French Macarons

Preheat oven to 160 C degrees
Arrange all the ingredients measured and ready on the work table.
In a mixer pulse together the almond powder and icing sugar, scrape down the side and pulse again. Sift almond flour, and powdered sugar, the more the better. What remain will be the larger lumps of almond pieces. Just discard those, or use them to another cake or cookie.
Ensure that the egg whites are at room temp. Beat egg whites until foamy, add cream of tartar and white sugar and continue whipping until they form a peak that stands upright. Then add the food coloring. And fold in till the colour is uniformly distributed.
Fold gently flour/sugar mixture into the whipped stiff egg white mixture. This is where all your hard work can really go wrong. Fold in the almond and sugar mix in 4 parts. Do not over mix nor under mix the batter, just gently fold in, till the mix has completely incorporated.
Transfer batter to a pastry bag, fitted with a ½ Inch nozzle.
Pipe out 1 inch rounds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or on a macrons silicon mat. You can use a template to pipe exact size and at equal distance, if you are directly piping on a baking paper.
Remove the template( if you are using) and tap the pan few times to release the air bubbles. This prevents the tops of your macarons from cracking.
Let them sit out for 30 to 40 mins, or even up to an hour. This will allow them time to dry until the top of the macarons are no stickier. This is very important step to ensure that the macarons develop feet.
Bake for 16 to 18 mins. The macarons are done when you can just separate the cookies from the baking paper.
Meanwhile prepare the icing for the filling. You can use butter cream with any desired flavors and colours, ganache, dulce de leche or cream cheese icing.
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.
You can serve it right away or keep refrigerated. I love having it after few days.
Tip 1: Try to use the best quality ingredients.
Tip 2: Try using aged egg whites, separate the egg whites few days in advance and sore in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Remove several hours before you start with the mixing process.
Tip 3: Pulse together the almond powder and icing sugar, scrape down the side and pulse again. Sift almond flour, and powdered sugar, the more the better. Do not skip this step.
Tip 4: Do not over mix or under mix the batter, just gently fold in, till the mix has completely incorporated. If you under mix then the macarons will be lumpy and will crack, and if you over mix and the macaroons will be flat and won’t have feet
Tip 5: To make macarons of the same size, it is always advised to use templates to pipe, 1 ½ Inch circles drawn 2 Inches apart.
Tip 6: Tap the pan few times to release the air bubbles. This prevents the tops of your macarons from cracking.
Tip 7: Let them sit out for 30 to 40 mins, or even up to an hour. This will allow them time to dry until the top of the macarons are no stickier. This is very important step to ensure that the macarons develop feet.

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