Quick and Easy: Pink Macarons with Rosewater and White Chocolate Ganache

I was browsing through an AWW Cookies cookbook and came across a recipe for Pink Macarons. Surprisingly, they appeared to be one of the easier cookies to make compared to the other recipes in the book. I do love eating macarons, and the first time I ever tried them was when a friend kindly brought me some from Adriano Zumbo's. They were truly delicious, and I think the fun is in trying out different flavours, and then suddenly biting into one that tastes absolutely heavenly (if I remember correctly, they were the salted caramel and rosewater ones). The next (and last) time I had them were when G brought some home from work (someone went to France and bought him a dainty selection of macarons from Georges Larnicol). These mini macarons were lighter, drier and crisper in texture, and equally delicious.

The ones I made here are crisp on the outside, and light and slightly chewy inside. Despite the simple recipe, they actually turned out well (apart from some of the cracked ones that was probably due to inadequate standing time prior to baking). I found the recipe easy to follow and the chocolate ganache filling was quick to prepare (compared to buttercream which requires a bit more work). Also, it makes a small batch of 18 macarons using only 3 egg whites, so that makes it more manageable especially as a first attempt (in case they don't turn out).

A few things I should not have done was to use a self-made paper piping bag, without a nozzle (as I didn't have a plain nozzle at home). This made it a little tricky to pipe out, which is why I just bought a plain nozzle over the weekend! Another thing to note is that I should only bake one tray at a time. By baking both trays together, the ones on top formed "feet" but the ones below baked too slowly that the "feet" didn't form at all. Well, so now I know!

Pink Macarons with Rosewater and White Chocolate Ganache

(makes 18)

Adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly

Ingredients

3 egg whites (use large eggs)

2 tbsp caster sugar

Pink food colouring

1 1/4 cups (200g) icing sugar, sifted

1 cup (120g) almond meal

2 tbsp icing sugar, extra

Method

1. Make white chocolate ganache.
2. Grease and line oven trays with baking paper. Combine sifted icing sugar and almond meal and mix with a hand whisk for 30 seconds until evenly mixed.
3. Beat egg whites in a small bowl until soft peaks form. Add sugar and colouring, beat until sugar dissolves and peaks are just stiff. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Fold in icing sugar and almond meal mixture, in two batches.
4. Spoon mixture into a large piping bag with a 11mm plain nozzle. Pipe 1 1/2 inch diameter rounds, 1 inch apart, onto trays. Tap trays on bench top to allow macarons to spread slightly. Dust with sifted extra icing sugar and stand 20-30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 150C (130C fan-forced). Bake macarons one tray at a time for 15-20 minutes until firm to the touch, but don't let them brown or colour. Stand 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
6. Sandwich macarons with ganache and dust with a little icing sugar if desired.

White chocolate ganache fillling:

100g white eating chocolate, chopped coarsely

2 tbsp thickened cream

A few drops rosewater / rosewater essence, to taste

Stir chocolate and cream in a small bowl over a pot of simmering water over low heat until melted and smooth. Add rosewater to taste. Cover and refrigerate until mixture is spreadable.