French macaroons are available in every colour of the rainbow

Ingredients

175g icing sugar

125g ground almonds

3 extra-large egg whites

75g caster sugar

A few drops of the colouring of your choice - matched with a flavour of your choice like vanilla, almond, chocolate, peppermint or lemon

Filling:

150g butter, softened

75g icing sugar

Colour and flavour of your choice

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Combine the icing sugar and ground almonds in a food processor or blender and process to a very fine mixture. Then sieve into a bowl.

In a separate clean metal or glass bowl, whisk the egg white with a pinch of salt until it forms soft peaks. Gradually add the caster sugar, beating until thick and glossy as one would for a meringue. Add the colouring and flavouring of your choice. Start off with 2.5ml of colour - adding too much could be disastrous. Fold half the almond and icing sugar mixture into the meringue and mix well. Add the remaining half, using a spatula to mix in well. The mixture should fall from the spatula. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle.

Prepare the baking trays by lining with greaseproof paper. Secure the paper by first spraying the tray with non-stick cooking spray which helps keep the paper down. Pipe small rounds of the macaroon mixture, about 3cm in diameter, on the baking paper with space to spread in between. Give the baking trays a gentle tap on the counter to settle the piped mixture.

Leave the trays of raw macaroons to stand for 15 minutes to form a slight skin. This is an important step, and a way to test if it has been long enough is to lightly touch a macaroon. If your finger comes away almost clean then the macaroons are ready to be baked. Bake for 15 minutes.

A perfect macaroon has a soft centre, so don't over-bake. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

For the filling beat the butter until light and fluffy then add the icing sugar and colour and flavour as desired. Use to sandwich the macaroons together.