Lime macarons

I know I’ll sound like a broken record, but once again the feeling of time flying has hit me hard – I knew I’d promise you another batch of macarons, but I almost fell off my chair when I saw that it was a year and a half ago...

I used the same recipe and tweaked the filling a little bit, but the macarons did not turn out as cute as I’d expected. But that’s fine – next time, I’ll used one of Julia’s wonderful recipes and hope my macarons turn as gorgeous as hers.

Lime macarons

50g ground almonds
1 cup (140g) icing sugar
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon caster sugar
green food coloring paste

Lime white chocolate ganache:
¾ cup (116g) chopped white chocolate
¼ cup (60ml) cream
finely grated zest of 1 lime
1 teaspoon lime juice

Start by making the macarons: grab two large pieces of baking paper and, using a cookie cutter, trace 4cm-circles, 3cm apart from each other, all over the paper. Turn the paper sheets around and line 2 large baking trays with them.
Sieve the ground almonds and icing sugar together into a large bowl. Put the egg whites into a separate bowl, and using an electric hand whisk, beat to soft peaks. Add the caster sugar, and whisk until glossy. Fold into the almond and icing sugar mixture, along with a very small amount of the food coloring – it’s easier to use a toothpick to remove coloring from the bottle. Mix until just combined and evenly green – the mixture will reduce as the air bubbles in the meringue burst.
Put the mixture into a disposable piping bag, snip off 1cm from the end. Pipe blobs onto the circles on the baking paper so you have about 28-30 in total. Set aside for 30 minutes to dry – this is important as it gives the macaroons the correct texture.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Bake for 5 minutes, then turn the baking sheet and bake for another 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.

Make the filling: pour the cream in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Remove from heat, add chocolate and mix vigorously until chocolate is melted and ganache is smooth. Add lime zest and juice and mix well to combine. Set aside to cool until firm enough to be piped or spooned between macarons shells.

Carefully peel off the baking paper from the macaroons, then sandwich 2 together with a blob of lime ganache in the center. Repeat to give you 14-15 in total.

Store the macaroons in an airtight container for up to 3 days – I kept mine in the fridge.

Makes about 15