Fig And Cardamom Macarons

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 145 degrees Celsius / 295 Fahrenheit.

Step 2

Prepare and weigh out the ingredients, separating the egg whites from egg yolks if necessary.

Step 3

Sieve the ground almonds and powdered sugar and then blend together until they are a very fine consistency and completely combined.

Step 4

Using a small knife, split open the cardamom pods and remove the seeds. Grind them in a pestle and mortar, and then push through a sieve. Alternatively, use ½ teaspoon ground cardamom.

Step 5

Mix the ground cardamom seeds into the ground almonds and powdered sugar.

Step 6

Add the powdered food colouring and thoroughly combine.

Step 7

Place the water and granulated sugar into a saucepan. Gently warm the water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Once it has dissolved, turn up the heat, stop stirring and place the sugar thermometer into the mixture.

Step 8

Once the thermometer starts to climb above 105 degrees Celsius/220 degrees Fahrenheit, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.

Step 9

When the sugar syrup reaches a soft boil temperature of 115 degrees Celsius/240 degrees, start whisking the egg whites again and pour in the sugar syrup a little at a time.

Step 10

The Italian meringue will turn a smooth, glossy and opaque white. Continue to whisk once all of the sugar syrup has been added to bring down the heat until you can touch the side of the bowl and it feels warm but not hot.

Step 11

Make the almond paste by mixing the remaining egg white with the ground almond/powdered sugar/cardamom mixture until it is fully incorporated.

Step 12

Now mix the Italian meringue into the almond paste in three stages.

Step 13

Firmly mix in the first third of the Italian meringue with a metal or wooden spoon to loosen the almond paste and fully combine the two mixtures.

Step 14

Fold in the remaining two thirds one at a time using the softer spoon or spatula, being very gentle with the final third to not overmix the batter and make it too slack.

Step 15

Move the macaron batter to a piping bag. Tie a knot in the end and relax the mixture slightly in the bag with your hands for a few seconds. Cut half a centimetre from the tip of the piping bag.

Step 16

Position the piping bag perpendicular to the tray with the nozzle a few millimetres above the surface. Squeeze the bag without lifting it up for two or three seconds, then stop squeezing and make a little circle to twist it off. Fill the trays leaving a 2cm gap in between each macaron.

Step 17

Firmly smack it down onto the work surface twice to settle the Italian macaron batter and get rid of any air bubbles.

Step 18

Bake the cardamom macarons straight away for 17 minutes, then remove them from the oven and allow the macarons to cool on the tray. This is a no-rest macaron recipe, but if you cannot fit all of your macarons in the oven at once, it won't harm the remaining macarons to be out on the worktop for 17 minutes.

Step 19

Blend the figs in a food processor or liquidiser. Add a splash of water if needed to loosen it.

Step 20

Push the fig puree through a sieve, and add the lemon juice and powdered sugar.

Step 21

Place the fig puree in a saucepan and reduce over medium heat until thickened. Chill in the fridge.

Step 22

Spread or pipe a circle of fig puree onto the cardamom macaron shell. Sandwich together with another macaron shell and serve.