fill the macarons first with the ganache and add a dollop of jam in the centre. Top with the other shell, let stand for a couple of hours in the fridge before serving.

OPTIONAL have fun with them by decorating the macarons with writing or designs using food markers

HINTS AND TIPS

Egg whites must be aged. Open the eggs and separate the egg whites from the yolks 2 days before preparation and leave them for a couple of hours at room temperature before using them.
You can include powdered dye when you add the egg whites to the almond flour and powdered sugar. Add it gradually until the desired colour is achieved by mixing well.
Do not grind the almonds but purchase very fine almond flour.
Have fun spreading the love!