Valentine's Day Recipe: Rose Water Macaroons with White Chocolate Ganache

The romantic event that is Valentine's Day is approaching quicker than you can say, 'I love you' and some of us are simply not prepared.  I don't ever really do much on 14th February purely because my other half is usually working but this year I am an extremely lucky lady, as he is off, so we're looking to spend some time together.
Now I know some people absolutely detest Valentines Day whether their single or not but I decided I'd embrace it this year and make a special effort.  
I do love my sweet treat - I don't have them often anymore so every once in a while is good, especially for a special occasion such as Valentines Day.
The other evening my friend and I decided we'd give ourselves a challenge by making macaroons.... I know I created the extremely tricky cake from Holly Bell off The Great British Bake Off, but these macaroons were going to be hard work!


I decided to use a special Nielsen-Massey using Rose Water for an extra special flavor. 
"The Rose Water is the key ingredient for these macaroons. Sweet and fragrant, it is an elegant steam distillate of rose petals. Its delicate floral notes are perfect in Middle Eastern, Indian and Greek cuisine and offer a wonderful accent to delicate French pastry glazes and creams. The ideal accessory to compliment the upcoming trend of floral inspired baking."
Say it with Rose  Nielsen-Massey Valentine's Day Rose Water Macaroons with White Chocolate Ganache Preparation Time: 25 Minutes Portions: Approx 20

Ingredients: 180g Ground Almonds 175g Golden Icing Sugar 4 Egg Whites 1/2 tsp Nielsen-Massy Rose Water 3 drops Pink Food Colouring 160g Golden Caster Sugar For the filling: 300g Quality White Chocolate 150g Double Cream 1. So we got all out ingredients together and began making the Macaroons. We started off by mixing the ground almonds in the food processor for around 30 second, we then sifted it to make sure it was as fine as possible.  Then we sft the golden icing sugar into the ground almonds. 

2. Measure 60g of egg whites and stir them into the almonds and icing sugar with the rose extract and colouring to make a thick paste. 

 3. After that you need to measure another 60g of egg whites into the bowl of your electric mixer - pop this to one side.
 4.  Now you need to place 50ml of water and the golden caster sugar into a small saucepan and heat.  Bring this to the boil and cook until it reaches 118c.  Once you've done this remove the pan from the heat and cool in a bowl of water. 
 5.Whisk the egg whites into soft peaks, gradually add the syrup and lightly fold.  Whisk on high and until the mixture is thick and stands in firm peaks.  After this fold the mixture into the ground almonds.  
6.Heat the oven to 170c/Gas Mark 3.  Line three baking sheets with baking paper and pipe the mixture into rounds about the size of a 10p piece. Make sure you leave them at room temperature for 30mins before baking. 
7. Bake for 10 minutes then cover them with a baking sheet and bake for a further 4-5 minutes.  Once you them out pop them on a wire cooling rack - don't panic if the seem a bit soft underneath once they cool they will harden a touch. 

 8. Place the cream and white chocolate in a small saucepan and heat until melted and creamy smooth. I added some pink colouring to make them a little more romantic - that's your choice. Leave this to cool then use it to sandwich your macaroons together! 
My first ever attempt at making macaroons was actually quite tough, I will be making another batch before Valentine's Day... so some advice give them a test first then making you romantic batch. 
xoxo """"