Raspberry Macaron Recipe

Italian Meringue

• Place 55g egg whites in a stand mixer and mix on high speed.
• Place 38g of water and 150g of sugar in a saucepan on medium heat and attach a candy thermometer to the saucepan to measure the temperature.
  
• Adjust the stand mixer speed to beat on low speed. When the syrup gets up to 118 degrees C slowly stream the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl of the stand mixer. Increase the speed of the stand mixer to medium-heat speed and let it beat. The meringue is finished when you can turn the bowl upside down and the egg whites do not move.

  While you're waiting for the syrup to get up to temperature, you can begin preparing the almond batter.
  

Almond Batter

• Place another 55g egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Add any food coloring at this point using gel food coloring or 1/4 tsp of powdered food coloring. You could also add 1 tbsp of coffee grounds or cookie crumbs to the shells. You can add 1/4 tsp of extract as well if you want to flavor the shells. Mix the color thoroughly until the color is fully emulsified into the egg whites.
• Add sifted and measured almond flour and icing sugar. Mix until fully combined. It should feel like a paste when it's completely mixed.
• Add 1/2 of the meringue to the mixing bowl. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to mix the almond paste with the meringue using a wooden spoon.
• Add the rest of the meringue to the bowl. Mix until it's full combined. Continue mixing the macaron batter a little more, a few more turns. It should flow like lava when you lift your spoon. The batter should be glossy and less grainy than when you began mixing.
• Pipe the macarons 1.5" wide on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper lined baking sheet. They are best cooked on an aluminum baking pan. Then pipe the next macaron 2" further away.
  
• Add any sprinkles to the macarons at this point. Pick up the pan and bang the bottom of it to remove air bubbles. Bang the pan 3-5 times.
  
• Let the macarons dry for 30 minutes.
• Bake the macarons for 12 minutes at 300 degrees F.
  
• Let the macarons fully cool. Take one of the macaron shells and match it up with a good fit for itself. Match all of your macarons up and place face up.
  
• Fill the macarons with your filling of choice. Filling ideas for your macarons include: buttercream icing, chocolate ganache, caramel sauce, etc. You can use a piping tip to give the icing a bit of a design if you like. The star tip works well for piping the macaron filling. Place the other macaron shell on top of the filling to create a sandwich.
  
• Store the macarons in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

• Cream 1/2 cup butter until light and fluffy.
• Add 1 tsp vanilla extract and beat together.
• Add 3 tbsp raspberry jam to infuse the butter with raspberry flavoring.
• Slowly add 2 cups of icing sugar to the mixture and 1 tsp of milk. Adjust the icing as needed. If the raspberry macaron filling is too thin to pipe, add a small amount of icing sugar to thicken it. If the raspberry macaron filling is too thick, add a little more raspberry jam or a tiny bit more milk to thin out the icing.
• Place the icing in a piping bag and pipe the the Raspberry Buttercream Macaron Filling onto the macaron shells.