Christmas Countdown Feature

Remember that interview for Gourmandize I did awhile back? Well more amazing news, I'm going to be featured for the Christmas Countdown! Watch this space! The recipe featured is my Christmas Yule Log.The recipe is already on the site here.

Bake On!

When Baking Goes Bad- With Good Results 'Fake-aroon' biscuit Recipe

Sometimes baking goes bad. I mean it goes seriously bad. Sometimes it hard to see the positive. 
I attempted to make macaroon's but it went badly. I'm talking just awful looking biscuit things, there aren't even worth presenting to people because their that bad. Oh dear...
It was my first time making macaroons so I wasn't sure what to expect or do and also down to a badly written recipe I found. So it was a mixture of things, I'm hoping to really work on on macaroons at one stage but at least now I've discovered a recipe that uses up some bits that are lingering in the food cupboards:
I've dubbed these: Fake-aroon biscuits

Recipe: Makes 20 biscuits

·       175g icing sugar

·       125g ground almonds

·       3 large eggs

·       75g caster sugar

·       A pinch of salt

·       Your choice of food colouring pastes (I used purple, pink, blue colourings)

Equipment:

·       Food processor

·       Electric whisk

·       Large metal spoon

·       Knife

·       Baking tray lined with greaseproof paper

·       Disposable Piping bag x 3

·       Bowl x 5

        Wire rack

1.    Blend the icing sugar and ground almonds in the food processor until very fine.

2.    Whisk the egg whites with the pinch of salt until they form soft peaks.

3.    Gradually whisk in the caster sugar until the mixture is thick and glossy.

4.    Carefully fold in the ground almond and icing sugar into the egg whites.

5.    Split the mix into 3 small balls and add the food colour to each.

6.    Carefully spoon the fakaroon mixture into each piping bag and pipe small round about ½ an inch away from each other. This is so they don’t run into one another.

7.    Leave the fakaroons to stand for 15 minutes to form a skin

8.    Heat the oven to 160c/325f/Gas Mark 3 while the fake-aroons are resting.

9.    Bake for 15 minutes until firm. While the fake-aroons are still warm, sandwich them together to form a macaroon shape. Cool completely on  wire rack. 

    So I think the lesson here is never be discouraged if you make a mistake because in the end they may taste great!