[Macaron]
100g aged egg whites (you can use fresh eggs too, just make sure they are room temp)
110g almond meal, at room temperature and well sifted
200g icing sugar
50g caster sugar
Blue food colouring
White heart sprinkles
[Filling]
250g unsalted butter
575g icing sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk
1tsp vanilla essence
Pink food colouring
[Steps]
Macaron: Preheat your oven to 140-150degC.
Line two baking sheets with baking paper. Place icing sugar in food processor and pulse for 1min to remove any lumps. Stir in almond meal and pulse for about 30secs to combine. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites in a medium mixing bowl until it reaches soft peaks. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add sugar, followed by colouring, and beat until it reaches stiff peaks.
Add meringue to dry mixture and mix, quickly at first to break down the bubbles in the egg white, then mix carefully as the dry mixture becomes incorporated and it starts to become shiny again. Take care not to overmix, the mixture should flow like lava and a streak of mixture spread over the surface of the rest of the mixture should disappear after about 30secs.
Place in a piping bag and pipe rounds of about 3.5cm diameter on baking sheets. Alternatively you can pipe heart shapes using a 1cm piping tip and piping fat 'V' shapes.
Tap baking sheets carefully and firmly on the worktop a couple times to remove any large bubbles.
Leave to dry for about half an hour to an hour, so that when you press the surface of one gently it does not break. This will help prevent any cracking and help the feet to form on the macs.
Place on top of an overturned roasting tray or another baking sheet if your sheets are not professional grade, for better heat distribution. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your shells. Carefully test if the base of the shell is ready by gently lifting one and if it's still soft and sticking to the baking paper, then it needs to bake for a few minutes longer.
Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for a few minutes, then gently remove from the sheet and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Filling: Remove the butter from the fridge 30mins before starting. Place in a large mixing bowl and beat at high speed, gradually adding icing sugar (and adding the milk and vanilla about halfway through) and beating until light and fluffy.
Place in a piping bag, pipe and sandwich between macarons.
Adapted from Raspberri Cupcakes