A dozen egg whites

As you can guess, I had a few left over eggwhites hanging around, I had no idea what to do with them.
Then I remembered Tartlet's macrons. French marcons are a biscuit made from eggwhites, ground almond's, and sugar.
I have never eaten a macron before, but they look so pretty and with so many possible flavours. When I see something I have never had I must find a way to get it. Since there is no posibility of finding somewhere to buy them where I live (country South Australia) I am left with one solution - make 'em myself.
And with all these extra egg whites, what better opportunity.
So I looked up Tartlet's tutorial in Desserts magazine.
The first batch flopped, and I figured that my merangue was not stiff enough. So second batch around I stopped being so impatient and beat the merangue until it was very stiff.
And then, I actually couldn't believe that they turned out. Somewhat browner than Tartlet's pictures but still they worked. Shiny little domes, with frilly feet, just like the pictures in the magzine. As you bite the domes crackle and you get a tender almost chewy centre.
I was forced to pause in the middle of my little happy dance to wrestle my macarons out of husbands hands or I would not have had any left to photograph, as it was the five in the photo were all that was left this morning.
I sandwiched them with a dark chocolate ganache and some plum jam.
They are a bit sweet to eat too many in one sitting, but I'd like to try some of Tartlet's other flavoured macarons, perhaps using half peanut or pistachio in stead of almonds.

Macrons

3 (100g) egg whites
50g granulated sugar
200g confectioners' sugar
110g blanched almonds, whole or ground

1. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue.

2. Combine the almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a quick pulse if you use already ground almonds (that you have ground yourself separately.) It will break the powdered sugar lumps and combine your almonds with it evenly. If you use whole almonds, pulse thoroughly for a minute or so.

3. Add them to the meringue and start to give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: If the tops flatten on its own, you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple more folds.

4. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper baking sheets.

5. Preheat the oven to 180C (300F). Let the macarons sit out for an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 10-13 minutes, depending on their size. Let them cool completely before filling.

6. Pipe or spoon some of your filling on one shell and sandwich with another one.