Last night I was sitting on the sofa when the idea of a Christmas Mac came to me. Lightly spiced crisp shells filled with warming Christmassy flavoured buttercream. First thing this morning I was up and off to the supermarket to get supplies and away I went. I must say they are lovely. Even Santa would exchange a mince pie for one and the reindeers, well carrots are a thing of the pasted I'm sure! These Mac's are so simple. I promise I've tried so many and this recipe seems fail proof.
75g Ground Almonds Makes about 16
115g icing sugar
1 tsp mixed ground spice
50g caster sugar
2 egg whites
Filling
Buttercream (200g icing sugar, 2 tbsp milk & 50g softened butter)
3 large tablespoons of mincemeat processed to a paste
Zest of an orange
1 tbsp brandy
Sieve ground almonds, mixed spice and icing sugar into a bowl
Whisk egg whites until soft peaks, slowly add caster sugar until nice and glossy
Add a third of almond mix and fold, add next third fold until combine, then combine the last third.
Spoon into a piping bag. Pipe onto prepared trays (I use the reusable liners)
Bang trays sharply onto the work surface, leave to firm for an hour
Preheat oven to 160
Bake for 10-15 mins
Leave to cool on trays
Add all the filling ingredients together beat then spoon into a piping bag and sandwich macaroons together
I finish mine with a little brush of gold Lustre dust
