I made Macaroons.

I really did! Actual french macaroons! I've never made macaroons before and they are notoriously difficult to make but I think they came out quite well in the end. After every stage I successfully completed, I did an extensive victory dance around the kitchen in the style of David Brent. It was a lengthy and stressful process.

These are the Christmas presents I'm giving my friends and family because I am a poor church mouse and cannot afford real presents. But actually, in my humble opinion, these make better presents than bought presents.

jaffa cake and strawberry milkshake macaroons...

350g icing sugar

350g ground almonds

10 free-range egg whites

350g caster sugar

6 tbsp cold water

For Jaffa cake macaroons add 1 tbsp cocoa powder

For strawberry milkshake macaroons add pink food colouring

1. Line baking trays with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. To make the macaroon shells, place the icing sugar and ground almonds in a food processor and pulse to make a fine powder.
3. Weigh the egg whites - there should be about 300g. Stir half the egg whites into the icing sugar and almond mixture to make a smooth paste. Whisk the remaining egg whites in the mixer until they form soft peaks.
4. Heat caster sugar and water gently until the sugar has dissolved then turn the heat up until the syrup reaches 115°C (use a sugar thermometer to check this). Continue whisking the egg whites on a low speed, pouring in the sugar syrup in a steady stream. Increase to a medium speed for a couple minutes then turn it down again and continue whisking for five minutes, until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed and the mix has cooled down.
5. Gently fold the almond mixture into the whisked egg whites. Split the macaroon mixture into two clean bowls and add the sieved cocoa to one half and the pink food colouring to the other.
6. Spoon the mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Pipe 4cm circles onto the baking trays. Burst any air bubbles with a toothpick and leave to stand for at least 30 minutes before going into the oven - it needs to form a skin to hold it's shape.
7. Bake the shells for 12 minutes-ish. You will definitely do this in batches, but the macaroons can rest for a few hours while you are batching. If the shells crack (like all of mine did), turn the heat down slightly. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

icing...

200g icing sugar

100g unsalted butter

2 tbls smooth strawberry jam

Dribble of milk

1 tsp of vanilla essence

Just mix all that together until it is a smooth thick paste, pop into an icing bag, pipe a swirl on one shell and stick another shell on top.

35g unsalted butter

80g best quality dark chocolate

1/2 tablespoon golden syrup

50ml cream

150g icing sugar

Pinch of salt (to make the chocolate really tasty)

1 tsp orange essence

Melt butter and chocolate together slowly, leave to cool slightly then add golden syrup, salt, cream. Beat the icing sugar into the mixture until thick and smooth then assemble macaroons as before!

Et voila - vous avez les macarons! C'est manifique, mais non?!