Use old eggs for macarons -- the whites will be thinner.

Amanda adds the confectioners's sugar and almonds to a mini food processor -- a mistake, as it turned out. It wouldn't grind the almonds finely enough.

Meyer lemon juice is so golden it looks like orange juice.

And now back to Amanda strugging with the almonds which are now being dumped into the blender for a second round of grinding.

Merrill adds Meyer lemon zest to the eggs and sugar for the Meyer lemon curd.

Butter, awaiting the warm curd -- it's the finishing touch. It cools down the curd, thickens it and tamps down any too-tart edges.

Whipping the egg whites for the cookies.

Once the meringue is made, you fold the ground almonds and confectioners' sugar into it. No need to do this gently. The mixture should get smooth and elastic.

Dish duty!

When making the curd, it will first get foamy, then eventually smooth out.

Filling a pastry bag with the macaroon batter.

Piping little buttons onto Silpat -- we learned that parchment works better than Silpat for macarons.

You want the macarons to have perfectly smooth tops -- so you can dip your finger in water and then pat down any lumps or peaks.

Macarons rest for 30 minutes before going into the oven.

Macaroons are ready when they're no longer sticky to the touch.

Into the oven!

Merrill finishes up the curd by whisking in the butter -- it's like finishing a sauce with butter.

Filling the macarons.

Sandwiching them.

Ogling one.

Many macaroon recipes call for weights not measures.

This is a little like a game of Twister in the kitchen.

If you can't find almond flour, you can make your own in the food processor -- make sure to use blanched almonds.

Almonds, confectioners' sugar, cinnamon and a hint of cocoa go into the food processor.

A few pulses will do it.

To make sure your batter isn't lumpy, robinbeth has you sift the dry ingredients after you pulverize them.

Egg whites, with a pinch of salt and cream of tartar.

Ready for folding!

You can be quite aggressive with macaroon batter -- you actually want to get rid of some of the air in the meringue.

Because of the confectioners' sugar, it gets quite thick and sticky. Never fear!

Another two-person job here at food52.

Will Amanda catch the errant nub of batter about to escape her piping bag? Oh, the suspense.

Perfect little glossy rounds -- these will spread a little, so leave at least 3/4 of an inch between cookies.

The macaroons sit for about 30 minutes before baking, until they develop a matte, non-sticky crust.

Mexican chocolate, which has sugar and cinnamon in it.

A little cream and butter turns the melted chocolate into a ganache.

Amanda carefully spreads ganache on the "foot" of a macaroon before sandwiching it together with another cookie.