Macarons

Macarons

Separate egg yolks 2-5 days before preparing the Macarons and keep them in the refrigerator. A few hours before preparation, take the egg whites out from the refrigerator to warm them up at the room temperature. If you have whole almonds instead of almond flour, they need to be briefly boiled to make them easier to peel.

When dry out, grind them as fine as possible in a food processor or with the hand-held machine. Sift almonds together with the icing sugar to remove any lumps which could cause unevenness on the surface of the cookies. Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and mix them with an electric mixer at medium speed. When the mixture is light and frothy, add half of the caster sugar and continue stirring at maximum speed. When the mixture becomes firmer, add the remaining part of the caster sugar. If you want colourful cookies, divide the mixture into several equal parts and add them different flavours or food colour. Divide the almond and sugar mixture into as many equal parts as the colours.

Pour the almond and sugar mixture into the egg whites in two occasions, stiring with the silicone spatula with circular movements from the bowl side towards the centre overlapping the paste. Line pans with non-stick baking paper. Apply the mixture on the paper, in the form of small circles, using a bag with a circular extension. Ensure that the piles of the mixture are sufficiently separated because the mass is spreading while baking. Let them dry in the air for about 1 hour. Place them in a preheated oven at 150° C for about 12-14 minutes. Allow them to cool before removing them from the tray.