Macarons, they’re truly not as difficult as you might think but always a real treat, so give them a go! Fill these with your favourite flavoured jam and make a day ahead for a party pleaser. Or cheat and just fill with nutella and eat them watching your favourite show…

This recipe makes approximately 16 to 20 macarons (32 to 40 shells depending on your piping generocity)

Ingredients

• 85g (2/3 cup) icing (confectioners’) sugar
• 80g (3/4 cup) ground almonds
• 2 medium egg whites, separated into 2 equal batches
• 80g (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp red food colouring

For the filling

• 30g (1/8 cup) butter
• 90g (3/4 cup) icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons jam of your favourite flavour
• 1/2 tablespoon double (heavy) cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

• Put the icing sugar and ground almonds to a food processor and pulse until fully combined.
• Add 1 egg white and mix to form a thick paste and set aside.
• Place the remaining 1 egg white in spotlessly clean heatproof standing mixer.
• Mix 25ml (1½ tablespoons) water with the granulated sugar in a small saucepan on medium heat.
• Bring to a boil and cook until the syrup registers 110°C (230°F)
• Start to beat the egg whites on a high speed and once the syrup is at 118°C (245°F) pour it slowly down the side of the mixer bowl, avoiding the moving whisk.
• Continue to whisk on high until the mixture has cooled slightly and you have a shiny peaked meringue mixture and the bowl is no longer be hot to the touch, but still warm.
• Add the colouring and briefly whisk to combine.
• Gently fold together the meringue and almond mixture.
• Heat oven to 170°C conventional /150°C (300°F) fan/gasmark 3 and line two baking sheets with baking parchment.
• Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle and pipe rounds about 2.5cm in diameter (the size of a 2p coin) onto the prepared baking sheets.
• Leave to rest for 30 mins, the macarons will develop a skin.
• Bake the macarons for 14 mins
• Once removed from the oven, immediately slide the parchment off the baking tray onto the work surface and cool for a few minutes before gently peeling the macarons off the paper.
• Make the filling
  • Blend together the butter and half (45g) of the sugar.
  • Add the jam, cream, and vanilla extract and blend again.
  • Gradually add the rest of the sugar until the mixture is soft and smooth.
• Transfer the filling to a piping bag and pipe on to half the macaron shells – enough to keep shells a few mm apart when pressed together.
• Once finished, the macarons will improve with an overnight rest in the fridge.

Tips:

• Sieving the almond mixture before adding the eggs results in the best macarons.
• Take care with the food colouring! The colour can bake out, but adding too much can thin the mixture, especially if you use liquid rather than gel as I do.
• It is very important not to over-mix the final batter – it should fall in a thick ribbon from the spatula which fades back into the batter within about 30 secs – if it doesn’t, fold a few more times.
• It can be helpful to draw circular templates on the baking parchment using a 2p coin for consistent size and adequate spacing
• Leaving a skin to develop on the piped batter is what creates the traditional smooth top raised edges macaron shape, don’t skip this step!