“Lovely, light little French almond meringue cookies are just begging to be filled with your favorite filling and made into sandwiches for a delightful treat. Follow the directions carefully and you will have success. For the best accuracy, measure ingredients by weight (see footnote)”.

Macaron (French Macaroon)

INGREDIENTS

Original recipe make 16 macarons.

3 egg whites

¼ cup white sugar

1 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 cup finely ground almonds

PREPARATION	30 MINUTES
COOK	10 MINUTES
READY IN	2 HOURS 10 MINUTES

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

2. Crack 3 white eggs in the bowl, but don’t forget to separate white eggs with yellow. We just need white egg only. Put in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until whites are foamy; beat in white sugar and continue beating until egg whites are glossy, fluffy and hold soft peaks. Sift confectioners’ sugar and ground almonds in the separate bowl and quickly fold the almond mixture into the egg whites,about 30 strokes.

3. Spoon a small amount of batter into a plastic bag with a small comer cut off and pipe a test disk of batter, about 1 ½ inches in diameter, onto prepared baking sheet. If the disk of batter holds a peak instead of flattening immediately, gently fold the batter a few more times and retest.

4. When batter is mixed enough to flatten immediately into an even disk, spoon into pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip. Pipe the batter onto the baking sheet in rounds, leaving space between the disks. Let the piped cookies stand out at room temperature until they foam a hard skin on top, about 1 hour.

5. Preheat oven to 285 degrees F (140 degrees C)

6. Bake cookies until set but not browned, about 10 minutes; let cookies cool completely before filling.

FOOTNOTE

* To measure by weight, use these amounts: 100 grams egg whites sugar 200 grams confectioners’ sugar 110 grams ground almonds.

* If you do not have a sifter, you can use a blender or food processor to thoroughly mix the almonds and confectioners’ sugar. Just blend or pulse for thirty seconds.

* Remember that because the consistency of the mix is like cake batter, you’re going to have to be quick about piping it onto the silicone mat. Hold the pastry bag sideway between piping so it doesn’t spill.

* Make sure your egg whites are at room temperature before starting. They won’t whip properly when cold.

* SLOWLY pour the sugar into the foamy whites with the mixer running; don’t just dump it all in at once.

* If you want to color your macarons, add the coloring just before the egg whites reach soft peaks. Same if you want to flavor the cookie (1 add ½ tsp almond extract to really make the almond flavor pop).

* Watch the baking process carefully. If it’s a humid day, you may need to bake them a minute or two longer.

* Finally, leave the cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes before attempting to remove to a wire rack. It ( and a thin bladed spatula) will make the process much easier.