Recipe: Pineapple-coriander macaroons

Macaroons became a huge hit last year, and they’re proving as popular as ever in 2012. For all macaroon fans, here’s a tropical recipe from the kitchens of Constance Le Prince Maurice.

Macaroons at Constance

Serves 4
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes
Refrigeration: 2 hours

• 310g icing sugar
• 190g powdered almonds
• 5 egg whites
• 25g caster sugar

For the ganache

• 250g milk chocolate
• 1/2 small pineapple
• 2 sprigs fresh coriander
• 150g whipping cream
• 50g caster sugar

1. Make the macaroons: sift the icing sugar with the powdered almonds. Whip the egg whites, adding the caster sugar, then add the sifted icing sugar and almonds and mix carefully with a spatula. Pour this batter into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm plain tip and drop regular-shaped disks, 5cm wide, on a biscuit sheet lined with parchment paper. Let them rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 140ºC. Bake the macaroons for 20 minutes. Take them out of the overn and let them cool on the paper.
3. Make the ganache: peel the pineapple and dice the flesh finely. Finely chop the coriander. Mix pineapple and coriander, and refrigerate.
4. In a large bowl, break the milk chocolate into small pieces. Bring the cream to simmering point with the sugar, mixing well, then pour it over the chocolate. Mix until smooth. Add the pineapple and coriander, mix well and keep refrigerated for 2 hours.
5. Assemble the macaroons: lift them from the parchment paper and paste them two by two by spreading 1 small teaspoon of ganache between them.

And for inspiration, take a look at these delightful looking macaroons from Constance Belle Mare Plage on our Constance Facebook page.