From Cakes

Macaroons with Raspberry Jam

Made these using the Italian Meringue method as I find they are less fragile as compared to the ones made with the French Meringue one.

Ingredients:
70g icing sugar
70g ground almonds
100g caster sugar
35ml water
egg white from 2 eggs (should give about 60-65g)
food colour of your choice
Jam or buttercream icing

Method:
1. Sieve almonds & icing sugar together.
2. Whisk 50g egg white in a machine bowl.
3. Make a soft ball syrup with the caster sugar and water (i.e. cook to about 118 deg C)
4. Add the sugar syrup to the egg whites and whisk until the mixture cools down (it starts to look like toothpaste at this stage!). This mixture is commonly known as ‘Italian Meringue’.
5. Gently fold the almonds and icing sugar into the Italian Meringue.
6. Add food colour & mix in nicely.
7. Add about 1 tablespoon of the remaining egg white to make the mixture a little bit looser otherwise the macaroons will not have smooth tops.
8. Add this mixture to a piping bag with a small (6mm) nozzle attached.
9. Pipe 10p sized circles on a silicon mat (or parchment paper) placed on a baking sheet.
10. Leave outside for at least 30 mins to allow a crust to form over each macaroon.
11. Bake in the oven at 150 deg C for 5 minutes then turn it down to 120 deg C and bake for another 10 mins.
12. Leave on tray to cool down. Once cool sandwich 2 equal sized halves with jam or buttercream in the middle.

I made about 35 macaroons with these measurements (70 halves).

These are perfect for snacking at anytime…. can’t wait to have some with my tea 🙂