Pink Praline Macarons

• Sift the icing sugar and almonds into the food processor and blitz to make them an even finer powder.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites into a foam using an electric mixer. Add the caster sugar gradually and continue beating until soft peak meringue forms.

On Macaron Batter Technique:

• Tip the sugar and almond mix on top. Using a silicon spatula, sweep around the bowl in a circle and then cut sideways strokes with the thin blade of the spatula through the centre backwards and forwards ten times. Repeat sweeping around the edge of the bowl and doing your ten strokes five times so that you’ve done fifty strokes. Your batter should be roughly ready by this point, you are looking for a flowing lava effect. If it is too stiff continue sweeping around the edge of the bowl and doing another ten strokes until you are happy with the flow.
• Fix parchment paper to your baking sheet with a blob of meringue batter in each corner. Fill piping bags with the batter, I use disposable ones with around 1.5cm width snipped of the end.
• Pipe discs in a circular movement creating 5cm discs. Allow a similar distance between the piped circles to allow for spread. Pick the tray up with both hands and rap on the table firmly to help knock out any large air bubbles.
• Cut a 3cm heart-shaped hole into a piece of card. Hold it just above macaron batter (without touching) and and sprinkle powdered praline dust through the hole to create little hearts on the batter.
• Preheat the oven to 150c. Leave the piped circles near a radiator for 15-20 minutes to dry out (winter only). In summer, leave for 30 minutes. The surface of the circles should dry out so that they are no longer sticky to the touch. The feet develop as the surface has toughened before the centre has cooked, the pressure that builds up under heating forces the top of the macaron to rise, then you should get feet.
• Bake for 12-18 minutes depending on size. The length of time really is trial and error. I put mine on the lowest oven shelf but again you will need to experiment.
• Hopefully, if you’ve cooked them enough but not too much, you’ll have that happy medium of a surface that peels beautifully off the baking parchment but a meringue which remains soft and gooey like a truffle inside. If you are having trouble removing them from the paper, some drops of water sprinkled under the parchment whilst still warm will help steam the macarons off. But I find that they come off best when completely cool and don’t need this. So don’t be impatient!

For The Ganache Filling

• Melt the cream and chocolate together in a small pan until just melted and smooth. Allow to cool down slightly, but before the ganache sets, prick the surface with a cocktail stick dipped in pink gel food colouring and mix until evenly coloured.

Assembling The Macarons

• When the shells are cool but whilst the ganache is still soft, spread or pipe your filling on the flat side of a shell and sandwich with another, squeezing gently. Allow to set for a couple of hours. I find the texture softer when they’ve been filled and kept in a tin overnight. They keep in an airtight tin for a week. If you can resist them.