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Macaron honeycomb and chocolate granita

To say I devised macaron honeycomb would be a lie. Honestly I happened to be making honeycomb while scoffing down a macaron, and amidst my inability to multitask, I dropped the macaron into the honeycomb. And voila. A happy accident.

I thought for sure it would melt and become a weird almond-tasting puddle in the middle of the honeycomb but the macaron held its shape beautifully.  The best bit is you get this pop of colour, a soft texture and fruity taste in the middle of the crunch – its brilliant. I’ve added it to a chocolate granita here to serve as a dessert and it works best when you use an assortment of brightly coloured and quirky flavoured macarons. It’s actually out of this world with licorice macarons if you can get your hands on them.

Granita

145g dark chocolate

200ml milk

120g caster sugar

65g corn syrup

540ml water

50g cocoa powder

Honeycomb

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

½ cup honey

60ml (4 tbsp) water

2 tbsp golden syrup

2 tsp bicarbonate soda

12 macarons (various flavours)

Method

For the granita combine the milk, sugar, corn syrup and water in a saucepan and gently bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and working quickly whisk in the cocoa powder. Add the chocolate and stir continuously until melted. Allow to cool then pour into a container and freeze until required.

For the honeycomb, grease and line an edged baking tray with baking paper. Place the macarons onto the lined tray and set aside.  Combine the sugar, honey, water and golden syrup in a saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Cook, without stirring, for 5-7 minutes or until the syrup reaches crack stage (154°C) on a sugar thermometer. Remove from heat and set aside for bubbles to subside. Add the bicarbonate of soda and quickly stir until combined and the mixture begins to foam. Pour over the macarons on the tray and set aside to cool completely. Break into bite size pieces.

Remove the granita from the freezer and using a fork, scrape the top of the granita to form shards. Scoop the shards into serving bowls, top with pieces of macaron honeycomb and serve.

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