I often get asked the same question. It comes in many guises:
“So what IS the difference between a macaroon and a macaron?”
“Oh Alice. This is awkward. You’ve spelt macaroon wrong on your chalk board dear”
“Mmm they’re delicious, but what’s with the fancy French spelling?”
And, more recently:
“Everyone’s calling them macarons now – it’s since that Paul Hollywood chap off GBBO did”
The answer is in fact that macarons and macaroons are two totally different things. Macarons are the French almond-meringue based beauties, and macaroons are their ugly American cousins, made with desiccated coconut (most likely by someone’s nan). Just to confuse things, macaron is generally pronounced ‘mack-ah-roon’ by us English folk, because you sound like a bit of a tool saying ‘mack-ah-rohn’ unless you’ve got a French passport.
Here is a helpful illustration, in case you’re still unsure:
Alice’s Bakery is fond of the French kind, so my advice is to leave your double O’s where they belong:
1) In the finely milled flour, ideal for pasta making and anything else Nigella makes
2) Before any other number (but preferably seven) in a James Bond film
3) In the words spoon, food or cookie*
*I will also accept Alfie Moon (my lovely nephew), greaseproof (as in the paper, without which macarons would not be possible) and hoodwinked (because it’s just a lovely word).
Speaking of ugly cousins** mine was on casualty last week. No, he didn’t end up in A&E after a drunken scuffle. I mean the TV show. And he wasn’t just an extra wearing a sling in the waiting room, he was the plot. He was the insanely over-bearing boyfriend who wouldn’t take his gloves off. So proud*
*Seriously though I am mega proud – you should check out his website and like him and stuff.
** Ok maybe he’s the better looking cousin.
Otherwise, it’s been a strange couple of weeks. Starting off at the Cake and Bake show, which although a beautiful, wondrous place on paper, was in fact a terrifying experience by all accounts. I really thought it might kick off at one point, and there was enough weaponry and calorie content there to sustain a full-blown war.
I started my new job last Monday, in short it’s marvellous and the people are pretty cool too. I’m still learning to regulate my caffeine intake though – I was on some kind of coffee trip on Thursday night – not ideal when trying to pipe macarons.
The market stall is going well. I’m settling in, building up a lovely customer base, and making some brilliant friends. Plus, this week I met Em, writer of MBakes, a magnificent blog that I’ve been drooling over for a while. She makes beautiful things and takes beautiful pictures – you should absolutely, definitely have a read. Plus, she said she really liked my mini red velvet cupcakes with mini macarons. Winner.
I also saw Ruby from GBBO! Yes. She was still looking miserable.
Anyway, back to macar’o’ns, here’s a recipe for some fabulous pistachio ones:
Macaron Shells:
90g ground almonds
85g icing sugar
2 medium free range egg whites
70g caster sugar
A little green food colouring
Swiss Meringue Pistachio Buttercream
1 egg white
55g caster sugar
50g ground pistachios
90g butter
Macaron Shells:
Add your egg whites to a clean, dry bowl and begin whisking with an electric hand-held whisk (you could also use a free-standing electric mixer with a whisk attachment for this). Once they’ve frothed up (20 seconds or so) add one third of the caster sugar and continue whisking until dissolved (another 20 seconds or so).
At this point, add another third of the caster sugar and whisk for a minute, before adding the last third of caster sugar and whisking for final minute – your whites should now be stiff and beautifully glossy. Add a few drops of green colouring and whisk again to obtain an even colour.
Whizz the almonds and icing sugar in a food processor until you have a fine powder. Sieve this into the egg white mixture and gently fold in with a spatula until you have a smooth and even consistency.
Transfer the mixture into a piping bag and pipe small rounds onto a baking tray covered in parchment (drawing around a small circular stencil can help guide you to perfection!)
Set the macaron shells aside for 30mins to form a slight crust.
Bake at fan oven 100 °C for 25-30mins (checking regularly). The finished product should have tiny “feet” at the bottom and a smooth shell. Set aside to cool completely.
Once cool, gently peel the shells away from the parchment paper and match up evenly sized pairs. If you’re having difficulty peeling them off in one piece, pop them in the freezer for 10mins and that should do the trick.
To make the pistachio buttercream, whisk the sugar and egg white in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water for approximately 5 minutes until you have a smooth, silky mixture. Remove from the heat and, using a handheld whisk, continue whisking until you have stiff peaks (another 5 mins). Gradually beat in the butter until you have a light creamy frosting, and then stir in the ground pistachios.
Pipe a generous blob of buttercream onto one half of your macaron rounds and sandwich together. Deeeeeelish.
Alice's Bakery 