After my frequent delicious sessions of ice cream making I always find myself making macaroons with the surplus of egg whites that sit patiently in the fridge, aging unnecessarily but making them (apparently) all the better for creating the perfect macaroon. I’d hate to see them be turned into a batch of brittle powdery meringues which are one of my foodie hates. So before they could be whisked up into a stiff peaked meringue hell I stole them for some macaroon experimenting. Results….a cheeky invented edible ‘mocha macaroon’ which was much more satisfying than an expedition to Costa! (I would just like to add that although I hate meringues, my mum’s version are great if there are ever to be any knocking around and would categorically NOT be powdery or brittle). Now with my back covered……..
- 60g egg whites (about 2)
- 40g caster sugar
- 50g ground almonds
- 110g icing sugar (minus 2 tbsp)
- 12g Green & Blacks cocoa powder
Filling
- 75g unsalted softened butter
- 80g icing sugar
- 1 tsp coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water, cooled
- Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a baking tray with parchment
- Blend the ground almonds, icing sugar and cocoa together in a food processor until fine and then sieve.
- In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then add the caster sugar a spoon at a time until glossy stiff peaks form.
- fold in 1/3 of the almond mixture to loosen it. Then fold in the rest, being gentle not to knock the air out.
- Spoon into a pipping bag with a round ended nozzle and pipe consistent circles of mixture evenly. Give the tray a sharp slap on the surface to level them and leave for 20 minutes, uncovered.
- Bake for about 12 minutes. They are ready when they come away easily from the tray. Leave to cool.
- Make the buttercream filling by combining the ingredients in a processor and then spooning into a smaller piping bag.
- When cool, pipe small amounts onto macaroon halves and sandwich together!
