Meyer Lemon Macarons
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.
Author Notes: A fresh, sunny filling brightens up the traditional almond macaron. These are delicious with afternoon tea or coffee. —DolcettoConfections
Food52 Review: An excellent recipe in every way. DolcettoConfections demystifies French macarons and you discover just how easy they are to make. To get the confectioners' sugar and almonds ground finely enough, we had to use the blender, which required a fair amount of shaking and scraping and digging -- between whirring! -- to make sure the almonds close to the blade didn't turn to paste. But it's worth it for the fine texture. And while the curd takes vigorous whisking over the stove, it turns out as light as whipped cream and just as tempting to eat by the spoonful. Not that we did. A-hem. - A&M —The Editors
Serves: 20
Meyer Lemon Curd
-
2
large eggs
-
2
large egg yolks
-
1/3
cup granulated sugar
-
1/3
cup Meyer lemon juice
-
1
tablespoon Meyer lemon zest (packed)
-
1/4
teaspoon Kosher salt
-
6
tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
- Whisk eggs, egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel, and coarse salt in medium metal bowl to blend well.
- Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water).
- Whisk constantly until mixture thickens and instant-read thermometer inserted into mixture registers 170°F to 172°F, 5 to 6 minutes. Do not allow the mixture to boil.
- Remove bowl from over water. Whisk butter into curd, 2 to 3 cubes at a time, allowing butter to melt before adding more and whisking until curd is smooth.
- Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of curd and refrigerate overnight.
Macarons
-
68
grams egg whites, aged at room temperature for 24 hours
-
34
grams granulated sugar
-
75
grams blanched almonds
-
136
grams confectioner's sugar
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk on low-medium speed until frothy. Add the granulated sugar a little bit at a time. Allow the sugar to incorporate fully before making the next addition.
- When all of the sugar has been added, increase the speed to medium and allow meringue to form stiff peaks. To test, remove the bowl from the mixer and turn upside down. There should be no movement in the meringue.
- Combine the blanched almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor. Process until you cannot distinguish the almonds from the sugar, about 30 seconds.
- Add half of the almond-sugar mixture to the meringue. Using a strong spatula, begin combining the two elements. During this first combination, you actually want to combine the two rather vigorously. Do not be gentle – you have to reduce the air in the meringue somewhat or your macarons will be too “puffy”. Continue for about 10 to 15 turns.
- Add half of the remaining almond-sugar mixture and incorporate for 15 to 20 turns. Fold in the remaining almond-sugar gently into the meringue. Continue for no more than 10 turns, or until you can no longer distinguish between the two.
- Fit a pastry bag with a #806 tip. Pipe about 1” rounds on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a SilPat. Leave plenty of room between the macarons – they will expand! Allow the macarons to sit 30 minutes to one hour to develop a shell.
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Bake macarons for 10 to 12 minutes, until shells are just slightly golden.
- When shells are completely cool, pipe or spread Meyer lemon curd on the flat side of one macaron and sandwich with another.
- Your Best Almond Macaroons Contest Winner!
More Great Recipes:
Egg|Fruit|Cookie|Dessert|Gluten-Free|Winter|Christmas
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They taste great and I think they turned out pretty good considering these are my first macarons.
But the almonds didn't process as much as I thought. I looked after 30 seconds and couldn't tell them apart, but processed a bit more just in case. Once I mixed with the wet ingredients, I could tell almonds are still in much bigger pieces than I thought. So the batter didn't go through any of the tip I had. Almond pieces kept getting stuck even though I changed the tip 3 times with bigger opening.
In the end, I spooned the batter.
I supposed I just didn't process powder sugar and almond enough???
In any case, the result was great and everybody at my afternoon tea party loved them.
Made macarons for the first time today. Thank you, thank you. These are a-mazing!
Tried these...fantastic! A few questions:
To (naturally) color them pink can I grate a beet and add some sugar to sweat out some liquid and use this or will the addition of a few drops of moisture make a big difference? At what point should I add the liquid?
This month's Martha Stewart suggests sifiting the nut/sugar mixture? Your thoughts?
The lemon curd was delicious, but the cookies failed! I am not sure what happened, as I followed the directions to a "T". Upon taking the cookies out of the oven, they caved in and became gooey, even though I baked them for 11 minutes (they appeared golden brown). PLEASE HELP!
I've been so afraid of making macarons because of all the things that can go wrong but these were a success a so delicious
68 grams egg whites..is that like 1, 2, 3 egg whites? It would be helpful even to just start to measure weight on my scale (which has metric and imperial weights).
For me, it was from 2 large eggs.
My son tasted Laduree macarons and wanted to try making some. Good exercise in separating eggs, prepping ingredients and measuring out in grams, creating volume and patience! We were rewarded with tasty macarons and a new shared experience. Thanks. Any suggestions for a raspberry filling?
Try a ganache mixed with a raspberry reduction.
* Blend 12 oz. of fresh raspberries; strain to remove the seeds; and simmer over medium heat with 1/4 cup sugar until reduced to half the original amount.
* Make a basic ganache with 8 oz. good quality chocolate, 1 cup of heavy cream and a tablespoon of butter.
* Combine the raspberry reduction to the ganache, stiring until fully incorporated. Once cooled and thickened, whisk the ganache to a spreadable consistency and use as the Macaron's filling.
Thank you! I will try this... Sounds delish! :)
Can these be made in advance? If so, do they have to be refrigerated?
So many people asking for conversion from metric to ounces and such. Has it not occurred to anyone that all you have to do it go to google or yahoo and type in 'conversion metric to ounces' and the conversions pop right up? It is so much easier than depending on someone else to answer back and not knowing when or if someone will read your comment.
Looks like a great recipe, but do you think you could give the measurements in American terms? Don't know how many of us know grams.
@DolcettoConfections - Is there any other way to measure these ingredients.. I do not have a scale at home..I m really wanting to make these since months ... Just want to accurate in terms of measurements.. Thanks the recipe looks awesome..
Weight and volume are two different measurements (the same size bag filled with flour will weigh more than the same bag filled with mushrooms). You will need a scale ;-)
Hot diggity! It works! So excited to have this recipe. I added a bit of lemon zest (half a lemon's worth) to the meringue so that both parts have some lemon flavor and they are amazing. Thanks DolcettoConfections!
I just made these (first macarons!) using lemon curd that a friend gave us and a mixture of half almond half cashew (we ran out of almonds and I didn't want to run to the store in the cold Beijing air). All I can say is:
A M A Z I N G. wow. I will definitely be making these again.
Has anyone attempted to ship these in the mail? Are they stable enough? I know you'd have to pack them like newborn babies 2-day or overnight, if at all, but I have a friend who I'd love to make these for. Sadly, she lives across the country!
And of course, I'd save some for me too :)
Does anyone have the measurements for the macaron that are *not* in grams? I suppose I could easily google this but if anyone knows what the measurements would be in cups, I'd appreciate it! These look divine!
I made these this weekend & I'm proud to say that my first experience with macarons was a success -- perfect feet, dome & filling! Thanks for your detailed instructions & delicious recipe. I did have twice as much lemon curd as I needed for the cookies, but eating the extra isn't exactly a hardship. ;-)
Do the cookies need to be refrigerated after assembly (because of the lemon curd), or is room temperature fine?
Your recipe has inspired me to try making my own. Can I use the type of egg whites that come bulk in a jar? Or , must they be individually cracked and separated?
Hi! I have never tried making macarons with egg whites from a carton. I know these are usually pasturized egg whites, so I am not sure how this would affect the moisture levels and ability to whip to stiff peak.
I always use the whites from two large eggs and save the yolks for making ice cream :o)
Dolcetto Confections, congratulations on your recipe. I am planning on trying it but I have one doubt. The egg whites should "age" for 24 hours in a bowl? I mean, outside the eggshell? Sorry about this "weird" question but as English is not my native language I just want to make sure I get this straight and don't end up with rotten eggs! :-)
Thank you.
Hi Karina! The egg whites should age, outside the shell, for about 24 hours prior to making the macarons. I usually seperate the egg whites into a small plastic container, cover and place in the coolest part of my kitchen. If you place them in a bowl, just be sure to loosely cover the whites with plastic wrap.
Aging the whites for 24 hours helps extract the moisture from the egg whites. Extracting the mositure helps create "feet" in the same width as the shell. It also helps reduce cracking in the shell when they are baking.
Please feel free to let me know if you have any other questions. Happy Baking!
I was extremely excited about my feet too! I made your peanut butter macs (loved them!) but left some plain so I could make lemon ones too...super delicious...and congrats on your win!
Thank you! I'm glad you also enjoyed the peanut butter macarons. Congrats on getting "feet"!
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