Recipe: Macaroons with jam

1 Sift together the icing and vanilla sugars and the ground almonds and mix thoroughly (a 2nd sifting would be ideal)

2 Turn on the oven (160 to 355°F (180°c) (th6) depending on the expected size of the macaroons)

3 Beat the egg whites not too tightly (they should barely "beak") and incorporate the caster sugar after sprinkling a little before the end of the assembly of the egg whites

4 Gently fold the mixture from step 1/ into the egg whites with a wooden spatula (place the egg whites on the mixture and not the other way around) according to the usual precautions

5 Place the mixture in a pocket fitted with a plain nozzle (see precautions in the chouquettes recipe on the site on a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet or directly on a flexipan sheet

6 Tap (without turning it over!) the bottom of the baking sheet to even out the heaps of macaron batter and break down the tips (which I didn't do - see photo!) and bake for 12 to 20 minutes depending on the diameter of the macaroons (3 to 5 cm) . refer to chef Patrick's recipe for the end of cooking

7 When the macaroons have cooled down, place a small spoon of very cold jam in a dome in the center of the flat part of a macaroon, without going to the edges and place another macaron on top; press gently to evenly distribute the jam to the edge of the macaroon and do the same for all the macaroons.

And There you go. I made these macaroons last Saturday with homemade raspberry jam because I needed to free up jars from last season for my first strawberries...