Being my usual self I decided to dive right in with what is possibly one of the hardest recipes ever: French macarons. I used to eat them all the time when I lived in the UK - every time I went to London I would stop by Harrods and buy a box from Ladurée. They were amazing. And ever since I came back to the States I've been wishing for my wonderful macarons.
I found this recipe in a post on Delightfully Tacky, who has a lot of great recipes that you should check out. If you want to see how it went for her then check it out here! The original recipe is from here, on Entertaining with Beth's Youtube channel.
I really reccomend that you watch the video before you make the recipe, because with French Macarons the key isn't so much the ingredients (I mean, yes, they're important) but your technique. Beth has a great recipe but the really useful part is her tips.
So without further ado, here is Beth's recipe, via Entertaining With Beth!
Makes about 40 sandwich cookies
INGREDIENTS3 Egg Whites¼ cup white sugar (50 g)2 cups confectioners sugar (200 g)1 cup almond flour (120 g) (SEE NOTE BELOW)pinch of salt¼ tsp cream of tartar (2 ml) * You can omit if needed, just may take a bit longer to reach stiff peaks but the recipe will still work)
RASPBERRY BUTTER CREAM1/4 cup salted butter (60g)
3/4 cup powdered sugar1 cup (150 g) fresh raspberries, worked through a sieve to extract 3 tbsp of juice
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 300F degrees. Although really you can do this later, I didn't until the step where I was folding the flour/sugar mixture with the egg white mixture.
Beat egg whites until foamy, then add salt, cream of tartar and white sugar for 8-10 mins. TIP: #1 egg whites should be room temp. To create room temp eggs, submerge in warm water for 5 mins. This is CRUCIAL. The first time I tried to make these I didn't beat the egg whites long enough and the batter was way too runny. Also, I used egg whites from a box rather than separating the yolk and that worked just fine, use about 2 T per egg.
Whip until they form a peak that stands upright. Like, if you stick a fork in and pull it out the egg whites should be standing straight up. If you aren't sure if you've gotten there then you haven't. Also, beat the egg whites very fast from the get go! If you start slow and then speed it up then they won't stand up. It's like you're making a meringue.
Then add the food coloring. TIP#2 Color does fade as it cooks, so do a shade or two darker than you want them to be. I used red.
TIP#3 Sift almond flour, and powdered sugar. What remains will be the larger lumps of almond pieces. Just discard those, or use them to snack on :) You want a really fine powder mixture to create a smooth and pretty on top to your cookie. This ensures that the tops of your cookies will be nice and smooth, and is definitely worth the time. Almond flour is definitely not smooth!
Fold flour/sugar mixture into the egg white mixture. TIP#4 This is where all your hard work can really go wrong. Under mix and your macaroons will be lumpy and cracked when the bake with no feet, over mix and your macaroons will be flat and won't have feet, the mark of a well-made macaron. In my experience 65-75 turns of your spatula when folding is about the right amount of time. I did exactly 67 and mine turned out perfectly.
Transfer batter to a pastry bag. Carefully! Don't crush your egg whites too much.
Pipe out 1 inch rounds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. USE PARCHMENT PAPER. If you just grease a baking sheet they will break when they come off.
TIP#5: tap the pan hard at least 2-3 times to release the air bubbles. This will prevent the tops of your macaroons from cracking.
TIP#6 Let them sit out for 20--30 mins, or up to an hour if you want. This will allow them time to dry out a bit before hitting the hot oven. They should be "tacky" to the touch, but not stick to your fingertips. This is another important step to assuring your macarons develop feet! When they dry out they can't spread out in the oven, and are forced to rise up. That's what creates the feet!
Bake for 20 mins. DO NOT UNDER BAKE, even if they look done! Otherwise they will stick to your tray. (Note: the recipe says 20 minutes. I did 20 minutes and mine turned out waaaay crunchy and dry. I say try 10-15 minutes and see how they're looking.)
Meanwhile mix the buttercream. Whip butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Don't whip too much or the frosting will be runny! Slowly add sugar. Then place sieve on top of a bowl the same size. Work raspberries through the sieve with a spatula, pushing them through, mashing them around until you extract their juice. You want 3 tablespoons of juice. You could even go for 4 if you want it strong.
Add juice to buttercream, and whip until combined. Transfer to a pastry bag, fitted with a small tip (about ¼ " in diameter)
Reverse cookie shells on their backs, and pipe a small mound of filling on one of them. Top with the other shell et Voila!
If not eating right away, keep refrigerated.
And voila! Here's how mine looked. I'm very proud despite their failings, so be nice, dear readers.
