Macaroons

I have wanted to make macaroons for a while, and at the local school's Christmas bazaar on Saturday I  bought one - however it turned out to be a plain biscuit! I was ever-so disappointed so I went home and made some.

I used a standard recipe and they took hardly any time to prepare. Separate 2 eggs, set aside the yolks and whisk the whites into stiff peaks. Add 100g caster sugar a spoonful at a time until smooth and glossy. Mix in 125g ground almonds, and add a drop of almond essence. And that's it!

You can pipe the mixture onto baking trays, but spooning dollops on works fine. They should be the size of an apricot. To finish off put half a blanched almond on top of each - I used flaked as I didn't have any blanched. Cook in the oven at gas mark 4 for 15-20 minutes until just firm.
Delicious! I think next time I will spread the mixture out a bit more and make thinner, flatter ones, to see if that makes them 'lighter than air'.

I have displayed them on a cake stand, which I know isn't intended for macaroons! However, it was a leaving present from work and so pretty that I wanted to use it straight away.