Strawberry Macarons

Method

1. First off, take the ground almonds & icing sugar and blend them in a food processor until they reach a fine crumb.
2. Sift the ground almonds and icing sugar into a bowl.
3. Measure 55g of the egg white and mix in the red food colouring. Pour this over the almond/icing sugar mixture. Mix to form a thick sticky paste.
4. Take the remaining egg whites and begin to whisk them with an electric mixer on medium speed.
5. While the egg whites are whisking away, take the caster sugar and water, and put them in a pan over a low/medium heat and boil until they reach 118C degrees.
6. At this point the egg whites should be at soft peaks. Take the water/sugar mixture and slowly begin pouring it down the side of the mixing bowl as you continue to whisk the egg whites. Mix on high speed for 7 minutes and you have stiff peaks.
7. Using a spatula, fold the meringue into the almond/icing sugar mixture, taking between 30-40 folds to blend the mixture. At this point, you can tell if you’ve added enough food colouring. If your mixture isn’t bright enough add more food colouring.
8. The batter is ready when it is at the ribbon consistency – when you drop it from a height it should fall into a ribbon and then settle flat in 10s.
9. Add the mixture to a piping bag and fit a regular round hole/1cm nozzle.
10. Pipe the mixture into small round circles onto parchment paper or a non stick mat.
11. Once you’ve piped out all the mixture, give the tray 2-3 taps on the work surface just to knock out any air bubbles. Leave the mixture at room temperature before baking at 170C for 12 minutes.
12. Once out the oven, transfer them to a cooling rack and don’t touch them until they have cooled down completely.
13. While the macarons are cooling, begin your filling. Hull your fresh strawberries and put them into a food processor until you have a smooth puree. Add it to a pan and bring to a gentle simmer.
14. Add the white chocolate to a ban-marie and once melted, stir in the strawberry puree, leaving to one side to cool.
15. By this time, the macarons should be cool, and you can peel them off the baking sheet. Add the white chocolate strawberry ganache to a piping bag and pipe it onto half the shells, flat side up. Then sandwich the other remaining shells on top.
16. To finish, pour sprinkles around the edge of the macaron so that they stick to the filling and then serve.
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