I've been baking

On Saturday, during my 7 day weekend (thanks snow) I decided to do some baking! Again I used my trusty show stoppers recipe book to make Hippy Macaroons and Love Heart Biscuits. Macaroons are something I've always wanted to bake (despite my hatred of coconut!), so these are what I started with. Originally I had planned to take more 'in the process' pictures, but I kept getting in a pickle i.e. forgetting to put in the thickening agent, soo this wasn't my calmest baking experience I must say!

Before I noticed I missed the cornflour :S

Completed Hippy Macaroons

Ingredients
50g desiccated coconut
50g ground almonds
50g flaked almonds
125g caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
2 large free range egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Glace Icing
250g Icing sugar
3-5 tsp orange juice/water (i used a mixture to give a subtle orange flavour)

Food colouring
 

Recipe
Preheat oven to 160° C/325° F/Gas 3
Put Dry Ingredients into mixing bowl
In another bowl, whisk egg whites and vanilla extract until frothy
Tip onto coconut mixture and mix with a wooden spoon, to make a stiff mixture
Leave to thicken for 10 minutes.

Spoon onto lined baking sheet to make 10 macaroons
Bake for about 20 minutes, until a light golden brown
Then put on a cooling rack, to cool completely.

Make Glace Icing by gradually adding water to the icing sugar until it makes the consistency you want.
Divide up in different bowls to add food colouring.
Spoon the white onto the macaroons.
Then make a pattern with the other colours.

Eat.

 

Completed Love Heart Biscuits

Ingredients
100g ground almonds
200g plain flour
pinch of salt
80g icing sugar
125g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
3 large free range egg yolks

Filling
200g raspberries
2tsp cornflour
3tbsp caster sugar

Other
1x8cm heart cutter
and a smaller one
 

Recipe
Put almonds, flour, salt and icing sugar into a mixing bowl
Rub in the butter, so that it looks like bread crumbs
Gradually add in the egg yolk whilst whisking, until the mixture comes together in a firm ball of dough
Flatten the dough
Wrap in clingfilm, chill for 15 minutes.

Roll out dough on a floured surface, to a thickness of a £ coin
Cut out hearts whilst making sure half of them have a whole in the middle
Put them on a baking tray leave to cool for 15 minutes
Preheat oven to 180° C/350° F/gas 4.

Put in the oven for 9-10 minutes until lightly golden brown.
Transfer to cooling rack when they have cooled for 10 minutes.

For the filling
Heat raspberries and sugar in a medium sized pan on a medium heat
When juices start to run and fruit softens, bring to the boil
Simmer for 2 minutes, stirring whilst it thickens.
Remove from heat
Pour into heatproof bowl, wait to cool.

Assemble by sandwiching the filling between a whole heart, and one with a cut out heart.
Dust with icing sugar

Eat

*Note that once filed eat on the same day, if not do not assemble and put filling into a fridge and biscuits into the tin.*

I hope you enjoyed this post, it got abit long sorry. I would also like to welcome my new followers, thanks for taking an interest in my corner of the internet!!

xxxx