Elderflower Macarons

Elderflowers, to me, are the complete taste of summer. They really are such a beautiful plant; their flowers tiny and delicate, their perfumed, sweet smell quite unlike anything else. 

What better way to pay homage to this gorgeous flower than to combine it between chewy macaron shells of palest green? 

Ironically as I write this, a mass of darkest grey clouds has amassed and I'm sitting with a cup of tea perched on my lap, watching the thunder and lightning from my window. 

I've seen elderflower growing everywhere, springing up at garden fences and at laybys on motorways, and it makes me sad when I think of the fact that I hardly ever see anyone picking them. It seems blackberries get all the attention, and it's not commonplace in the UK to see anyone helping themselves to bundles of elderflower to make use of. 

Saying that though however, there was no way that I would have been able to achieve such a deeply concentrated elderflower flavour than if I hadn't used elderflower infused vodka. St Germain is the perfect liqueur to use, and it's what makes these macarons so fragrant and heady with elderflower. 

I've made enough macarons to say that I'm pretty well versed in the problems that can occur. I had a stage of making macarons that were literally empty. Completely hollow shells that shattered as I tried to peel them off the paper. That's because I overbeat the egg whites. Or the macarons cracked and looked more like amaretti biscuits....I didn't allow a skin to form long enough. It was frustrating to say the least but I'm all the wiser for it.

My top tips for great macarons are: 

- *Sieve your almonds and icing sugar, but especially the ground almonds. Ground almonds, unsieved, can give your macarons a grainy texture. Sieving them ensures you get a smooth appearance, but you can use almond flour instead. 

- Ensure your sugar syrup reaches 115C and take it off immediately, THEN beat your egg whites to medium stiff peaks and pour this in straight away, all in one. If you hang about adding it gradually, it will start to harden in the pan. 

- Bang the tray a few times to get rid of any air bubbles and ensure a flat smooth surface (no little peaks or bumps) as soon as your macarons are piped 

- Leave your macarons to 'skin' for 15-30mins. It's not that important about timings, but you want to be able to touch the macarons and for them not to feel sticky, they should feel dry on top. 

- Bake at a low temperature. I put mine in at 150C because the oven I have it particularly hot (a fan oven)

- Don't remove them from the tray as soon as they are out. Leave them to cool enough so that they can be easily lifted off. 

Elderflower Macarons 

Makes 20 sandwiched petit four size macarons 

Ingredients: 

For the macaron base mixture: 

125g/4 1/2oz) icing sugar (sieved)
125g/ 4 1/2 oz ground almonds* (sieved, see above)
40g (1 1/2 oz) egg whites 
Dark green food colouring paste 

For the Italian meringue: 

110g/4oz caster sugar
50g/2oz egg whites 
2-3 tbsp water 

For the elderflower buttercream: 

75g/3oz softened butter 
175g/6oz icing sugar (sieved) 
3 tbsp St Germain or other elderflower liqueur 

Pearl lustre spray to finish (optional) 

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/130 fan/300F/Gas Mark 3. Line two large baking trays with baking paper or a silpat. 

2. Put the icing sugar, ground almonds and egg white into a large bowl (as we'll be adding all the meringue mix into this later) and mix to a paste. Mix in a tiny amount of food colouring to achieve a medium green which will lighten considerably when we add in the meringue. Beat well to ensure no colour streaks. 

3. For the Italian meringue: put the water and caster sugar in a small pan. If when swilled about in the pan, the water does not cover the sugar, add the tiniest bit more. You want just enough water so that the two combine. Put this over a high heat, boiling until it starts to go syrupy and thickens. This will read 115C on a thermometer. Take off the heat as soon as it reaches this and set aside. 

4. Immediately whisk the egg whites until medium-stiff peaks form, then pour in the sugar syrup all in one go. Whisk well until the mixture becomes stiff and shiny and makes peaks. Fold this into your macaron base mixture with a spatula, going to the bottom to make sure all ingredients are combined together. Stop as soon as they are all mixed though. 

5. Spoon this mixture into a piping bag, piping a little into the corners of the baking paper to stop it sliding around. Pipe into 3.5cm flat circles (that's the measurement I used, but you can use a slightly bigger template if you want) about 2cm apart. 

6. Give the tray a good few bangs on a flat surface to make sure they all will have a smooth finish. Leave to form a skin for  15-30 mins, then bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until firm to the touch. Remove from the oven, lift the paper off the baking tray, and leave the macarons to cool on the paper. 

7. To make the buttercream: beat the butter, icing sugar and elderflower liqueur together to form a thick, creamy filling. It should be thick enough to pipe, but not too thick or stiff. Taste a bit to make sure it is elderflowery enough for you. If it seems a bit slack, add more icing sugar. 

8. Pipe this filling into the macarons and spray each one with pearl lustre spray.