Rustic Gooseberry and Elderflower Macaroons

A sweet and fruity delicacy!

You will need:-

8 gooseberries

165g of icing sugar

125g of ground almonds

90g of egg whites

2tbsp of water

110g of caster sugar

3 or 4tsp of elderflower cordial

300ml of whipping cream

Roughly chop the gooseberries and add to a saucepan, sprinkle with 10g of caster sugar and 2tbsp of water. Gently reduce the sugar and gooseberry mixture until it becomes thick and syrupy. Set this aside.

Put 125g of icing sugar into a large bowl with 125g of almonds and 40g of egg whites, mix this into a paste. In a separate bowl, whisk the rest of the egg whites (50g of egg whites) until it forms stiff peaks, then slowly add the gooseberry sugar syrup whilst still whisking the egg whites. When this is evenly combines, slowly fold the egg whites into the almond paste, bit by bit.

When this is equally combined, place this into a piping bag. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Pipe the mixture onto the paper, in circles 3-4cm wide with good space between each macaroon.  Leave these to sit for 30mins until they form a skin and preheat the oven to 170C.

When the macaroons have formed a skin, place them in the oven for 10mins or until they are lightly brown. Then, take the macaroons off of the baking tray and let them cool.

To make the elderflower cream, put 300ml of whipping cream into a large bowl with 40g of icing sugar and whisk until the cream forms stiff peaks. Then slowly fold in 3 or 4tsp of elderflower cordial (to taste) using a spatula.

Now, use a teaspoon to spread a thin layer of the elderflower cream on the underside of a macaroon and sandwich this with another.

Tip: Serve with a coffee to make a nice alternative for a biscuit!

Enjoy! x