A word of warning – this is an incredibly sweet macaron. Perhaps due to the fact that I have not acquired the taste of white chocolate; rather, I have loved the bitterness of dark chocolate from as far back as I can remember. The sweetness of the white chocolate came as a shock to me.

Macaron shells
140g almond meal
10g freeze dried mango powder
150 g icing sugar
55 g egg whites (about 1.5 egg)
2 g meringue powder
150 g caster sugar
38g water
2-3 drops of orange coloring
55 g egg whites extra

Mango White Chocolate ganache
200 mango purée (bought from Asian grocery shops)
250g white chocolate buttons pouring cream
4g gelatine sheets

Measure out all the ingredients first.

Line 3 baking trays each with a macaron template (see a previous post for a template) and layer non stick baking paper over.

Combine the almond meal, mango powder and icing sugar in a large bowl. Using a large spoon, push the mix through a fine sieve into a second large bowl. You may want to repeat this process to make sure there are absolutely no clumps. This is essential for a fine, smooth macaron.

The next step involves some multi-tasking /tandem cooking.
Put the first lot of egg whites into your stand mixer – highly recommended as you really need free hands to do this step.
Into a smallish saucepan, put the caster sugar and water and dissolve the sugar over a low heat, stirring gently. Use a clean pastry brush to brush down the side of the saucepan to avoid any crystallization. Clip the sugar thermometer according to manufacturer’s instructions. Increase the heat and bring to the boil.
Add your food coloring – the amount depends on the strength of your gel, what depth of colour you desire and how it mixes with other ingredients. Practice is the only way to test it out. I scrapped 2-3 tiny balls out using a tooth pick, so about 1/4 teaspoon.

Cook this until it reaches 118°C (soft ball stage). You should monitor your sugar thermometer, and as it reaches about 90°C temperature, add the meringue powder to the egg whites and whisk in medium until it becomes frothy.

Once the sugar syrup has reached 118°C, take the saucepan off the heat, increase the mixer speed to high and slowly trickle the sugar syrup in, down the side of the bowl. (Be warned not to get the syrup onto the whisk as you will then have spun sugar.) Whisk until the bowl is warm to touch, about 8 minutes.

Add the extra egg white to the almond meal mix, then add the meringue and use a large spatula to thoroughly combine it. Continue folding the mixture to soften the meringue. When ready for piping, the mixture should fall off the spatula with the ribbons dropping back into the bowl and incorporating with the rest of the mixture in a lava-like fashion.

Scoop the mixture into a piping bag (stand the piping bag in a tall glass if you can’t quite scoop and hold the bag at the same time) with a 12mm plain tip. Holding the bag slightly above the tray, pipe from the centre of each template circle to make a 4cm round. Keep it just within the border of each template cirlce. Do so without moving your tip to ensure your round is actually round in shape. At the end of piping each round, flick your tip from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock quickly to end the piping action. The tip on top should drop back and result in a smooth top.

Leave the macarons at room temperature for 30 minutes until a skin forms. It might take longer in humid days. Preheat your oven to 135°C around 20 minutes into this step (you know your oven best – I use fan force and have it on at 125°C). Test the skin by gently touching the side of a macaron with your fingertip – it should not be sticky. This is important as the skin lifts while the macaron cooks, resulting in the all important ‘foot’!

Bake the macarons for 16 minutes, until a firm outer shell has formed. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 2 minutes. Check if it is done by gently removing one with a spatula – the base should be cooked and dry. If it isn’t, return the tray to the oven for 2 minutes extra. Cool the macarons completely on the trays.

While the macarons are cooking, you can start on the ganache. Put the white chocolate buttons in a bowl. Soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl with some water until it has bloomed. Heat the mango purée and bring it to a boil. Squeeze excess water from the gelatine and add to the hot mango purée. Stir to dissolve the gelatine completely. Pour over the white chocolate and stir to cool slightly. Put cling film over the bowl and place in fridge to set, about 30 minutes.

Fill a piping bag with a 10mm plain tip. Half fill only, pushing it down towards the tip and give the bag a twist. Make sure the bag is firmly packed as it allows you better control when piping. Pipe the ganache on the flat side of half of the macaron shells, filling about 3/4 of the surface.

Top with the remaining shells. Box the finished macarons and keep it in the fridge overnight to set. Bring to room temperature to serve.