Macarons

These are tricky, fiddly things to make, but as the end result is absolutely delicious they are well worth the effort.

Ingredients
150g egg whites (macarons are annoying in that the egg white quantity really does need to be 150g. Supermarkets are now beginning to stock eggs whites in the dairy section which you can just pour out. If you're using fresh eggs, make sure that they're not super fresh. Two week old eggs are best.)
100g caster sugar
170g ground almonds
260g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
optional: food colouring

Method
1. Whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until they form firm peaks
2. Add the ground almonds and icing sugar (both sifted) and vanilla paste to the meringue. If you're using food colouring, add a few drops now.
3. Fold the ingredients together
4. Add mixture to a piping bag with a 1 cm nozzle and pipe the mixture onto a baking tray covered in greased parchment.
5. The macarons should be 4.5cm in diameter. Use a stencil to make it more accurate. The paper stencil should be placed under the baking parchment - the baking parchment is transparent enough to see through to the stencil.

6. Leave the macarons out for 20 minutes. This causes a 'skin' to form - improving the final appearance of the macaron.
7. Bake at 160 degrees celsius for 8-10 minutes
8. Allow the macarons to cool on a wire rack and then sandwich together using a variety of fillings. Jam, a simple butter cream, and chocolate ganache work well.