Pink Macarons!

I haven’t really been a huge fan of macarons because I don’t love the taste. At least I thought I didn’t. But they are so incredibly pretty, so when I started planning Léonie’s naming, I knew I wanted to try to make some. Léonie is sick so we ended up canceling her little party this weekend, but before we did, I made macarons. Honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t tried before. It was SO EASY and they turned out SO DELICIOUS! Don’t let yourself be turned off by all the posts you see about how you can go wrong. Just give it a try!

Click past the break for the recipe!

Pink Macarons with Chocolate Ganache Filling

• 100 grams ground almonds
• 200 grams icing sugar
• 3 egg whites (aged 1 day at room temperature)
• 6 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Gel food colouring
• 100 ml cream
• 100 gr dark (70%) chocolate
• 1 tablespoon butter

1. Mix the icing sugar with the almonds (I let them go through a flour sifter to make sure everything was really well powdered).
2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until they start to foam. Add the caster sugar one tablespoon at a time and continue whipping until the meringue is thick and shiny and you can turn the bowl upside down without it slipping out. Add the vanilla.
3. Mix the eggs with the almonds using a spatula. Add the food coloring until you get the shade you want. A lot of recipes tell you not to over-mix, but the mixture should spread and even out quickly if you spoon it onto a flat surface, so for me the more I mixed, the better it got…
4. Fill your piping bag and pipe the macarons onto a baking sheet. Let them set for at least 60 minutes until the skin is properly dry.
5. Preheat the oven to 150° C. Bake for about 10-13 minutes until the meringues are set but don’t let them brown! Let them cool completely.
6. To make the ganache, chop the chocolate into pieces and put them in a bowl. Warm the cream and butter in a pot until just before the cream boils. Then pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds before you stir the chocolate until it’s completely melted and shiny. Let it stand until it thickens to a spreadable texture and then pipe it onto the cookies and press them together into little sandwiches.
7. Store in an airtight container for a couple of days. These are perfect to make ahead!

Now that I’ve made macarons once, I can’t wait to experiment with different flavors! I used the recipe in Linda Lomelino’s cake book. The book is absolutely gorgeous, as is her blog (and her instagram!) – you must check them out!