Pistachio Macaroons

Well...getting pampered with the London lifestyle with everything available at a blink of an eye, my camera has taken a back seat :d. And of course the range of fun and activities that you get when you live in main land is amazing...Either its visiting some restaurants, theatres, farms, parks, temples, friends, birthday parties or play dates ...........apart from the regular weekend classes of swimming etc. O wish the brit weather was Mediterranean :-p
Anyway,  during Xmas sale got hold of amazing books and 1 among them was all about Macaroons. I had fallen in love with these bites in Paris - OMG they look amazingly perfect in their dashing package and these colourful sweets melt in your mouth. Firstly, let me briefly write about Macaroons for all those with the sweet tooth!

Macaroons are delightful sweet treats popular among French. These are nothing but small almond meringues sandwiched together with a flavoured filling. (looks something like a mini burger). These are perfect after dinner treat, a sweet gift or a teatime fancy.

Well...as simple they might look, macaroons could be a little tricky to make - indeed I have read that chefs spend years perfecting the art of macaroons. But this didn't put me off - with my bible (& of course 2 supporters;)) I tried my level best. Well....the resultant may not be the same as a French pastry chef but definitely for the first batch it tasted quite good - most of all the whole process was so pleasurable :)! Hoping to achieve better standards with each flavour ;) (God pls let me be consistent with my workouts too). So here goes the procedure for Pistachio Macaroons -

Makes about 16 Macaroons

Ingredients :
Ground Almonds - 50 g
Ground Pistachio nuts - 25 g + 2 tbsp chopped for decorating
Icing Sugar - 115g
Egg White - 2 large eggs
Castor Sugar - 50 g
Green food colouring

For the filling
Unsalted Butter softened - 55 g
Green food colouring
Icing Sugar - 115 g
Pistachio nuts finely chopped - 2 tbsp

Method

• Place the ground Almonds, ground Pistachio nuts and Icing Sugar in a food processor and process for 15 secs. Sift the mixture into a bowl.

• Meanwhile line the baking sheets with baking paper.
• Place the Egg whites in a large bowl and whisk until soft peaks appear.
• Gradually whisk in the Castor Sugar to make a firm glossy meringue.
• Whisk enough food colouring to give a pale green colour.
• Using a spatula, fold the Almond mixture into the meringue little at a time.
• When they are mixed well, continue to cut and fold the mixture until it forms a shiny batter with a ribbon like consistency.

• Pour this mixture into a piping bag fitted with 1cm plain nozzle.
• Pipe 32 small rounds onto the prepared baking sheet. Tap the baking sheet on a work surface so that the air bubbles are removed.
• Sprinkle over the chopped Pistachio. Leave this at room temperature for 30minutes.

• Preheat oven to 160Deg. Bake in the pre heated oven for 10-15 minutes.
• Cool for 10 minutes, then peel the macaroons carefully off the baking paper. Let it cool completely.
• To make the filling, beat the Butter and a little food colour in a bowl. Gradually beat in the Icing Sugar until smooth and creamy.
• Stir in the Pistachio nuts. Use this to sandwich pairs of macaroons together.

Pistachio Macaroons

Forget the calories and enjoyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!