Ingredients (makes about 30)

• 140g ground almonds
• 250g icing sugar
• 2 egg whites
• a pinch of salt

For the filling

• 100g low-fat soft cheese
• 25g 70% cocoa dark chocolate

How to

1. Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140/gas 3.
2. Whizz the almonds and 25g of the icing sugar in a food processor until fine. Mix with 175g more icing sugar in a large bowl. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, add the remaining 50g icing sugar and whisk again until thick and glossy. Fold into the nut mix. Spoon into a piping bag with a 1cm nozzle and pipe out 10p-coin-size blobs of mixture, well spaced. Poke any pointy tops down with a wet finger. If you don’t have a piping bag, just snip the end off a sandwich bag and use that instead.
3. Leave to dry for 30 mins, then bake for 12- 15 mins until risen. Cool on the paper. Beat the cream cheese with the chocolate and use to sandwich the macarons together. Will keep for 1 day filled, or up to 3 days unfilled, stored in an airtight container.

Chewy chocolate macarons

Mix 140g ground almonds with 175g icing sugar and 25g cocoa powder. Whisk the egg whites. Once stiff, add 50g icing sugar, then whisk again. For a coffee filling, mix the soft cheese with ½ tsp instant coffee dissolved in a few drops boiling water.

Delicate vanilla macarons

Mix 140g ground almonds with 200g icing sugar and rub in seeds from 1 vanilla pod. Whisk the egg whites. Once stiff, add 50g icing sugar, then whisk again. Sandwich together with a little dulce de leche.

Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food

Here is a video on how to make French Macarons:

Sucre – Macaron from Sucre – Founder – Joel Dondis on Vimeo.