These delicate little macarons are very elegant. Serve them simply with coffee, or with ice cream or sorbet.
180g (1¼ cups) icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted
100g (1 cup) ground almonds
10g (1½ tbsp) raspberry powder (see note)
3 egg whites
4 drops of red food colouring
40g (3¼ tbsp) caster (superfine) sugar
200g (7oz) fresh raspberries
50g (¼ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
80g (⅓ cup) butter, softened
First make the raspberry butter. Put the raspberries and sugar in a small pan and cook gently for 20 minutes. Whiz in a blender for 1 minute, then pass through a chinois into a bowl. Leave until cold, then gradually whisk into the butter; set aside.
For the macarons, preheat the oven to 160ºC/350ºF/Gas 2½. Mix together the icing sugar, ground almonds and raspberry powder. Beat the egg whites in a bowl to a thick foam, then add the red colouring and caster sugar, and beat for 1 minute until firm. Gradually shower in the almond mixture, folding it in with a spatula until it is amalgamated. Put the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain 1 cm (½in) nozzle.
Pipe about 40 rounds on to a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, making them 3 – 4 cm (1¼–1½cm) in diameter and of uniform size. Pipe well apart in staggered rows, so they will cook evenly and won’t touch as they spread. Slide the baking sheet on to another one to make a double thickness, and bake the macarons for 7 minutes.
Slide the baking parchment on to a wire rack and leave to cool. When cold, lift the macarons off the paper and sandwich them together in pairs with raspberry butter.
If you can’t find raspberry powder, you can make your own. Spread fresh raspberries out on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and dry in a warming oven or airing cupboard for 3– 4 days. When bone dry, grind the raspberries to a powder in a blender, then rub through a sieve.