Jewelled edible delights

Macaroons  Ladurée, Paris

"Macaroons are the new cup cakes" say Delicious magazine and with all this talk of Mad Hatter’s tea parties and my weekend at Paris Fashion Week, I had to show you the sumptuous gem-like macaroons by Ladurée. Ladurée’s window on Boulevard Saint Honoré was a wonderland delight, special green boxes with Alice in Wonderland illustrations were piled high alongside towering pinnacles of macaroons in jewelled colours. For those who plan far ahead, a visit to the Mad Hatter’s tea room in Printemps is an absolute ‘must’. Chequer board floors, a long white table with high back chairs, silver crockery and pastel-coloured china add to the fairytale of a tea party that dreams are made of…

Strawberry Macaroons

Ingredients

   1. 50g ground almonds
   2. 140g icing sugar
   3. 2 large egg whites
   4. 1 tbsp caster sugar
   5. Pink food colouring paste
   6. 3 tbsp good-quality strawberry jam

Method

   1. 1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5. Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
   2. 2. Sieve the ground almonds and icing sugar together into a large bowl. Put the egg whites into a separate bowl, and using an electric hand whisk, beat to soft peaks. Add the caster sugar, and whisk until glossy. Fold into the almond and icing sugar mixture, along with a very small amount of the pink food colouring. Mix until just combined and evenly pink – the mixture will reduce as the air bubbles in the meringue burst.
   3. 3. Put the mixture into a disposable piping bag, snip off 1cm from the end. Pipe small blobs (about 1 heaped teaspoon each) onto the baking paper, spaced apart, so you have about 50 in total. Set aside for 10 minutes to dry – this is important as it gives the macaroons the correct texture. Bake for 5 minutes, then turn the whole sheet of paper over – the macaroons will be stuck so won’t fall off. Bake for another 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
   4. 4. Peel off the baking paper from the macaroons, then sandwich 2 together with a tiny blob of strawberry jam in the centre. Repeat to give you 25 in total.

Recipe courtesy of Delicious

Ladurée, Printemps Paris