Macarons
By: Bkrchk
Published: Monday, December 7, 2009 - 3:13am

Ingredients




1 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup almond flour ( you can make this with almond slices in a food processor)
2 large egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
powdered food coloring
flavoring

Preparation

1 Mix confectioners' sugar and almond flour in a food processor until combined. Sift mixture until no lumps are left. 2 Preheat oven to 375F. Whisk whites with cream of tartar with a mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low, then add sugar. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes after you added the sugar. Mix in food coloring and flavoring. Sift flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny. 3 Transfer batter to a pastry bag or a zip lock bag with a hole cut in one end. Do this by fitting the bag into a cup, then spoon in the batter. Pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on 2 doubled up baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Reduce oven temperature to 330F. Bake 1 batch at a time about 10 -15 minutes. After each batch, increase oven temperature to 375F, heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to 330F. 4 Let macaroons cool on sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. (If macaroons stick, spray water underneath parchment on hot sheet. This will release macarons.) 5 Sandwich 2 macarons with 1 teaspoon filling. Let macarons sit one day (if you can) to let the flavors intensify. You can also freeze macarons for 3 months. For filling see Ganache or Buttercream Recipes by Martha Stewart.

About


The French Macaron is different from the dense cookie called macaroons. Macarons are sandwich-like pastries made with two thin cookies made from egg whites, almond powder, confectioner's sugar and granulated sugar and a cream or ganache between the cookies. They come in a variety of colors and flavors.
Tips:
-Use aged egg whites (about 2 days at room temperature), sometimes microwaving the eggs for 30 seconds instead can work as well
-Make sure you sift all of your ingredients thoroughly! No Lumps!
-If you can help it, try to cook in a an area with low humidity, or with the air conditioner running
-Don't over mix the eggs! This can lead to a watery meringe. Mix about 8 minutes after all of the sugar has been added.
-Don't over mix dry ingredients! Mix quickly, by folding the ingredients in.
-Play with temperatures and times, everyone's oven is different.
-When the cookies come out of the oven, spray water underneath the parchment paper while they are cooling, this way they come off the paper easier.
-These cookies are fragile! Handle with care!
-Over mixing when adding dry ingredients can also cause a watery batter
-Some find that letting macarons sit for 15 minutes before baking will help prevent cracking, however I have not noticed a significant difference