Simple Artisan Macaroons

Since it's Passover, I decided to include a flourless recipe for my blog. I am no expert in macaroons, but these turned out pretty good, and are really much easier than they seem. Try to use aged egg whites, you can fill them with whatever you want, but I have included a recipe for buttercream. Makes about 15.




























                       Ingredients

For the Macaroons

230g Icing Sugar

60g Caster Sugar

4 Large Egg Whites

120g Ground Almonds

Pinch Of Salt

                 Food Colouring (Optional)

               For the Buttercream Filling

                    150g Icing Sugar

              50g Butter/Margarine, Softened

                      Milk or Water

                 1/2tsp Vanilla Extract

Method

1. Pass the ground almonds, icing sugar and salt through a sieve twice, and throw away any bits or lumps that don't pass easily. Preheat the oven to 150C/Fan 130C, and line two baking trays with non stick paper. 

2. Whisk the egg whites and caster sugar to form stiff peaks, and then add your desired food colouring. Be quite liberal with it, as the colour fades while baking. Whisk for about 1 minute. 

3. Fold the almond and sugar mix in with a spatula, but be careful not to overmix; it should be quite thick yet smooth, and shouldn't easily run off the spatula if held above the bowl. 

4. Fill a piping bag with the mix, and pipe small circles onto the trays, letting the little end flick go over the circle. Once finished, rap the trays against the worktop a few times to prevent cracking. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.

5. Place in the oven for around 22 mintues, or until they come off the tray cleanly, and leave to cool.

6. Beat the butter in a mixer until creamy, then sieve in the icing sugar and pour in 2tsp water/milk and vanilla. Let it mix for around 5 minutes until completely smooth and pale in colour. You want a fairly thick paste consistency, so add more icing sugar/liquid if needed. 

7. Pair the macaroons with ones that fit together well, and spread a large dollop of buttercream on one half with a palette knife, leaving a bit of room by the edge. Place the other half on top, pressing down gently while moving it in a circle to spread the buttercream around to the edges.

Enjoy :)

Banana and Pecan Muffins

A change from the normal incredibly unhealthy recipes I put on this blog, these fibre-full treats taste good, and serve as a fantastic snack. I make them mini-muffin size, and I recommend to as well, as with most bakes, I find the standard muffin size too large. This recipe makes around 8 or 9 normal sized muffins.

Ingredients

250g Plain Flour

25g Natural Wheatgerm

1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1tsp Baking Powder

1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon

100g Pecans, Roughly Chopped

3 Small Bananas (350g total weight including skins)

1 Egg, Beaten

85g Butter, Melted

100g Light Muscovado Sugar

175ml Buttermilk 

Icing Sugar for dusting (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6/fan 180C. Grease or line your muffin tin. In a large bowl combine the flour, wheatgerm, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and 85g of the pecans. Peel and mash the bananas.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the egg, butter and sugar, then stir in the mashed banana and buttermilk. Add the egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture, stirring until just combined, but don't overmix it or the cake will turn out heavy.

3. Spoon the mixture into the tin, about 3/4 the way up. Sprinkle with the remaining pecans, and bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack.

4. Once cooled, dust with icing sugar, or cut a design out of a circle of greaseproof paper to make a template, and dust over that.