2 of 100: French Stuffed Macaroons

Immediate observation, these are not stuffed, they are sandwiches. Carry on.

Next number drawn, and it's - thankfully! - again a recipe I've wanted to make and someone never managed to get around to. At first glance, it seemed like a pretty standard meringue. But wait, what is this? Ground almonds? I get to use the food processor and the mixer. Excellent. Clearly a noisy recipe.

Grind almonds with powdered sugar, oh I like where this is going.

 

I like to be orderly!

So obviously not a standard meringue. And not a standard macaroon. So we begin our adventure in egg white whipping. Soft peaks, come on soft peaks. Of course putting the vanilla and some sugar directly into the egg whites means, even with my awesome Kitchenaid Pro, this takes forever.

And ever. And ever.

 After much noise, and much checking. And more noise. And more checking. Finally, soft peaks!

See?

 

But wait, you want me to add more powdered sugar and whip until stiff peaks. My neighbours are seriously going to dislike me after this recipe. But we do what we must, and we must whip on high for many minutes. Many. Finally, stiff peaks and a "gently folding in the almond mixture" later, we are ready to plop the goo into a pastry back and pipe little circles. Lots of little circles. Bake a little...

Maybe sprinkle coconut on some of them because, why not.

 So my piping skills were a little sloppy and my sandwich halves a little less than flat. Nothing a little raspberry jam can't cover up! So after assembling the little sandwiches, and maybe eating a few renegade sloppy pieces, the verdict? Oh my god good. The ground almonds add such a delicious texture to the otherwise fairly normal meringues, and the sprinkled coconut - even if it didn't toast properly, hmph - such a nice tiny layer of flavour. And the jam....oh the jam.

Heavenly.

Of course Mr. S, being a great lover of meringue, is now demanding I make these weekly. Probably not going to happen. Then again, they are awfully terribly horribly wonderfully amazingly good.