Grapefruit Marmalade Macaroons

A community recipe by themacarondiaries

Not tested or verified by Nigella.com

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Introduction

This is an excellent recipe for those with a sweet tooth who like an extra bit of zing and tang! I've been experimenting with various fruity macaroon flavours and grapefruit marmalade really hits the spot! The bitter but zesty tang from the grapefruit helps balance off the sweetness of the macaroon shell, making this treat rather refreshing and not too sweet.

Ingredients

Serves: 30

For the Macaroon Shells

1¼ cups almond meal
1½ cups confectioners' sugar
3 large egg whites (room temperature)
2 ounces superfine sugar
½ tablespoon red food colouring

For the Grapefruit Marmalade

1 cup sliced red grapefruit
1 cup jam setting sugar

Method

Grapefruit Marmalade Macaroons is a community recipe submitted by themacarondiaries and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.

Macaroon Shells

Combine almond meal with pure confectioners' sugar and sift three times. Set aside.

Beat egg whites until foamy and then add superfine sugar 1 tabespoon at a time until mixture is thick, shiny and stiff.

Fold in half of the dry mixture with the egg whites until combined. Then add the rest of the dry mixture and mix lightly in a circular motion. Then commence 'macaroonage' which involves spreading out the batter against the bowl’s sides and then scooping the batter from the bottom and turning it upside down.

Line a tray(s) with double layers of baking paper (This helps to prevent heat from passing through too quickly. Some recipes even suggest using double trays! You’ll need a lot of trays…) Using a piping bag or syringe, pipe out small mounds of macaron batter (About 2.5cm diameter) onto the lined trays. Rap the tray firmly against the counter or other flat surface as this helps the macaroons hold their rounded shape and helps the pied or little ‘feet’ to form. Then set aside to dry in room temperature. The drying duration varies but usually, it’s about 45min - 1 hr. The drying process of the macaroon batter is very important. In order for macaroons to form a smooth, shiny dome, the batter must not stick to your finger when touched. Once the batter is dried, you may place them into the oven. At this point, you may pre-heat your oven to 140°C – 150°C* (Fan forced oven).

Once the batter has dried sufficiently, you may place the trays into the oven and bake for about 15mins. If baking two trays at once, make sure you swap the top and bottom trays at half time so that they both get equal amounts of heat.

To check whether or not your macaroons are ready, take the tray out of the oven and slowly try and lift a macaroon from the baking paper. If you find that you are unable to, this means the base is still uncooked and sticky – put the tray back into the oven. If you are able to lift the macaroon off and you find that the base is smooth and flat, your macaroons are ready! – This test is important because each oven is different. Generally, 12 - 15mins is a good duration however, it doesn’t hurt to check in order to avoid your macaroons from being burnt.

Once the macaroons are baked, take them out of the oven and allow them to cool on the tray before lifting them off from the baking sheet.

Once the macaroon shells have cooled, you begin to sandwich the shells to complete your macaroon! Some recipes suggest using a piping bag to pipe the filling onto the macaroon however, I find spreading it with a knife is much simpler.

Grapefruit Marmalade

Peel the grapefruit as closely as you can to the flesh. (Try your best to remove as much of the white parts as possible if you want to make your grapefruit marmalade less bitter)

Cut the grapefruit up finely.

Put the grapefruit and sugar into a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir and cook until the mixture comes to boil.

Once it has reached boiling point, you need to test that the jam will set. To test for set, remove the saucepan from heat, and place a small amount of the marmalade onto a cold/chilled plate. Wait for it to cool and then press gently onto the marmalade - check if the surface of the drop wrinkles. If it does, then the marmalade is ready. If not, return the saucepan to heat and boil again and retest in small intervals (About every 30 seconds)

Once the marmalade is ready (once it passes the set test), smash the grapefruit with a potato masher to help break the grapefruit down some more.

Picked out some of the chunky bits that wouldn’t break down.

Sterilise some jars by pouring boiling water over them.

Pour your marmalade mixture into the jars and seal.

Allow to cool and put in fridge.

Bon Appetite!