French macarons

Brighten up a winter evening with this simple recipe for a delicious sweet treat

The natural colour for these macarons will be a creamy beige but go bananas and make them as colourful as you like. Then just fill your shells with your favourite ganache or buttercream filling and try not to over-indulge!

Ingredients

• 5 egg whites
• 150g caster sugar
• 150g ground almonds
• 150g icing sugar
• Optional food colouring

Method

Add the caster sugar to the egg whites in three parts and whisk until stiff peaks form. At this stage, slowly fold in any food colouring you may be planning to use.
Next, sieve together the ground almonds and icing sugar.
Fold the meringue into the almonds/icing mixture in stages until a ribbon texture forms, before piping your round shells onto a lined baking tray.
Leave to rest for 20/30 minutes and then bake at 135 degrees Celsius for 17/18 minutes before removing and allowing to cool.
Pair your shells, fill with your filling of choice ¬– and enjoy!