French Macarons

I had my first macaron 5 years ago on my first trip to France to visit my husband family. My husband's best friend introduced us to LaDuree in Paris and after one bite we were hooked. When I came back to the state I looked and looked for a good bakery that have them, but I couldn't find one that was up to par. The only one that was good was Bouchon bakery in Napa Valley. It was a 2 hour drive and we didn't think it was worth it. So I scowled the internet for recipes, I tried and failed so many times that I lost count. I lucked out once in a while and end up with some good macrons, but most of the time it went to the trash can. I found this recipe from youtube last week and from the video it looked like it was easy and it was a different technique than what I did before. The batter was good, but when I did the Italian meringue it just didn't come out right. I tried the recipe 3 times and all was a failure. When I was about to give up I decided one last try, but with a different Italian meringue recipe. To my surprise it came out perfectly and the flavor was so good. My husband finished a whole plate (20 macarons) in 15 minutes. At first I thought it was pure luck that the macarons came out right. This morning I made a few batch to make sure I've finally found the recipe I've been looking for. I was so happy all came out perfectly. I hope you will give the recipe a try.

Note: I forgot to take pictures of the process so I will update that the next time I make them.

Ingredients: Macaron Paste (1 batch of 20-30 macarons depending how big or small you pipe them)

2/3 cup Almond Flour (Pistachio Flour if you like it better)

1 1/4 cup Powder Sugar

1 egg white

Food coloring (1 drop or until you get the color you like and its Optional)

Note: The recipe is a base, add whatever flavor you want. I made Pistachio, Coffee and Lavender. Pistachio I used pistachio flour. I used almond flour and 1 Tbsp ground coffee or instant coffee. Lavender I used almond flour and 1 tsp of grounded lavender flour.

Directions:
 1. Sift the powder sugar and almond or pistachio flour and add the egg and food coloring (optional). Mix until its fully combine and there is no lumps. It should have a thick paste like texture. Cover and set aside

Ingredients: Italian Meringue (make 3 batch)

3/4 cup Sugar

2 Egg White

1/2 cup water




Directions: Line baking tray with silt pad or parchment paper.

1. In a sauce pan combine sugar and water over medium heat. Cook the sugar until its 220 degrees.

2. Once the sugar is at 220 degrees beat the egg white on high until its frothy.

3. Remove the sugar from the stove when its at 240-250 degrees. Turn the mixer on high and slowly drizzle the hot sugar into the egg white. Continue to beat it until the meringue reach stiff peak.

3. Take 1/3 of the meringue and mix it with the macaron paste. Lightly and gently fold it to combine. It should have a cake batter constancy.

4. Fill it in a pipping bag with a round tip (I used Wilton 2A round tip) and pipe to your desire size. Make sure to leave enough space between each one because it will spread.

5. If it looks like little Hershey kisses after you pipe it, just dip your finger into water and and lightly push it down. Let the macarons rest on the counter until its dry, about 45min to 1 hour (depending on the temp at your house).

6. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let it rest and cool for 30 min before removing it from the silt pad or parchment paper. Pipe half the macarons with desire filling and sandwich them together and enjoy!