One of my favourite food author / chefs at the moment is Yotam Ottolenghi. I was introduced to him by a very good friend of mine Ali, who loves to cook and bake as I do. She introduced me to 3 of his well known cook books and since then I've managed to acquire 2 of them- Jerusalem and Ottolenghi -The Cookbook. The only one Im missing is Plenty which is well known amongst vegetarians. Its on my list to buy before the end of the month! If you are planning to buy any of his books I would buy Ottolenghi or Plenty first!

My goal this year was to teach myself how to bake exciting and different sweets and cakes. I have tried to bake something new every second week in my quest to master the ins and outs pastry and cakes. When I came across Ottolenghi's Macaroons recipe in Ottolenghi the cookbook I had to give it a try. Yup, I threw myself in the deep end, considering I tried to make an orange Chiffon cake the week before which flopped horribly!

Macaroons are delicate almond delights with a melt in the mouth meringue like texture. In France macaroon shops are on every street corner and that's all they sell. Its incredible but not surprising when you consider the level of awesomeness that you get when you take your first bite of the crunchy shell and reach the melt in the mouth centre!

The recipe was a success as you can see in my very proud photo's. I followed it step by step leaving no room for error. These 'little guys' are not easy to make, but follow a sound recipe carefully and voila you have it! Package them beautifully and it makes the perfect thoughtful gift.

The recipe is on Page 247 of Ottolenghi -The Cookbook and he gives 3 variations: Salty peanut and caramel , lime and basil or chocolate variations. I went for the 1st option because I had all the ingredients. The Lime and basil is on my to do list though! Here is the recipe... It makes about 20 ( I wish it made more so next time I'll double up).

Salty peanut and Caramel Macaroons:

110g icing sugar
60g ground almonds
2 free range egg whites ( approx. 60g)
40g castor sugar
20g natural roasted peanuts roughly chopped

Caramel Filling:

20 g natural roasted peanuts finely chopped
100g dulce de leche ( otherwise you can use Nestle caramel treat by stirring it to a smooth consistency)
a pinch of salt to your taste. I added a tiny bit more salt to offset the sweetness of the caramel and the macaroon itself.

Method:

1. Heat oven to 170 degrees celsius.

2. Sift icing sugar and almond flour through a regular fine sieve. You can grind your own almonds to make almond flour using a magi-mix or food processor. Make sure it is a very fine consistency if you do this. I ground almonds with the skin and it still turned out like a treat.

3. Mix egg whites and caster sugar to form a a think aerated meringue that is firm but not too dry ( which means it must still have a slight sheen to it)

4. Take a third of the meringue mixture and add it to the sifted almond and sugar and fold it in carefully. Do this again and then again, until the mixture is finished. The mixture must appear smooth and glossy. You can fold by using a metal spoon which you turn slowly in a figure of 8 as to not lose the air created. It's this air that forms the basis of the light meringue like texture.

5. Using baking parchment you can dot the mixture onto a baking tray to keep it in place. (genius;-) Draw circles on the paper which are about 2.5 - 3 cm in diameter with a bit of space in between.

6. Spoon or pipe the mixture onto each of the circles. This is probably the trickiest part of the recipe, so use a steady hand and give it your best shot. I had some which looked extremely peculiar and others which worked out perfectly. Over time you will master it. (I will let you know how that goes by the way.)

7. Hold the tray firmly and tap the underside vigorously to get the mixture to smooth out. Leave the macaroons out and uncovered for about 15 mins before baking.

8. bake for 12 minutes. They might take longer depending on the oven you use. You know they are ready when you can easily lift them off the paper using a palette knife. its important to take them out at this point so they don't over bake! Let the macaroons cool down completely.

9. Mix your filling together and spoon or squeeze a pea-sized amount on the flat side of the biscuit. Carefully sandwich them and squeeze together!

10. Leave at room temperature to set and VOILA!

Do you have any awesome macaroon recipes to share?