French Macarons

For our final, Natalie and I made French Macarons.  We made three different types, chocolate with chocolate filling, vanilla with vanilla filling, and vanilla with chocolate filling.

The recipe we used made 20 whole macarons

For macarons shells:

1 1/8 cup ground almond

3/8 cup egg whites, refrigerated for 24 hours

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

For vanilla filling:

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup softened butter (cut in pieces)

1 tsp vanilla extract

For chocolate filling:

1 3/8 cup chopped dark chocolate

5/8 cup heavy cream

Directions for macaron shells:

1.       Food process almond and powdered sugar for about 2 minutes.

2.       Whip egg whites until bubbly. Slowly add granulated sugar. Continue to beat until stiff.

3.       Add food coloring and almond mixture into egg whites and fold until smooth.

4.        Fill piping bag and pipe onto baking sheets. Use a knife to smooth the macarons.

5.       Let sit for 1 hour, and then bake at 300 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Directions for vanilla filling:

1.       Mix two egg whites with ½ cup of granulated sugar.

2.       Put egg whites and sugar in heat-proof bowl and set over a boiling put of water.

3.       Once heated, remove egg and sugar from heat.

4.       Whip eggs until foaming, add clumps of butter and beat until extremely thick.

5.       Add vanilla extract to taste

Directions for chocolate filling:

1.       Bring cream to a boil

2.       Chop up chocolate and put in a heat proof bowl

3.       Pour hot cream over chocolate and let sit for a minute

4.       Mix the almost melted chocolate all together

5.       Put in the fridge to cool for at least 10 minutes

xoxo, Natalie and Talia