At the moment there seem to be as many macaroon makers as there is food blogs; nearly every blog I follow or read has pictures and recipes of their favourite macaroons. To me it is like chemistry class all over again, and all this whisking, sieving, folding, resting and waiting is a bit intimidating. It is so worth it though, trust me, because it is all those little steps that makes a macaroon perfect. Mine turned out just fine to the look, divine to the taste. So a little work on my technique and even I will be able to present a perfect macaroon on my blog. For now I give you the recipe of a not so perfect, very yummy hazelnut macaroon.
Hazelnut meringue
150 grams icing sugar
60 grams ground hazelnuts
2 egg whites
Make sure the hazelnuts are finely ground, add half of the icing sugar, mix and sieve. Beat egg white until soft peaks appear, slowly start to add icing sugar bit by bit while beating. Continue whisking to a firm meringue. Gently fold in hazelnuts and icing sugar, stir just so all is well blended and has lost a bit of its volume, be careful not to stir too much.
On a tray with baking paper drop small rounds of the mix using a piping bag or a tea spoon. Let rest in room temperature for 1 hour.
Bake in the middle of the oven on 150C for 12min. Let cool completely before removing from the paper.
Whiskey chocolate butter cream
50 grams soft butter
120 grams icing sugar
10 grams cocoa powder
2tsp whisky
Beat sugar, butter and cocoa powder until smooth and creamy. Add whiskey and stir again until well blended.
To put macaroons together pipe a small bit of butter cream on of the bottom one meringue and press one on top, bottom to bottom. Chill before serving
