• Preheat the oven to 150° Celsius
• stack 2 baking sheets of the same size one on top of the other to prevent the undersides from becoming too brown
• line the top one with parchment paper
• sift together the icing sugar, almonds and cocoa powder
• whisk the egg whites very stiffly in a large bowl
• immediately quickly sprinkle over the sifted ingredients and fold in working from the middle to the outside of the bowl (I delayed this a bit and I think it affected my consistency - was too busy watching the Athlone towers come down)
• add food colouring
• pour the mixture into a piping bag and pipe the macaroons using the macaroon template

cooks note: I made a double level when piping

• leave to rest for 15 minutes
• bake for 12 minutes, leaving the oven door slightly ajar

cooks note: I have an LG Solardom oven which does not work with the door open, but they worked perfectly

• take them out the oven, lift a corner of the parchment paper and pour a little water onto the baking sheet
• remove and allow to cool completely before filling with ganache, cream or even jam