Nigella Challenge: Marmalade

I have made this marmalade in many incarnations. The first was an orange and grapefruit, the next (and my personal favourite) was a deep burnished blood orange batch and today I made a classic orange version. I've also had success with grapefruit, mandarin, and an orange and lemonade version (Lemonades are a hybrid citrus variety - a cross between an orange and a lemon. You won't find them grown commercially but sometimes you do spot them at farmers markets and old orchards.). Once I get a few more jars, I'm going to test out a tangelo version. And by then I'll pretty much be out of citrus types to try! I'd tell you which ones taste best, but I'm not a marmalade fan (I use it in cooking a lot as a pork/chicken marinade and in a great, fudging chocolate cake). The best feedback has been from the grapefruit and orange, and the blood orange batches.

This recipe is very simple, but it does take time and patience. There's two hours boiling the fruit and the chopping, especially for a fine cut, is a little tedious so make sure you have a day set aside to spend in the kitchen.

I have said 3 x 350ml jars, but I sometimes find this makes a little more or less, and so I always sterilise more than I think I will need. And I'm also using an assortment on jars I've collected and hoarded so it is difficult to determine sizes. I have included notes on how to sterilise you jars, and its all very easy - just watch fingers! We're dealing with hot jars and hot sugar so it could be a recipe for disaster. I go for a combination of tea towels and clothes for screwing on lids, but I encourage you to do whatever you find logical and suits you best.

• 800g citrus 
• 1kg white sugar (or jam/preserving sugar if you can get your hands on it)
• juice 2 lemons
• 3 x 350ml jars (or equivalent)

Place a saucer in your freezer.

Place citrus in a large saucepan, fill with enough water so that they float freely, bring to boil and simmer for about 2 hours. You will probably need to top up the water occasionally so put the jug on to boil for hot water and keep an eye on the situation.

While this is happening prep you jars by giving them a good wash and rinse, and preheating the oven to 120C. Place the jars and lids on a baking tray. There's no need to dry them, and I recommend doing this even if you're jars are clean. Just before you take the citrus off the heat pop the jars in the oven.

When the citrus is soft, drain and place fruit on a chopping board. Chop finely, removing any seeds, and return to pan. There may be some fancy work with tongs as the fruit will be HOT when it comes out. I find that cutting it all into strips first and then finely chopping is the easiest way. Warning: this is not a tidy job. Your bench will be covered in juice by the end of this, try as you may. Add sugar and lemon juice. Dissolve sugar on a gentle heat, then bring to boil. Boil until setting point is reached (test by placing a teaspoon of marmalade onto the cold saucer - if it forms a skin then its ready). This will take 15-20 minutes.

Remove jars from oven. Ladle (interestingly I use an old tea cup, but a small heatproof jug is probably your best bet) hot marmalade into hot jars and screw on lids immediately. This will seal the jars so they can be stored in the pantry until needed. Label jars (including the date) when they're cool.

Nigella Challenge: Blueberry Muffins

You can't go past a good muffin. But the thing is, a good muffin is hard to find. Those giant, mass-produced, fat and sugar laden cafe staples are always disappointing. And really, there is no excuse, because a muffin is the easiest thing to make and they're on the healthier end of the baked goods spectrum (lack of butter, half the sugar of biscuits, etc...). Basically, it is not hard to make a good muffin.

Be warned, these look nothing like the giant cafe ones (though you could invest in a Texan muffin tin and adjust your cooking times) but they taste far superior. These are best fresh out of the oven, but they keep reasonably well for a few days in an airtight container (a few seconds in the microwave will warm them again if you like).

I also suggest you use fresh blueberries when they're in season (indeed, any berry in season or a mixture, as this is a great base muffin recipe), but frozen would do just fine. This isn't too extravagant as they only use 1-2 punnets. If you use frozen, don't defrost them before adding to the batter or you'll end up with green-hued muffins. I have made a gluten free version of these with great success too, but depending on the flour you use you made need to add a little more or less, so tread carefully.

Lastly, the most important thing for a great muffin is not to over mix. The idea is to just combine the ingredients - there will be lumps! Over mixing is what makes a muffin tough.

• 75g butter, melted
• 1 1/3 cups plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 200ml buttermilk (OR 100g plain yoghurt and 100ml milk)
• 1 egg
• 200g blueberries

Preheat oven to 200C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases or grease well.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. In a jug, combine the wet ingredients. Pour this into the dry ingredients and gently mix. Add the blueberries, mixing until just combined (remember - too much, and you'll have a tough muffin).

Divide mixture among muffin tin (an ice cream scoop is handy, other wise the old spoon and spatula combo). Bake for 20 minutes until risen and golden.

You could eat these lathered with butter and jam for breakfast or brunch (its delicious) or enjoy them as are, warm or cool. As for variations, I've made a blackberry and apple version, and the cafe classic raspberry and white chocolate. 

Nigella Challenge: Snickerdoodles

These are an unassuming biscuit, but don't underestimate them. They taste like delicious cinnamon doughnuts. What's not to like? Nigella even  calls them "oven-baked doughnuts".

I always find myself drawn to baked goods that don't look like much, but you discover they're are the tastiest little morsels once you've eaten them. They become my little secret, and nobody else will give them a try, so more for me! I have a great jam-topped sponge recipe that does the same - I won over an initially unimpressed university class with it. I've made these little biscuits a few times now too (they're very quick, easy and even a badly stocked pantry probably has the ingredients!) and they always manage to disappear at a rapid rate.

They're golden, crumbly and go very well with a nice cup of tea - so they tick all my boxes when it comes to biscuits.

• 250g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 125g butter, softened 
• 100g caster sugar, plus 2 tbsp for rolling
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 180C and line 2 large baking sheets.

Combine the flour, nutmeg and baking powder in a bowl, and then set it aside. 

Cream the butter and 100g sugar until pale in an electric mixer. Add the egg and vanilla. Turn your mixer down (to avoid a flour mushroom cloud) and gradually add the flour mixture. 

Combine the 2 tbsp sugar and cinnamon on a small plate. Roll teaspoonfuls of the dough (roughly the size of a walnut) into balls, and then roll it in the cinnamon sugar. Place them on the baking sheets. No need to flatten them at all - you want them as nice little domes once baked. 

Bake for 15 minutes, until lighlty golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. They will still be a little soft, but like all biscuits they firm up as they cool. 

As a variation, Nigella suggests replacing 25g flour with cocoa to may "chocodoodles". This sounds delicious, but I am yet to attempt them. Have a go and let me know if anyone does. 

Nigella Challenge: Sweet & Salty Peanut Biscuits

I can't actually eat these, and to be honest, I'm not tempted - but all reports point to them being delicious. That perfect combination of sweet and salty that's made salted caramel the current food-de-jour that seems to be staying the distance. What is it about that combination? Is it as simple as its ability to satisfy all our "bad" food cravings? Whatever it is, I've jumped wholeheartedly on the bandwagon!

Nigella actually refers to these as her favourite biscuits - i kid you not. She likes them as the bread in an ice-cream sandwich. She also presses the importance of using vegetable shortening (I used copha) to give them lightness, and I certainly agree.

I am harbouring ambitions to make a cashew version of these to explore further their possibilities.

• 75g brown sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 50g vegetable shortening, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 175g self-raising flour
• 125g salted peanuts

Preheat oven 190C. Line 2 large baking sheets.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer combine the sugar, butter, shortening, egg and vanilla. You aren't creaming this, merely combining. You could do this with a wooden spoon, but the mixer makes it far easier (it is much easier to do this next step with a spoon however). Add the flour and nuts, mixing well to combine.
Drop teaspoonfuls of the dough onto the trays about 5cm apart.
Now this is the most complicated step: oil the bottom of a glass and dip into the extra brown sugar. Press this down on the dough to flatten the tops.
Bake 8-10 mins. Cool on a wire rack (if you can resist the temptation).

 

Nigella Challenge: Jam Doughnut Muffins

These go down a treat every time I make them. They're such unassuming little morsels.

I do prefer these in their mini form. This is a personal preference (who doesn't like cute, small food though?) and

From the 'Childrens' chapter in How to be a Domestic Goddess I bring you the ultimate sugary delight. Soft cake and sweet jam, rolled in buttery-sugar. And only 30 minutes making time (including baking!).

• 125ml milk
• 85ml vegetable oil (not olive - I used rice bran)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g self-raising flour
• 100g caster sugar
• 12 tsp strawberry jam (you could use another berry if you prefer, or try out Nutella or peanut butter)
• 100g unsalted butter 
• 150g caster sugar 
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Preheat oven to 190C. Line a 24-hole mini muffin tin with patty cases or grease a 12-whole ordinary muffin tin. If you make mini muffins, you'll get about a tray and half total, so put your extra batter to the side while you do the first batch (to completion - rolling in sugar as well).

Place flour and caster sugar in a bowl. In another bowl/jug, whisk together milk, oil, egg, and vanilla using a fork. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and gently fold together. Don't over mix or you'll end up with a tough muffin.

Half fill each muffin hole with batter, then spoon in 1/2 a teaspoon of jam (use a full teaspoon for the bigger muffins). Top with more batter. There's no need to be exact with the jam here - you can add more or less if you really wanted too. You could even leave it out if its not your thing.

Bake for 15-20 minutes - depending on you oven, both sized muffins could take anywhere in this time frame. My experience has been about 15 for mini ones, and 20 for the big ones. Just keep an eye on it as they turn quickly.

While they're baking, get on with melting the butter. Pour it into a small bowl to make the next step easier. In another small bowl place your white sugar. I like pasta plates as they're quite shallow which makes them easy to get into.

When they muffins are done, and while they're still hot, take each and roll the top in the melted butter and then in the sugar. Place on a rack to cool. If you made the bigger version, cover the whole muffin in butter and then roll in the sugar.

These are best eaten hot, but that doesn't seem to deter anyone from hooking in once they've cooled. They actually travel quite well. I couldn't recommend them any further except to tell you that I ate about 1/4 of them before they even made it to the cooling rack!

Nigella Challenge: Baby Bundts

These are adorable. And luscious. These are perfect for any occasion. I'd love them as part of an afternoon tea spread, but they make an easy snack as well. They are just very pretty all laid out together.

If you don't have a mini Bundt tray and don't want to invest (and if you do, make it a very good non-stick one), you can make them in ordinary muffin tins. I did the first time I made them, and just needed to thicken the icing. On another note, these age very well. If anything, they get better! Rather than going dry and stale, they stay wonderfully moist.

As for variations, its citrus, so all can be used fairly interchangeably and a little blending is definitely possible.

These are nothing fancy, but you could easily convince people they are

• 125ml natural yoghurt
• 75g butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• zest of 1 lemon
• 150g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
• 125g caster sugar
• 200g icing sugar
• juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease your tray by with an oil spray or brush on melted butter with a pastry brush.

In a measuring jug, combine yoghurt, butter, eggs and lemon zest. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, caster sugar and bicarb. Mix in the wet ingredients.

Carefully spoon into your tray, trying not to spill any on the edges. Bake them for 20-30 minutes. The timing will depend on the size of your moulds - mine are 12-hole and only need 20-25 minutes, but Nigella used a 6-hole tray and suggests up to 30 minutes cooking time. Even if you over cook a little, they shouldn't dry out thanks to the yoghurt.

When done, cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. 

For the icing, combine the icing sugar and lemon juice in a jug. With the cakes on the wire rack or on a plate (depends if you want to see the hole in the middle or not - on the rack the icing will drip through), pour over the icing. Leave to set.

I stored in an airtight container for a few days out of the fridge as I didn't want the icing to set solid. It stays a soft-set this way.

 

Nigella Challenge: Lemon-Raspberry Muffins

These are a great muffin to have in your repertoire. So versatile. The first time I made them I made them as mini muffins and they were perfect. You can be a little creative with the flavours by mix-and-matching the citrus and berries. I'd like to try orange and blackberry or blueberry, and grapefruit and raspberry might be nice.

These are a rather elegant muffin, even more so when shrunken. They look quite delicate - all buttery cake crowned with bright red berry. So make them if you aren't the best baker but need to impress at some social gathering.

A note, fresh berries look the prettiest (especially if making mini muffins) but frozen ones taste just fine and are much less expensive and more convenient. I'd say I'd be able to whip up a version of these at a moments notice with ease.

• 60g butter
• 200g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• approx. 120ml milk
• 1 egg
• 150g raspberries (or enough to top each mini muffin)

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line a muffin tray with paper cases or grease very well.

Melt butter in microwave and set aside to cool. 

Combine dry ingredients and lemon zest in a large bowl. In a measuring jug, add the lemon juice and enough milk to come to the 200ml mark. (This is a little odd I know, but its about how juicy your lemon is really) If it curdles, don't worry. Beat the egg and butter into the jug.

Pour wet into dry and stir briefly to combine. Remember, over mixing makes a tough muffin. The flour should be amalgamated but it should still appear lumpy. For full size muffins, add the raspberries now.

Spoon evenly into muffin tins. For mini muffins, pop a raspberry on top of each muffin.

Bake for 25 minutes, until golden and tops spring back when touched.

Leave to cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes if you'd like to eat them hot. Otherwise, cool on the wire rack completely and then store in an airtight container out of the fridge (I find muffins go a bit tough when refrigerated).

Nigella Challenge: Baklava Muffins

These are delicious. Not much else to say really. They manage to be stupidly simple and fancy at the same time.

As a flavour combination, you can't get much better than baklava. But it is a tricky thing to make, so why not try fool-proof muffins instead? They're best eaten warm so you can truly appreciate the crunchy, melting buttery-honey taste.

[filling]

• 100g walnuts, chopped
• 75g demerara sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 45g butter, melted

[muffins]

• 210g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
• 75g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 45g butter, melted
• 250ml buttermilk (or 175g yoghurt & 75g milk)*

[topping]

• 125ml honey (warmed in microwave to make runny or using a squeeze bottle)

*I know it sounds really odd to weigh a liquid, but I'm just trusting Nigella on this one. FYI I used this method.

Preheat oven to 200C. Line a 12-whole muffin tray with paper cases (essential, as we'll be drizzling with honey later).

Combine the walnut filling ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Next, combine the dry ingredients for the muffins in a mixing bowl. In a jug, whisk together the egg, melted butter and buttermilk. Pour into the dry ingredients and lightly mix until just combined. Remember not to over mix - it should be a lumpy-ish mixture. Over mixing is the death of muffins. 

Fill each paper case one-third full and then add a tiny teaspoon of the walnut filling. Cover this with more batter, filling about two thirds full. If you have any filling leftover, just dot it on top of the muffins.

Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Put the muffins onto a rack and drizzle with honey while they're still hot. It could get messy so maybe throw down an old tea towel or bit of newspaper to save on cleaning up. 

Give the honey a minute to soak in before eating as the filling is HOT (I learnt the hard way...).

Nigella Challenge: Scones

These are not my scones of choice. Too British; too many ingredients. I make a lemonade scone, but as these are part of the challenge, the must be made!

They are very good though, and relatively foolproof. Plenty of raising agent keeps them soft and fluffy. Don't let the solid exterior fool you.

Actually, they are very very good...

• 500g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp bicarb soda
• 4 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 50g cold butter, diced
• 25g vegetable shortening, diced (or just use butter)
• 300ml milk
• 1 egg, for glazing

Preheat oven to 220C. Grease or line a baking tray (I like to do mine straight on the tray for nice, golden bottoms).

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl (Nigella & I never sift, no need normally, but here it is essential). Rub in the butter and shortening until it resembles "damp sand". I have one of those fancy pastry cutter/mixer thingies, but fingers work just as well. Add the milk, mixing it in briefly wth your hands before turning out onto a floured surface and kneading lightly until it forms a dough. 

This isn't bread, so no need for any pounding - you're really just bringing it all together.

Roll out to 3cm thick and stamp out your scones with a 6-7cm cutter (I just used a glass, but you can buy crinkled edge cutters in kitchen shops). You'll end up with 10-12 scones, with a little re-rolling and shaping to use up all the dough.

Place them on the tray, and brush with an egg wash. Nigella directs you to put them close together so they all join together and then you pull them apart to serve. Some of mine joined, some didn't. Its not imperative. 

Bake for 10 minutes until golden and risen. They really are quite massive.

Serve as you like! I had mine with double cream and homemade blackberry jam. They're also yummy with cream and golden syrup or treacle.

For variations, Nigella suggests adding 75g sultanas (or other diced dried fruit) or adding 75g grated strong cheese (like a good cheddar or parmesan) for cheese scones. I've made these and they're amazing with lashings of butter.

Nigella Challenge: Coffee & Walnut Splodge Biscuits

I am not a coffee person. For a little while when I first started university I tried to convince myself I was, but I felt like such a fraud. And back to my tea pots I went.

However, I seem to like it in baked goods and desserts. Really, who could resist a tiramisu? These cakey biscuits would be a delightful accompaniment for coffee (I imagine), but they aren't quite so good with tea.

They are an absolute doddle to make. Hardly any ingredients, but the espresso powder is crucial for the proper taste. You'll find it easily in the supermarket, and it is the best thing to use any time dried coffee is called for.

• 250g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 200g butter, softened
• 75g caster sugar
• 60g brown sugar
• 2 tbsp instant espresso powder
• 2 eggs
• 200g walnuts, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a couple of baking sheets with baking paper.

Cream butter and sugars with an electric mix master. Add coffee, and then eggs.

Gently fold in flour, baking powder and walnuts. Mix until just combined - you don't want to over mix or you'll have tough cookies.

Drop tablespoonfuls of the sticky mixture onto baking trays, leaving 4-5cm between them as they spread considerably. Bake for 12 minutes until golden and firm to touch. Cool on a rack.

Nigella Challenge: Lemon Gems

If you like lemon, you'll like these. And if you want something a little more refined for afternoon/morning tea than a standard choc chip cookie, then these are perfect. They are super easy and you can whip them up if you have unexpected guests drop by. The curd goes on to a still hot-from-the-oven biscuit.

They may seem a bit strange at first as the curd contrasts A LOT with the shortbread-like biscuit, but it really is a good thing.

I would suggest making your own curd (try this one). I generally make a lemon version of the lime curd in How to be a Domestic Goddess and I always have a jar in the fridge (I love it on ice cream!), but I'm not up to posting it yet! Check your Women's Weekly or CWA cookbooks too - anything old fashioned will have a good, simple recipe. If not, you can buy it in supermarkets (usually near the jam).

The vegetable shortening is necessary. The first time I made these I used it, but the second time I didn't and the difference was obvious. With the shortening the biscuit crumbles wonderfully, as it takes on a shortbread texture that just isn't quite there with the butter. All butter is just a bit to rich. Who'd of thought I'd advocate you not use butter!

• 125g vegetable shortening, softened (I used copha this time, but you will find other kinds next to the butter in the supermarket fridges)
• 125g butter, softened
• 75g caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested
• 275g plain flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 25g cornflour
• 6-7 tablespoons of lemon curd

Preheat oven to 180C. Line or grease 2 baking sheets.

Beat together the shortening, butter and sugar. Add the egg yolk, lemon zest and juice. You can use an electric mixer here, but we aren't really creaming so its not necessary - go ahead and give yourself an arm work out.

Fold in the flour, almonds and cornflour. Do this gently - it should be just combined. It's very sticky so it goes in the fridge to chill for an hour.

Remove the dough from the fridge and roll into cherry tomato sized balls. Space these evenly on your baking sheets. Make an indentation in each biscuit (see the picture below). Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.

The moment they come out of the oven fill the indentation on each biscuit with 1/2 a teaspoon of lemon curd. Then transfer them from the baking sheet to wire racks to cool.

Nigella Challenge: Ricciarelli

These are fun little morsels. They're like popcorn at the movies, finished before the opening credits have ended. For all their ease of eating, they're a bit of a hassle to make as they need to be started the day before. Though, honestly each step takes no time at all so there is no reason to let the delay stop you. Just try an resist there chewy delight once you've put in a little effort (besides, you can justify th eating with all your hard work).

P.S. Avoid these if you aren't a marzipane fan. It's basically what they are!

• 2 egg whites
• 225g caster sugar
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond essence
• 300g almond meal
• icing sugar, for dusting

Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper.

With an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until they are stiff and then gradually whisk in the sugar. It will end up a bit like that weird American marshmallow fluff stuff. Next add the lemon zest, vanilla and almond essence. Then add the almond meal - it will become quite a dense mixture.

Shape tablespoonfuls into diamond shapes and place (evenly spaced) on the trays. It is a sticky mixture, and Nigella suggests dusting your hands periodically with icing sugar while you are shaping. When thats all done, leave the trays out overnight so they can dry out.

Heat the oven 140C, and cook for 30 minutes. They'll be pale and a little cracked when done. It really doesn't matter if they are a little under done as they are a moist, chewy biscuit (I use the term loosely) though over done and they'll start to dry out.

Cool on trays and then dust with icing sugar. They keep really well for a few days in an airtight container, but good luck getting them to last that long!

Nigella Challenge: Spanish Macaroons

Again, these are not those dainty French pastries, but something rather more robust. They'll be a crowd-pleaser just the same though. Suited to adult tastes, they're named Spanish Macaroons for their warm-spiced orange flavour. They have a sweet chewy centre under their almost-crisp outside, rather like their French cousin. They not look much, but you should never judge a book by its cover!

They're easy to make, but just a little messy (this batter is epically sticky).

• 425g almond meal
• 250g  icing sugar
• zest of 2 oranges (make sure they're nice & firm)
• 1/2 tsp almond essence
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 3 egg whites

Preheat oven to 180C and line two baking trays (ones you'd use for biscuits).

Combine almond meal, icing sugar, zest, essence and spice in a mixing bowl. Beat together the whole egg & egg whites in a jug (just to combine, no real aeration is needed). Make a well in the centre of your dry ingredients and pour in the egg. Use your hands to mix - they're only going to get messy anyway!

Break off walnut-sized pieces of mixture (about a tablespoonful for those unaccustomed with whole walnuts) and roll into little balls. Place on your baking trays (about 3-5cm apart, they don't really grow). 

I found (and Nigella suggested) that if you rinse your hands frequently under cold water to remove excess mixture you'll have a far easier time of it. A pain I know, but these little delights are well worth the effort.

Cook in the oven for 20 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on a wire rack before gobbling up.

Nigella Challenge: Pistachio Macaroons

Like the coconut macaroons, these are not tricky and stressful like those beastly little French delights. They are really only of that style. If you see the picture in the book, you can see that there is no need for elegant perfection here. They will still take a little time and effort, but its nothing compared to a Zumbo recipe I once attempted!

They are however elegant in their own way. I think its the colour; such a pretty shade of green. And God, do they taste amazing!

[macaroon]

• 75g pistachios
• 125g icing sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 15g caster sugar

[buttercream]

• 55g pistachios
• 250g icing sugar
• 125g butter, softened

Preheat oven to 180C. 

Grind pistachios in a food processor along with the icing sugar (to stop it becoming oily), until it is a very fine dust. This takes a little while, but just be patient. 

Whisk egg whites to stiff peaks, add caster sugar, and whisk again to combine (be careful not to over beat them, but don't be too cautious at the same time - it just needs to be at the tipping point). Fold in the pistachio dust, gently combining. Pipe (or you can just spoon; I did) small circles of mixture out using a plain 1cm nozzle. Make sure you have an even number (you should get about 40 circles)! Let them sit for 10-20 minutes (depending on you weather - if its humid it will take a little longer) to form a skin.

Cook in the oven for 10-12 minutes until they're set (ie, they have that nice crust). Don't worry about cracks or anything like that. I can tell you that Nigella's have them! Leave them to cool on the baking trays while you make the buttercream.

Grind the nuts and icing sugar as you did before. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add the nut dust with the mixer still going.

Use this to sandwich the macaroons together.