MAXINE GORDON tries making the French delicacy at a masterclass in York

FRAGILE, fragrant and fabulous – macaroons are the latest confection taking sweet-toothed Brits by storm. The delightful delicacy (known as macaron in its French homeland) is now rivalling the cupcake as the crowning glory of the afternoon tea table.

Their popularity is on the rise thanks to TV shows such as the Great British Bake-Off, where amateurs regularly have to make the pretty, pastel-shaded mini meringues as part of any petit-four challenge.

Cashing in on this trend is the York Cookery School, based at The Cooking Rooms, Clifton Moor.

Their new macaroon workshops are selling out fast – and proving to be as popular as their cupcake courses.

Kate Clarkson, tutor, professional cake maker and new owner of The Cooking Rooms, said: “People have been asking if macaroons are the new cupcake and while they are not replacing the cupcake yet, people are intrigued by them.”

Kate’s course is a helpful introduction to the tricky treats, which require the baker to master several challenging processes such as making an Italian meringue, flavoured ganache and precise piping.

Although Kate insists that macaroons are fairly easy to knock out, the method involves making a sugar syrup, boiling it to 118C exactly, then adding the burning-hot liquid to stiffened egg whites. She advises having another pair of eyes and hands – and so I recruit my friend Helen as my partner in confectionery crime for the day.

First, we make a ganache, adding melted passion-fruit purée to a bowl of milk-chocolate discs, then whisking in butter until it is thick and glossy. This has to cool for two hours and becomes the “cement” to hold the macaroon biscuits together.

Then we prepare the Italian meringue (different from normal meringue in that the egg white is cooked in the process and therefore more stable for working with). We make the sugar syrup, carefully watching the culinary thermometer as the temperature rises to the required level, by which point the ingredients have transformed into a bubbling-hot silver liquid. We add this to the egg whites whipping up in Kate’s state-of-the-art Kitchen Aid and within moments our ingredients have taken on the thick, white, glossy sheen of an Italian meringue.

Already Helen and I have clocked that there is more to making macaroons than simply egg whites, sugar and ground almonds. A Kitchen Aid can set you back £400, but Kate says Kenwood do a great alternative for around £200. They are ideal not only for cakes, but also for making bread and pasta as well as blending.

Luckily the thermometers we use start at a fiver (from Barnitts, or try Lakeland) and a set of digital scales – advisable to make sure measurements are spot on – are around £15-20 (Tesco or Lakeland).

The meringue mix is folded into another bowl with icing sugar and ground almonds and colouring is added to make the pretty shades that are the trademark of the macaroon.

“Use lots of colouring as it really fades when baked,” advises Kate.

Next, we have fun learning how to fill our piping bags and deposit disc after disc of macaroon mixture on to baking parchment. We soon get the hang of it and minutes later we have eight trays ready for the oven.

They are quick to cook – just 12 minutes in a moderate oven. Kate suggests opening the oven door after six minutes to let out any steam and prevent the tops cracking.

Once they are cooled, we turn them over and make an indent in the base using our thumbs, ready for the ganache.

Filled and stuck together, they look pretty as a picture and certainly good enough to eat. But there’s one problem.

“For the best results, you now have to leave them for at least 24 to 48 hours for the ganache to set and ooze into the meringue,” says Kate.

Our patience tested to the limit, the next day we open our cake boxes, eager to try the fruits of our labour.

The results are divine; the macaroons are perfect – the crunchy seal giving way to a gooey centre of fruity creamy chocolate.

Kate described macaroons as “morsels of perfection” – never were three words more truthfully spoken.

•Kate’s next macaroon workshop is on April 7, from 2pm to 6pm, price £75. For more information and to find out about other cookery courses at The Cooking Rooms visit yorkcookeryschool.com

 

How to make macaroons just like Maxine’s

Macaroon biscuit

Ingredients

105g egg white (about 3 medium eggs)
300 g of caster sugar
100g water
300g ground almonds
300g icing sugar a
dditional 105g egg white
colouring as necessary

Method: Pre-heat your oven to 180C (170C fan), gas mark four. Place 105g egg white into a mixer.

Add water then sugar into a pan and bring to the boil on a high heat and cook to 118C (at 110C start to whip the egg whites in the mixer on a high speed). When the sugar syrup is ready (118C), reduce the mixer setting and slowly add the sugar syrup to the egg whites.

Place the icing sugar in the bowl and top with the ground almonds, add the remaining egg whites and colouring and mix together until a stiff paste.

Add a third of the meringue to the mixture and mix well. Add another third and repeat.

Take this mix and add back to the mixing bowl to complete the mixing. Put mix into piping bag and deposit into small discs on to greaseproof paper.

Place on a tray (cold, not pre-heated) in the oven for 12 minutes, open oven door after six minutes to release some of the heat and avoid cracking the biscuit.

Ganache - chocolate and passion fruit

Ingredients

250g milk chocolate in small pieces
100g passion fruit juice/puree
45g unsalted butter at room temperature
300g ground almonds

Method: Place the passion fruit in a pan and bring to the boil then pour on to chocolate (already in a glass bowl) and gently mix until it gets shiny then add the butter, continue mixing until all dissolved. Leave to cool for two hours (not in fridge).

After two hours, whisk gently, place into piping bag and fill macaroon biscuits.