In a food processor, combine the ground almonds and icing sugar and blitz until smooth.Sieve into a bowl. If there are a lot of large ground almond bits remaining blitz and sieve again.
Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add in the salt and white sugar, a tablespoon at a time and keep whipping until stiff peaks form and you can't feel grains of sugar when you rub a little between your finger.
Sieve the almond mixture once mor into the egg whites and use a spatula to fold it together until it creates a sticky and well-incorporated batter. If you lift your spatula out, you should be able to create thick flowing ribbons in the bowl. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a medium sized round tip.
On baking paper or a silicone baking sheet, pipe little circles that measure about 2.5cm (1 inch). Once piped, bang the tray on the bench a few times to remove any air bubbles.Leave the macarons to sit out for about a 40 minutes until they are no longer sticky when touched.
Preheat a standard oven to around 140°C -150 °C / 284°F - 300 °F (if using a convection/fan-forced oven, start lower, at 130°C / 266 °F). You’ll need to test your own oven and find the exact perfect temperature that works for your oven. Macarons are temperamental little things!
Bake the macarons for around 15 minutes. Do keep an eye out as they bake, and tweak the oven temperature if needed.
Once baked, remove them from the oven and leave them to cool before peeling off the baking paper.
Sandwich together with your favourite filling. (See a basic ganache recipe in the notes below). Macarons can be stored in the frigde for up to a week.
Notes
Basic Macaron Ganache
150ml pouring cream 200grams chocolate (dark, milk or white chocolate)Break the chocolate into chunks and place it into a heat proof bow. In a saucepan heat the cream until just starting to simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 5 minutes before stirring it together. Once stirred, place it in the fridge to cool. Removing it every 15 minutes to stir it will speed up the cooling process.Once it is very thick and scoop-able, it can be piped on one macaron shell, then sandwiched together with another macaron shell.