Chocolate Macarons with Vanilla Ice Cream, Freeze Dried Strawberries, Black Pepper and Basil, and Baileys White Chocolate Sauce

 

Makes: 6 macaron sandwiches

 

For the macarons:

170 grams icing sugar

160 grams ground almonds

20 grams cocoa powder

120 ml egg whites from about 4 medium eggs, separated into 2 equal batches

160 grams granulated sugar

 

To assemble:

2 x 1 ltr blocks vanilla ice cream

75 grams white chocolate

75 ml double cream

60 ml Baileys Original

100 grams freeze dried strawberries, lightly crushed

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Small handful basil leaves, finely chopped

 

Let’s make some macarons.

 

1.     Place the icing sugar, ground almonds and cocoa powder in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until fully combined.

2.     Sieve the mixture into a large bowl, discarding anything left in the sieve. Add the first half of the egg whites to the almond mixture, mix to a very thick paste and set aside.

3.     Tip the second batch of egg whites into a clean bowl and get an electric whisk ready. Place 50ml water and the granulated sugar into a small saucepan and set it over a medium heat.

4.     Bring to a boil and cook until the syrup reaches 110 C then begin to beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks start to form.

5.     Once the syrup is at 118 C pour it slowly into the egg whites whilst continuing to whisk until the mixture has cooled slightly and you have a thick, shiny meringue. You could do this stage in a stand mixer as well.

 

6.     Add 1 large spoonful of the meringue to the almond paste and mix well to loosen the mixture. Spoon the remaining meringue onto the almond paste and gently fold together. It is important not to over-mix the batter – it should fall from the spatula in a thick ribbon that disappears back into the batter within about 20 - 30 seconds - if the batter is too thick, simply continue to fold.

7.     Heat oven to 170 C / 150 C fan. Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment and transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle. Pipe rounds about 5 cm in diameter onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave to rest for 30 mins, or until the macarons have developed a skin.

8.     Bake the macarons for 18 mins then leave to cool for a few minutes before gently peeling the macarons off the paper. Leave to cool.

 

Baileys White Chocolate Sauce

Make the white chocolate sauce by melting the white chocolate and double cream together in a bowl set over a Bain Marie until smooth. Remove from the water and stir in the Baileys Original.

 

To assemble

1.     Place the crushed freeze-dried strawberries, black pepper and basil in a bowl and mix together then use a 5cm cookie cutter to stamp out rounds from the ice cream block.

2.     Roll the ice cream rounds in the strawberry mixture then sandwich an ice cream round between 2 macarons and enjoy immediately.

The 2021 Baileys Treat Report delves into delicious treating trends from around the world. In 2020, more than ever, treating played an important role in our everyday lives, giving us moments of sweet indulgence at home and connecting us with friends over shared recipes. Click here for more information. Please drink responsibly.