Kelly has a passion for macarons. After she discovered them a few years ago, she asked if I could make them for her. I thought, “No problem! I’ve made macaroons before and they’re not at all difficult!” I whipped up a batch for her shortly thereafter. Eric, Gilbert & I loved them. Kelly liked them but it was not until after I posted the recipe to the blog that I discovered what I made was not what Kelly was after. While they are usually incorrectly pronounced the same, macarons (sounds like rohn at the end) and macaroons (sounds like roon at the end) are VERY different. I was thinking the beaten egg white & coconut mixture that whips up quickly & gets thrown onto a baking sheet in glops & baked is what Kelly wanted me to make for her. I was wrong. She wanted the delicious French confections with the tricky technique. I considered her request, but realized that while macarons may be really good, they are a lot of work. So, I forgot about attempting to make them & bought them for her instead.

But it nagged at me. I write this blog about making delicious things at home, not going out to buy them. I reconsidered trying them out when I was planning out blogs for this month. Kelly’s birthday fell on a blogging day. I decided I would broaden my horizons & give those fussy French confections a try. I started researching the technique & reading through recipes a month in advance. I narrowed down the many recipes out there to a few basic flavor combinations to give it a try. And I learned exactly why people buy them instead of making them! Not wanting to give up so easily, I did more research and tried again, altering my technique. Again, they tasted great but didn’t quite look good enough to post. But I was determined not to give up until I had used up all the egg whites stored in the freezer. fortunately, there were a bunch. I kept trying. 4 more times. And I think I’ve finally gotten the ingredient & procedures under control. I am by no means an expert on macarons and there aren’t any French bakeries at my door begging me to become their new pastry chef, but I did accomplish my goal of making a delicious and fairly good approximation of a French macaron at home!

The recipe below is my adaptation of an amalgamation of recipes.The sources I used to develop it were: ohsweetday.com for the macaron recipe ingredients, ohsweetday.com & bravetart.com for baking directions, honestcooking.com  & southernfatty.com for piping techniques, southernfatty.com for the macaron template and allrecipes.com for a basic buttercream recipe.

Cherry Vanilla French Macarons  (Linda J Heuser) Makes 24-30 sandwich cookies

Ingredients:

Vanilla Macaron Shells:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cherry Buttercream Filling:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon maraschino cherry juice
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. To facilitate uniformly sized shells, draw 24-30 1 1/2-inch circles in rows on the paper, about 1 inch apart or put a master template under the parchment paper. If drawing the circles onto the parchment paper, flip the paper over before piping the macarons onto it. If using a template, remove it from underneath the parchment paper before putting the baking sheet in the oven.

Process the powdered sugar and almond flour in a food processor until they are finely ground and combined well. Set the mixture aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites at medium speed until they are frothy. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add in the granulated sugar and the vanilla extract.

Increase the speed to the highest setting and beat the egg whites until very stiff peaks form, about 5-7 minutes.

Transfer the almond flour mixture from the food processor to the whipped egg whites. Using a rubber spatula, fold the almond flour mixture into the egg whites until they are combined.

The mixture will be a somewhat thick batter. It loosens up as it is mixed. The batter should be somewhat stiff, but loose enough to flow. It should not be as loose as pancake batter.

Fit a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip or snip a 1/2-inch long diagonal off of the corner of a quart sized plastic Ziploc bag. Fill the bag with half the batter. Using the drawn circles or template as a guide, pipe circles onto the parchment paper, holding the bag perpendicular to the paper, about 1/2-inch above it. Fill the circles with batter about 1/4-inch high. Repeat the process for the remainder of the batter.

When each baking sheet is filled, firmly bang the sheets on the work surface 3-4 times to release trapped air bubbles. Let the shells stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 300º. Bake the macarons for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are set but not browned. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks to cool. While the shells are cooling, prepare the filling.

Cream the room temperature butter in the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment. Add in the confectioners sugar and the cherry juice and mix until they are fully incorporated. Add in the milk and beat the filling for an additional 3-4 minutes.

Once the shells are cooled completely, gently lift the cookies from the parchment paper and turn them upside down. Spread some of the filling onto half of the upside-down cookies. Top with the remaining shells. The flat bottoms of the shells will be inside the cookies, next to the filling and the rounded tops of the shells will be on the outside of the sandwich.

Macarons are best after being refrigerated, uncovered, for 24 hours. They can be stored, covered in the refrigerator for up to a week, (if they last that long!) or frozen for a month. Set them out at room temperature for a few hours before serving, if desired.

Here’s to not being intimidated by fussy French pastries!  ~Linda

Cherry Vanilla French Macarons  (Linda J Heuser) Makes 24-30 sandwich cookies

Ingredients:

Vanilla Macaron Shells:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cherry Buttercream Filling:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon maraschino cherry juice
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. To facilitate uniformly sized shells, draw 24-30 1 1/2-inch circles in rows on the paper, about 1 inch apart or put a master template under the parchment paper. If drawing the circles onto the parchment paper, flip the paper over before piping the macarons onto it. If using a template, remove it from underneath the parchment paper before putting the baking sheet in the oven.

Process the powdered sugar and almond flour in a food processor until they are finely ground and combined well. Set the mixture aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites at medium speed until they are frothy. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add in the granulated sugar and the vanilla extract. Increase the speed to the highest setting and beat the egg whites until very stiff peaks form, about 5-7 minutes.

Transfer the almond flour mixture from the food processor to the whipped egg whites. Using a rubber spatula, fold the almond flour mixture into the egg whites until they are combined. The mixture will be a somewhat thick batter. It loosens up as it is mixed. The batter should be somewhat stiff, but loose enough to flow. It should not be as loose as pancake batter.

Fit a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip or snip a 1/2-inch long diagonal off of the corner of a quart sized plastic Ziploc bag. Fill the bag with half the batter. Using the drawn circles or template as a guide, pipe circles onto the parchment paper, holding the bag perpendicular to the paper, about 1/2-inch above it. Fill the circles with batter, about 1/4-inch high. Repeat the process for the remainder of the batter.

When each baking sheet is filled, firmly bang the sheets on the work surface 3-4 times to release trapped air bubbles. Let the shells stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 300º. Bake the macarons for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are set but not browned. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks to cool. While the shells are cooling, prepare the filling.

Cream the room temperature butter in the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment. Add in the confectioners sugar and the cherry juice and mix until they are fully incorporated. Add in the milk and beat the filling for an additional 3-4 minutes.

Once the shells are cooled completely, gently lift the cookies from the parchment paper and turn them upside down. Spread some of the filling onto half of the upside-down cookies. Top with the remaining shells. The flat bottoms of the shells will be inside the cookies, next to the filling and the rounded tops of the shells will be on the outside of the sandwich.

Macarons are best after being refrigerated, uncovered, for 24 hours. They can be stored, covered in the refrigerator for up to a week, (if they last that long!) or frozen for a month. Set them out at room temperature for a few hours before serving, if desired.