Love is in the air… celebrate love and friendship everyday and not just on the Valentine’s Day! That said, I love the feel and colour of this day – red roses, cakes, cards, and serve as a perfect excuse to do up something special for your loved ones. These lovely Rose Macarons are so perfect to keep up with the theme.

This time I decided to get a helping hand from Nisha’s blog. Her macarons looked perfect, and I simply loved her Hazelnut Macarons she posted recently. It came out perfectly, and I simply loved the texture. For those who are new to macarons, check out my detailed post here.

Recipe from here

For The Macarons

• Confectioners’ sugar – 100 grams
• Almond flour – 60 grams
• egg whites – 60 grams , at room temperature
• Superfine/caster sugar – 40 grams
• Rose flavour – 3-4 drops
• Rose/ pink food color – 4 drops or as required

How to –

Pre-heat the oven to 140 F

How to –

In food processor, process the almond flourand icing sugar. Sift the mixture in sieve twice discarding any almond lumps that are too big to pass through the sieve.

Whisk the egg whites in clean dry bowl (no trace of water please) till soft peaks are formed. Add the caster sugar gradually and beat on a low speed. Once combined increase the speed to high and whisk till glossy and stiff peaks are formed. Add the food color, rose flavor and beat for 25-30 seconds. Please make sure not to over beat the egg whites.

Sift the flour mixture over the whites and fold gently using a flexible spatula. You need a smooth and shinny mix.  Do not make the batter too runny or the macaroons won’t rise as they should. When you lift the batter up and let it drop down, it should slowly disappear into itself without leaving a peak.

Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip. On a parchment-lined baking tray or Macaron mat and pipe the ¾ inch rounds leaving 1-2 inch gap between each piping. Drag the pastry tip to the side of rounds rather than forming peaks. Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air.

Allow the piped macarons to stand on a room temperature for 30-45 minutes.  The stand time varies with temperature at different places. What you need is the piped macarons to form a very thin, smooth crust, when you tap it lightly with your finger, the batter will not stick to your finger.

Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macarons are crisp and firm, about 13 minutes.

Let macarons cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack. If macarons stick, spray water underneath the hot parchment sheet. The steam will help release macarons.

When fully cooled, Sandwich 2 same-size macarons with the filling of your choice.

I have used chocolate ganache. You get the recipe here