Oo lala, French Macarons

Chocolate and Lemon French Macarons

Macarons are chic, delicious french treats. They come in a variety of flavors, colors and fillings, having thin crunchy exterior and a soft middle. These petite treats are picture perfect and make lovely tea party treats or gifts. Yet before making these I'd never had a macaron before. I was delighted by there light flavoring and dainty size. I was also thrilled by how they turned out. Recipes time and time again prepared me for them to come out flat or misshapen, but mine turned out beautiful! This time I made two flavors, lemon with a lemon curd filling and chocolate with nutella spread filling. They tasted wonderful. I'm excited to continue baking macarons in all flavors and fillings. Maybe salted carmel next? We'll see! Well I hope you love them as much as me! 
    

Chocolate Macaron Filled with Nutella

Basic Macarons 

Makes about 40 shells (20 filled macarons)

1 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

2/3 cup ground almonds

3 thisegg whites

a  pinch of salt

3 tablespoons superfine sugar

Blend confectioner' sugar with ground almonds in a food processor for 30 seconds, then set aside. In a dry mixing bowl mix egg whites and salt, beat with a handheld mixer until they just hold a stiff peak. Continue whisking at a medium speed with adding the superfine sugar a teaspoon at a time. Mixture should be thick, white and glossy. Add any coloring gel here to the mixture. Using a large metal spoon fold the confectioners sugar and almond mixture into the egg whites. Make sure no to over mix, or it will make flat macarons. Gently mix in any flavoring to to the mixture. Fill a piping bag (with a 1 cm tip) with mixture and pipe even rounds on to a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Make the rounds about 2 inches in diameter.   Tap the cookie sheet to expel any are bubbles. Let macarons set or 15 minutes to an hour. They should form a dry shell shouldn't be sticky or wet by touch. 

Preheat oven to 325˚ F bake macarons on the middle rack of the oven. One sheet in the oven at a time, bake for 10 minutes. The tops should be crist and the bottoms dry. Let them cool on the baking sheet. When cool, if the stick, slide an off set spatula under each. 

Fillings

For my lemon macarons I used this lemon curd recipe. For my chocolate macaroons I just piped them with some nutella for a yummy chocolate combination.  
You could also try my caramel recipe for a salted carmel macaroon or just classic buttercream for a creamy filling. 

Lemon Macarons with Lemon Curd 

Perfect tea time treat!