Laduree lemon macarons

So, yes I baked macarons last week as a leaving gift for my old colleagues. Well, it’s exciting times in the Gipsy Toast household as Gipsy Spread is also starting a new job. So, this of course meant that he wanted to take macarons in as a farewell treat for his colleagues. So I offered to make them for him.

Anyway, in terms of expanding my repertoire and the ongoing search for the perfect macaroon recipe, I typed, hit ‘enter’, flicked through pages of baking books and historical editions of Olive magazine; the latter of which put me at serious risk of paper cuts. I also wanted to make lemon macaroons and I was not sure how to make these. I was concerned that adding lemon juice and/or zest to the previous recipe I used would affect its precision to mal-effect. Then I hit proverbial gold.

I came across the Laduree cookbook ‘Sucre’. Now the Parisian tea room, famous for its macarons was sharing its recipe for lemon macarons with me. This was definitely worth a go. It also did not require the making of sugar syrup and adding to egg whites a la Lorraine Pascale. I was about to attempt my Everest.

The proportions below are very precise because they are half that outlined in the recipe as I didn't need (although who needs?) to make 50 macarons and I was unwilling to round up. Also, I used shop bought lemon curd and did not make my own.

What you will need
137.5g ground almond flour
125g icing sugar
3 egg whites + a quarter egg white.
105g granulated sugar
Yellow food colouring
Lemon curd

Mix the almond flour and icing sugar in a food processor then sieve.

Whisk three egg whites until they foam then add the sugar slowly to the whites. They should stiffen, but do not need to form stiff peaks. You should however, still be able to hold them over your head. I whisked mine in my Magimix for about 5 minutes.

Fold the sifted almond flour and icing sugar into the egg whites. Add the food colouring. Beat 1/4 egg white and add to the mixture. Mix everything well, to remove all the air that is captured in the mix. This is counter-intuitive to meringue bakers, but necessary for macaroons. It is ready when the mix tumbles from the spoon in ribbons and the surface should flatten out to leave no peaks.

I don't have a piping bag, so filled a food bag with the mix. I pushed this into a corner and twisted the top to tighten. Cut a 1cm hole and pipe small rounds (3-4cm) of the mixture onto baking parchment. A small circular motion works well. Once piped, lift the tray and drop to the work surface 2-3 times to remove any air bubbles that might be left in the mix.

Now the most important bit, leave the macaroons for at least 30 minutes to enable a skin to form on their surface.

Preheat the oven to 150°C fan, then bake for 12-15 minutes. I once again kept an eye on these and opened and closed the door at 4 and 8 minutes to release any steam.

Remove baking tray from the oven. You can apparently pour a tiny amount of water in between the tray and the parchment paper, so the macaroons peel off easily. I gave it a whirl and it did seem to work.

When cool, place half the macaroon shells upside down on a plate. Pipe a coin of lemon curd onto the macaroon shells and top with another shell.

So, eat your heart out Kirsty and Phil. The two macaron recipes that I have perfected will now enable me to have my own 'hand-made christmas'. Watch out anyone who knows me, as you will be receiving macarons for christmas this year. In fact, I think I will now go and purchase my own piping bag and nozzle!