[Ingredients]
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
Pink food colouring
[Raspberry Ganache]
500g good quality white chocolate, finely chopped
300ml pure/heavy cream (min 35% fat unthickened)
125g raspberries (fresh or frozen), pureed and strained
[Steps]
Macaroon: 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 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.
Split the mixture in half and coloured half with pink food colouring.
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 15-20 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.
Raspberry ganache: Place chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Heat cream over low-medium heat in saucepan until just boiling, pour over cream and set aside for 5mins. Use a whisk to combine mixture until smooth, then gradually add raspberry puree to taste. Chill until it thickens but is still pourable (take care not to leave too long or it will make it hard to spread). This mixture is prone to splitting as it cools, if this happens just reheat the bowl over a simmering saucepan of water and add a bit more cream.
Place one layer of chocolate cake on your cake stand and cover with ganache. Sandwich second layer on top and repeat.
Fill macaroons with remaining ganache. It is best to chill your macaroons overnight to allow the flavour to mature.
Adapted from Raspebrri Cupcakes