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With a mildly savoury flavour and pitch-perfect texture, Beta5's Adam Chandler says this ice cream sandwich-sized macaron is best served with good quality soft ice cream. A few tips: Weigh all of your ingredients on a digital kitchen scale; and when cooking the sugar syrup, cook over low heat with a lid on until the sugar is completely dissolved, then remove the lid, increase to high heat and cook to 118 C.

Servings: Makes 30 2.5-inch cookies

Ingredients

125 g almond powder

63 g graham cracker crumbs

188 g icing sugar

136 g egg whites (about four and a half large egg whites), divided into two (68g)

188 g sugar

60 g water

2 g egg white powder (available at health food stores)

Method

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Trace 2.5-inch circles onto sheets of parchment paper using a dark pen or sharpie, leaving approximately 1-inch between each.

Place these parchment templates onto your baking sheets, and cover with a second sheet of parchment or a silicone baking mat.

Combine almond powder, graham cracker crumbs and icing sugar, and process in a food processor until fine. Sift to remove any lumps.

Add half (68 g) of egg whites to your dry mix, and combine together by hand, ensuring that no clumps remain.

Combine the sugar and water in a small pot, and cook until syrup reaches 118 C.

Combine second measure (68 g) of egg whites with egg white powder in a blender, then transfer to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.

When your syrup reaches 114 C, start whipping your egg whites at high speed.

Continue whipping; once the syrup has reached 118 C, slowly stream the syrup into the egg whites.

Continue whipping on high speed, until the mixing bowl feels slightly warm to the touch.

Once your meringue is finished, add it to your graham cracker mix in four additions, taking care to ensure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next.

Once fully mixed, continue folding until the batter flows like lava (peaks should settle back into the batter in about 15 to 20 seconds) – this is called the macaronage, and develops the structure and shine of the batter.

Using a piping bag fitted with a plain round tip, pipe rounds of batter onto your prepared baking sheets.

Firmly smack the trays on your counter to remove any air bubbles that might be trapped inside your batter.

Bake for 18-20 minutes – when fully baked, the cookies should peel cleanly from the parchment or baking mat.

Allow to cool, then sandwich with ice cream, wrap and place the finished sandwiches in the freezer overnight to soften the cookie slightly.

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