My friend Mary is an inspiration. Seems whenever I talk to her she's attending a new cooking class, going to an interesting lecture or taking on a fun sounding project like making a batch of homemade limoncello. Recently she took a class at the Whole Foods Culinary Center on how to make french macarons and asked if I'd be interested in attempting a batch at home. Would I? Does a bear poo in the woods?
Anyhow, the cookies came out a bit (ok, a lot) bigger and flatter than they should have (we think it may have been due to the weird weather we had that day -high humidity- and that we didn't have a #5 pastry tip and went with another size) but we had a lot of fun and they were extremely delicious. And I'll take tasty over pretty any day.
* Listed below is the recipe we used for the cookie batter and buttercream that Mary was given in class. We did not make the buttercream at my home, since she had some strawberry buttercream left over from the class she attended.
French Macarons (Chef Christa Colardo, Marin Cooking)
Ingredients
7 oz. confectioner's sugar
4 oz. blanched almond meal
3 oz. egg white, room temp., preferably aged overnight
Pinch cream of tartar
1 oz. granulated sugar
Food coloring
Lemon zest (optional)
Instructions
- Sift together confectioner's sugar and almond meal. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer with whisk attachment, whip egg whites and pinch of tartar to soft peaks. Gradually add granulated sugar and whip to stiff peak. Whites should be moist and not dry. Add food coloring (we skipped this step, preferring to go au naturale, and added some lemon zest instead).
- Add sugar-almond mixture to whites and fold until completely incorporated. The mixture should be smooth, shiny and able to flow off a spoon.
- (Using a #5 pastry tip) Pipe small rounds (about 1 1/2') onto parchment covered sheet trays. Let macarons dry at room temp 30-60 minutes.
- Bake at about 300 degrees for 16 minutes. Cool completely before filling.
Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
4 egg whites
8 oz. sugar
1 lb. butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Whisk egg whites and sugar in bowl of stand mixer. Place bowl on bain-marie and heat, whisking constantly until mixture is warm and sugar is completely melted-- you should feel no graininess when you rub it through your fingers.
- Remove mixture from heat and whip at high speed until it is cooled to room temperature and is light, resembling marshmallow fluff.
- With mixer on medium-high speed, add soft butter a few tablespoons at a time, allowing each addition to fully incorporate before adding another. Add vanilla and blend well.
* Note buttercream will look broken partway through the mixing process. Continue adding the butter and it will come back together.
(May be refrigerated for 5 days or frozen until needed. Return to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment of stand mixer until smooth, warming with torch if needed.)
Yield : about 5 cups.
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