Head chef at home

We all have our own personal cooking styles. Personally I like to inject as much fun into the kitchen as possible, as it can get quite stressful at times trying to get everything ready together and following new recipes, so if I make it a laugh, it makes the whole process easier! Have a look at me in my kitchen – and yes – that is a disco ball! I had it installed when we remodelled the kitchen so my environment could be fun and entertaining. It was my way of reclaiming the kitchen so I could be the head chef at home!

Belling believes that being in the kitchen is a great way to express your creativity and they have produced some recipes to help any home cook create something amazing. I wanted to share their recipe for macaroons as they are so pretty to look at and feel like quite an achievement to make! I actually went to a cookery class once when I was on holiday where I learned to make macaroons. Mine weren’t quite as pretty as the ones Belling has made but you can read about my experience here.

This is Bellings’ recipe for macaroons:

In case you can’t quite read this, the ingredients are as follows:
125g icing sugar; 125g ground almonds; 90g egg whites free range; 2 tbsp water; 110g caster sugar; 150ml cream – double or whipped; food colouring of your choice; piping bag with 1cm nozzle.

Here is the method:

Preheat oven at 170 degrees / gas mark 3 and line a baking sheet with parchment

Mix icing sugar, almonds and 40g of the egg whites in a bowl until it makes a paste

Put water and caster sugar in a pan and heat until the sugar is melted. Turn the heat up more and boil the mixture until it starts to form a thick syrup

Whisk the remaining 50g of egg whites in a bowl until medium stiff peaks form. Then add the sugar syrup and continue to whisk until the mixture is stiff and shiny. Then add a couple of drops of food colouring

Transfer the mixture into a piping bag. Hold the bag vertically and pipe flat circles onto the baking tray. Each circle should be 4cm in size and 2cm apart. If your piping leaves a ‘tip’ on each one, gently tap the tray on the surface to flatten them. Leave to stand for 30 minutes

Place the tray in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes leaving the door slightly ajar

Remove from the oven, take the paper off the tray and leave to cool

Once cooled, sandwich the macaroons together with the whipped cream in the middle and enjoy!

This dessert is a real treat for the tastebuds and will wow any guests you might make them for!

Speaking of guests, writing this post made me remember another fun moment I had in the kitchen a few years ago when I worked as a kitchen tools sales consultant. The guests that day loved my cooking but I think they loved the view even more! You’ve got to have fun in the kitchen, I believe that the fun then goes into your food and the dish tastes better!

Preparing for my next #PamperedChef cooking show today makes me think of my last! Great fun on Thursday, great host, great helper!! #cookingshow #cooking #kitchen #nakedwaiter #instafood #instagood #party #pamperedchefconsultant #homebusiness #workfromhome #biz

A photo posted by Nadine Hill #lblogger (@businessmum) on Dec 1, 2014 at 5:46am PST

Do let me know if you decide to try making the macaroons, I’d love to hear how you get on!

This post was written in association with Belling.