Fancy Macaroons

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 100°C.
2. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper and grease them. You can also use silicone baking sheets or a macaroon mat.
3. If using baking paper, create templates for your macaroons by drawing 24 evenly spaced circles, 2 ½ cm in diameter, on the underside of one of the sheets of baking paper. On the underside of the second sheet, use a small heart shaped cookie cutter to create a template with 24 evenly spaced heart shapes.
4. Place the ground almonds and the icing sugar in a processor or blender and blitz together until fine. Sift to remove any lumps and larger almond pieces that might remain.
5. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form then slowly add the castor sugar while still beating. Continue beating until stiff and the castor sugar has dissolved. You can check this by rubbing a small amount of mixture between your fingers. If the mixture is ready, you should not be able to feel the sugar granules.
6. In three batches, very gently fold in the almond and icing sugar mixture. Be careful not to over mix so as not to beat the air out of the mixture.
7. Separate the mixture into 2 bowls and colour with the pink and red food colouring.
8. Spoon the mixtures into piping bags fitted with plain nozzles.
9. Pipe each mixture onto the templates, holding your piping bag at a 90° angle.
10. Tap the trays gently to remove any air bubbles in the macaroons.
11. Let them stand in a cool room for 15-30 minutes or until a hard skin has formed on top. You can check if the skin has formed by gently touching the piped mixture with your finger. If it is no longer tacky and stays in shape then it is ready.
12. While waiting for your macaroons, colour your butter icing pink and red.
13. Bake the macaroons for 30-45 minutes or until hard to the touch.
14. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
15. Once cooled, sandwich the macaroons together with the matching butter icing.
16. Store in an airtight container in the freezer until ready to serve.
17. The macaroons are best served at room temperature.