French Macarons from Cooks of Crocus Hill
NOTES:
1. If using eggs right out of the fridge, warm them up EITHER by placing them in the mixing bowl you'll use and then sit that bowl in a shallow bowl of very hot water for 1-2 min OR by putting the eggs in hot water for about 10 min.
2. Egg whites whip up better when they are slightly warmed. Place the egg whites in a small container and then place the small container in a larger bowl has warm water in it.
3. Store almond flour in the freezer or fridge.
4. When using the standing mixer and its whisk attachment to whip the egg whites, don't fully insert the whisk to the mixer's collar. Instead, place the whisk in the collar and instead of twisting it to secure the attachment, raise the bowl so that the top of the whisk makes contact with the bottom of the bowl. This ensures that the mixing will be thorough.
5. A tip on folding ingredients into whipped egg whites: Using a spatula, start at 12:00, go around the whole bowl once, cut through the mixture from 12:00 to 6:00 and rotate the bowl. There should be a few such rotations in-between adding additional ingredients.
6. Use a 1/2" or 5/8" cake decorating tip for forming the little sandwich rounds.
7. Consider setting up the pastry bag and tip ahead of time.
8. When piping out the batter, imagine making a chocolate kiss, gently pulling up on the pastry bag instead of swirling it around to make a circle.
9. Don't preheat the oven until the batter has been piped into rounds and are resting.
10. Best to make the macarons in dry conditions.
11. Macarons rounds can be frozen after baking but will be chewier than normal.
12. Fillings for macarons are here.
13. Use leftover egg yolks to make lemon curd filling... or pots de creme.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup almond flour or almond meal
2 egg whites, room temperature or warmed (see Notes)
5-1/2 tsp sugar, separated into 1 tsp and 4-1/2 tsp
2-4 drops food coloring (optional)
1/4 tsp vanilla
Powdered sugar for dusting
Parchment paper
Rimmed baking sheet
Pastry bag with 1/2" or 3/8" plain decorating tip attached
Tall tupperware container or tall wide glass to hold pastry bag
PREPARATION
1. Sift powdered sugar and almond flour together. Set aside.
2. If using food coloring, in a small bowl mix the food coloring and vanilla together. Set aside.
3. Place egg whites in bowl of standing mixer and, with whisk attachment loosely in place (see Notes), whip on high until white and foamy.
4. Add only 1 tsp of the sugar for now while the mixer is running and continue whipping until soft peaks are formed.
5. With the mixer still running, gradually add remaining sugar and whip to stiff glossy peaks.
6. Transfer egg white mixture to a large (shallow) bowl.
7. Fold the dry mixture, one third at a time, into the egg white mixture (see Notes on folding).
8. Add vanilla and food coloring (if using) and then fold into mixture.
9. Set up the pastry bag (if you haven't already) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
10. Transfer egg white mixture to pastry bag, twist the top of the bag to prevent the batter from backing up out of it, and pipe out batter into "kiss shaped" quarter-size rounds (see Note above and photo below).
12. Using a strainer, dust the rounds with powdered sugar and let rest for 20-30 min until the tops are dry.
13. Preheat oven to 350.
14. Bake macarons 7-9 min until slightly firm to the touch.
15. Let cool on the baking sheet for a short time before transferring to cooling rack. Be sure to cool completely before assembling macarons with desired filling.
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