Ok, so this week I cheated a little bit. Garibaldi, or squashed fly biscuits, have got to be amongst my least favourite foods on earth. I hate dried hot fruit, and this seemed to have half a ton of it inside.

I hummed and harred about doing this, until someone suggested I make the signature challenge instead – Macarons. Since this is another food item I’re never cooked, I though I’d give it a go.

Bit of a faff though, really, it turns out. I’m glad I did it, although I’m not sure I got it right, as everyone was saying they were great, and at the same time telling me they don’t usually like macarons. So are these just better? Or not actually macarons?

I used a recipe from BBC food and mixed the ground almonds, icing sugar and egg whites to a paste. Although, not really a paste. More of a stiff dough. I then heated the sugar and water to 118°C. Luckily I had a jam thermometer in the cupboard. I even found out that it had a little clip on the back to attach it to the side of the saucepan. Handy!

The next step was the faffy one. I had to mush the remaining egg whites with one hand while pouring the melted sugar into the bowl with the other, and then keep whisking until l had a shiny, peaked consistency. What was worse though was then trying to get the cooled sugar off of every surface it had stuck to. Including the end of the thermometer.

I was then supposed to fold that into the ‘paste’. Since mine was more of a dough, this was easier said than done. I had to give that some welly! I was worried I’d knock at all the air while trying to get it to combine, but, as you can see from the picture, they rose pretty well.

I then had to wait 30 mins before I could put them in the oven. At this point I was rushing a little, as I had to go running with Hi Five runners at 7! So they only got a 20 minute rest really.

In the oven, out of the oven, then rush out the door for running.

Making the chocolate filling was a breeze after my run, and I got myfself nice and messy after my shower trying to pipe it!

I can’t keep my kitchen clean for 5 minutes. My cooking gets everywhere. I spend three times as long cleaning up as I do cooking, and its a right nuisance. When I wash my floor, you can guarantee there’ll be food on it again within the hour. How do people manage to keep their kitchens so clean?

So anyway. Once the filling was piped, I cleaned that off my hands, the work top, nearby cupboard, taps and floor, before sandwiching the halves together and eating.

I usually pass over the macarons as I am not a fan of the almond taste, but these were good. Tall, light, fluffy, chocolate-y and good. A big tick from me, and another recipe to add to the keep list.

And of course, naturally gluten free too, so no need to adapt.

The next challenge is the Pain Aux Raisins, and I’m not sure how that’ll work with the gluten free. Plus, of course, I’ll be swapping the raisins for chocolate chips because that’s just better (in my opinion)!