FOOD: DAIRY FREE ROSE & STRAWBERRY MACAROONS

I thought I would bring you something different today - something fanciful. I needed to start making things for myself that are dairy free as I have a slight lactose intolerance. If I have too much dairy I break out, I get stomach cramps and nausea and usually I end up in a lot of discomfort. Whilst I am willing to tolerate this for the sake of a Costa Coffee Vanilla Latte every now and again I can't allow this to happen every single day as it has been doing. A lot of people suffer with the same problems as I do so hopefully this will be useful for those that fancy a sweet treat without the lactose involved. Eggs, whilst classed as 'dairy' do not contain lactose, so for me I can eat them and use them in recipes - although I am careful not to eat too many because of the fat content in them.

This is the second attempt at making macaroons as the first attempt was unsuccessful and went very wrong. This is a very difficult recipe to get right the first time so practice will eventually make perfect. These aren't perfect but I'm still pleased with them nevertheless. In fact 'pleased' is a lie- I'm proud as punch, especially as my stepmother (who has been an amazing baker of sweet treats all my life) called me 'adventurous' for even attempting them.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE MACAROONS

150g of good icing sugar

100g ground almonds

3 large free range eggs

75g of good caster sugar

1 teaspoon of culinary rose water

1 teaspoon of red food colouring

BEFORE YOU START

You will need to line two large(ish) baking trays with grease-proof baking paper.

Put the icing sugar and ground almonds into a bowl and stir together to mix.

RECIPE

In a mixing bowl separate the egg whites from the yolks and discard the yolks to the bin. Using an electric whisk, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks that stand on their own.

Add the caster sugar in three stages and continue to whisk the eggs until the combination makes a glossy meringue. Please don't over whisk.

At this stage sieve the almond and icing sugar mix onto the top of the meringue mixture. Then very gently stir all of the ingredients together with a spoon. DO NOT USE THE WHISK AT ALL. Try to stir as little as possible and be as gentle as you possibly can. Don't worry if the mixture doesn't look smooth - it isn't meant to look completely perfect.

Add the rose water and food colouring - again stir with a spoon very gently until the colour is all mixed in. I went for a marbled effect as I didn't want to over stir the mixture. If you want even colouring then proceed to stir more but be very careful the mixture doesn't become runny.

I've used a spoon to dollop the mixture onto the baking trays because I a) don't own a piping bag and b) aren't too fussed about making them look perfect. If you want to, use a piping bag to pipe out perfect circles onto the trays.

Leave the trays to stand for around 20 minutes. A tip my friend Jess, who has her own bakery gave me, was that after 20 minutes to bang the trays up and down against the work top quite hard as this knocks the air out and helps the macaroons to keep their shape. Leave the trays to stand for a further 40 minutes or until the mixture is no longer sticky when touched.

Preheat your oven to 190C/Gas 5. Place the macaroons in the oven for 10 minutes - do not let them brown - only to set them and crisp up. Leave them to cool completely after this.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING

90g of unsalted dairy-free butter (I'm using sunflower spread but soya would work well too if you prefer)

175g of icing sugar

Dried Strawberries

2 teaspoons of red food colouring

RECIPE

Beat the dairy-free butter until it's soft then add the icing sugar and beat together until smooth.

Add the dried strawberries (as many or as few as you want for flavour - I like a lot!) and mix in with a spoon.

Add the food colouring so that the colour of the filling will make a great contrast with the colour of the macaroons.

Put the filling in between the cooled macaroons and serve to friends and family - or alternatively eat them all by yourself! This is a little bit of a throw back to summer and therefore should be enjoyed openly and in memory of those long hot summer days in the garden that we here in the UK regrettably didn't get many of!

Well, they're a bit messy and cracked but for my second attempt at a french fancy that a lot of people wouldn't even bother to try to create because of the supposed trickiness of the recipe to get right I have to say that I am really pleased with them.

And they taste amazing too! Even if I do say so myself! Sticky, sweet and that smell of the garden in the summer from the rose... Mmmmm....