Are they time consuming? Yes Is it worth it? Hell yes! I was inspired by foodamazers post on her lemon curd macarons. My husband and I adore them and they are usually a treat that is brought home by Paul when he has had meetings in London. I was lucky enough to get the macaron mat and piper as a stocking present for Christmas and I have been looking forward to giving them a go, so as it is his birthday on Monday I thought I would have a go at our own over the weekend and I am so glad I did. They are so worth the effort, they are crunchy on the outside and gooey in the middle, the curd adds a much needed burst of zesty goodness, I just can’t wait to try out different flavours now.

Ingredients

• 1 batch of this lemon curd
• 112g ground almonds
• 204g icing/confectioners sugar
• 3 egg whites (can use yolks in curd)
• 51g caster sugar

Method

1. In a bowl sift the almond and sugar and stir to combine.
2. Add the egg whites to an electric whisk bowl (we used our food processor with whisk attachment, beat until frothy.
3. On a medium whisk setting, gradually add the caster sugar to the egg whites and keep whisking until firm smooth peaks appear (like meringue)
4. Add half of the almond mixture to the peaks, fold it through with a spatula for about 15 strokes, add the other half of almond mixture and repeat folding in like you did before. The mixture should fall off the spatula in long ribbons.
5. Put the mixture in a piping bag and in a circular motion, pipe onto the template.
6. Let this rest for 60 minutes or until the shells are no longer sticky (you can make your curd at this stage)
7. Bake in a fan oven 180 for 20 minutes, cool and fill, store in airtight container