Raspberry Macarons in Ice Cream Shape

Blend the icing sugar and ground almonds together, then sift the mixture.

Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks, add the caster sugar in 2 additions and whisk at maximum speed to achieve the “bird’s beak” stage. Add a little white food colouring and mix again. I use powder colouring and add a knife tip’s worth.

Gradually fold in the almond and icing sugar mixture using a rubber spatula. The mixture should be glossy, smooth and fall in a ribbon. Once the right consistency is achieved, transfer half of the batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Don’t hesitate to use a tall glass to support your piping bag — this way you can use both hands.

For the other half, add a little strawberry red powder colouring and fold together without over-mixing. Transfer this batter to a second piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle.

To pipe ice cream-shaped macarons, first pipe the white batter into cone shapes in a staggered pattern on a sheet of parchment paper. Then take the second piping bag with the pink batter and pipe a dome right up against the cone. For even macarons, I use a template I made myself (click here to access all the templates). Sprinkle each ice cream scoop with sugar sprinkles or coloured hundreds and thousands.

Leave to form a crust for about 20 minutes. If after an hour the surface of your macarons is still not dry, there’s a good chance they won’t form a crust at all. There can be several reasons for this — in any case, there’s no point waiting any longer. Bake the macarons anyway, but be prepared for the fact that they probably won’t have a foot.

Bake at 120°C / 250°F for 20–22 minutes. Once out of the oven, leave to cool before removing the shells. The shells are baked when they can be removed very easily.

In a small saucepan, heat the liquid cream with the raspberry coulis. Stir to combine and bring to the boil.

While the cream heats, break the white chocolate into pieces in a bowl.

As soon as the cream simmers, pour it over the chocolate and cover for 2 minutes. Stir to melt the chocolate and obtain a smooth, homogeneous mixture.

Add the 100 g (3.5 oz) of very cold liquid cream, stir and cover with cling film pressed directly onto the surface.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or better, a whole night). If you’re in a hurry, 30 minutes to 1 hour in the freezer can do the trick.

The next day (or a few hours later), place the electric mixer beaters in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Remove the ganache from the fridge and whip it like a chantilly cream. You should obtain a thicker, creamier whipped ganache.

Sort your macarons so that the ones you pair together are the same size.

Place a small amount of ganache in the centre of one macaron shell, position a wooden stick, then sandwich with the second macaron.

Refrigerate and wait 24 to 48 hours before eating. The macarons should spend the first night in an unsealed container (to prevent them from becoming moist), then close the box and keep them in the fridge for a further 24 hours. They’ll only be better for it. Find all the tips and tricks in my previous article: macaron shells (step by step in pictures).