Macarons

With the help of a food processor, grind the almonds to a powder together with the icing sugar, then sift them through a very fine sieve. It is important that everything is very fine so that the final look is perfect. What we have made is what is known in the trade as T.P.T. (in French tant pour tant, that is, equal amounts of almond flour and icing sugar).

The egg whites you use must not be fresh but a few days old, that is, prepared and kept in the fridge in a closed container.

Once this is done, add half of the egg whites, that is 75 g, and work them in with a spatula until you have a nice firm, smooth mixture.

Make the syrup: in a small pan pour the caster sugar and the water, put on the heat and cook to a temperature of 118°C (which you must measure with a kitchen thermometer).

Meanwhile start whisking the other half of the egg whites and, when the syrup is at temperature, pour it over the whites and keep whisking until cool. You should get a nice firm, glossy Italian meringue.

Now comes the famous macaronage: fold a third of the meringue into the previous mixture and stir vigorously until completely absorbed and smooth, then add the rest of the meringue and fold it in gently with a spatula.

The final texture should be smooth and silky, not too firm but not too runny either: an in-between consistency that gives smooth shapes.

At this point you can divide the mixture into three parts and colour it with a few drops of gel food colouring.

Put each mixture into a piping bag without a nozzle and pipe small rounds onto special silicone mats (otherwise onto baking paper on a tray).

Tap the trays so that perfect circles form with no wrinkles and leave to dry for about an hour (known as crutage).

Bake in a static oven at 150°C for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Fill with a filling of your choice.

Baking is the most delicate phase: if they stay raw they are gummy, if they bake too long they become dry. After several experiments I think I have found the right balance. To avoid cracks during baking, put a second tray under the one with the macarons for the first 10 minutes, then remove it and finish baking.

Please do not be discouraged if they do not come out well the first time… for me they started coming out well on the 5th or 6th attempt.