Assorted French Macarons: Vanilla, Chocolate, Pistachio, Raspberry and Lemon

Guides. on baking paper, draw 3.5 cm circles about 3 cm apart, 72 in all, and lay the sheets pencil side down on the trays.

Almond mix. blitz the icing sugar and ground almonds together in the processor for 15 s, sieve into the large bowl and throw away any gritty bits left in the sieve.

Meringue. beat the egg whites on medium until frothy, then turn up the speed and pour in the caster sugar slowly. Beat until the meringue is very stiff, shiny and clumps inside the whisk, 3-4 min.

Fold. add the almond mix to the meringue in 2 lots, folding firmly and scraping the bowl, until the batter is smooth but still a little thicker than a flowing ribbon. Stop a few strokes early, as colouring will finish the mixing. The colours add a few more strokes, so stopping early keeps the batter from going runny.

Colour. divide the batter evenly between the 5 small bowls. Leave one plain for vanilla, and fold a drop or two of colour into each of the others: brown for chocolate, green for pistachio, pink for raspberry and yellow for lemon. Fold each only until even and it falls in a ribbon that melts back into itself in about 20 s.

Pipe. spoon each colour into its own bag and pipe into the circles, keeping the colours on separate rows. Tap each tray hard on the worktop 4 times and burst any bubbles with a cocktail stick. Leave 30-60 min until the tops are dry to the touch. Heat the oven to 150 °C (130 °C fan). A dry skin on the shells helps them rise with neat frilly feet.

Bake. bake one tray at a time on the middle shelf for 15-17 min, until the shells have risen on frilly feet and peel off the paper easily. Leave to cool on the tray.

Fillings. beat the butter until pale, then beat in the icing sugar, cream, vanilla and salt until fluffy. Divide between the 5 small bowls (clean them first). Leave one plain, and beat the cocoa into one, the ground pistachios into one, the raspberry powder into one and the lemon zest and juice into the last; tint them lightly to match the shells if you like.

Sandwich and rest. match shells of the same colour and size, pipe the right filling onto half and press the others on top. Chill in the airtight box for 24 h to soften slightly, then bring to room temperature for 20 min before serving.