French Meringue Macarons with Raspberry Cream

This is a recipe that Karen made recently and brought to Brunch. 

OMG D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!! 

She was inspired when her husband took her to Paris for the 15th wedding anniversary and she tried many of these macaroons.  When she got home she took a cooking class solely on making French Macarons and Viola! We all get to enjoy.  This is in no way an easy recipe...it has many ingredients and it's multi stepped but for anyone who wants to give it a shot the final result is totally worth it.  I promise!

Aren't they pretty?

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups almond flour

2 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup egg whites (from 7 or 8 eggs) at room temperature

pinch of salt

2 teaspoons powdered egg whites, if weather is humid

3/4 cup superfine granulated sugar

5 to 7 drops gel paste food coloring (optional)

Preparation:

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Blend the almond flour with the powdered sugar in teh food processor to make a fine powder.  The sift the mixture through a small strainer until it's as fine as you can get it.  This keeps crumbs from forming on the macaron tops as they bake.  With  the wire whip attachment on the electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the salt and the powdered egg whites (if you're using them), starting slowly and then increasing speed as the whites start to rise.  Add the granulated sugar and the food coloring.  Beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks and your meringue is firm and shiny.   Pour the beaten egg whites onto your almond flour mixture and gently fold them in, using a rubber spatula.  When you can't see any crumbs of almond flour and the mixture is shiny and flowing, you're ready to start piping.

Fit your pastry bag with a number-8 tip and fill with batter.  Start by squeezing out a small amount of mix onto a parchment-lined baking sheet to form a 2 1/2-inch circle.  Be sure to leave 1 inch of space between macarons so they will not touch each other while they bake.  If peaks form on top of the circles, tap the baking sheet on the tabletop, making sure to hold the parchment paper in place with your thumbs.  Let hte piped macarons rest of 15 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (325 degrees for a non-convection oven)  Bake for 14 minutes.  After the first 5 minutes, open the oven door briefly to let the steam out.  Let hte macarons cool completely on a rack before taking them off the parchment paper.  Press the bottom of a cooled baked macaron shell iwht your finger, it should be soft. If the bottom of the shell is hard, reduce the baking time for the resto of your macarons from 14 minutes to 13 minutes.

Raspberry Jam Cream

Ingredients:

4 ounces of unsalted butter, softened

9 ounces of powdered sugar, sifted

3-4 ounces of raspberry jam (seedless)

Preparation:

IN the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth and fluffy.  Gradually add sifted powdered sugar.  Add raspberry jam.  Beat just until blended.  Pipe between two macarons.  If the cream is too soft or runny to pipe, beat in more sifted powdered sugar.