Praline Parisian macaroons
Ingredients
- SYRUP
- 150g granulated sugar
- 52,5ml water
- MACAROONS
- 2 x 50g egg whites
- drop of food colouring of your choice
- 150g icing sugar
- 150g ground almonds
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 150°C.
For the syrup, heat the sugar and water to 112°C without stirring. (This is best checked using a sugar thermometer.)
Beat 50g of the egg whites firmly in a food processor, first on medium speed then high. Pour the hot syrup in a thin stream into the egg whites. Continue beating until the mixture resembles meringue. Allow to cool slightly then add the food colouring.
Once cooled to 40°C, the meringue should look shiny. Add the remaining 50g of egg whites, the icing sugar and ground almonds.
Fold the mixture lightly using a spatula, starting from the centre of the bowl and moving upwards and out. This is what the French call 'macaronner'. The batter at this stage should be shiny, smooth and supple but not too runny.
Using a piping bag with a 7mm nozzle, pipe the batter onto a baking tray covered with either baking paper or a silicone mat.
Bake the macaroons in the 150°C preheated oven for about 15 minutes.
COOK’S TIP
Praliné is a specialised product that is available at select chocolatiers or patisserie stores. If you can’t find praliné, you can substitute it with finely ground hazelnuts, using 20g – 30g in the coffee and praline ganache and 50g in the praline butter cream filling. Mix in the ground hazelnuts a little at a time to ensure that the mixture does not become too dry.
