Macaroon Madness!

So. I have ALWAYS wanted to try to make Parisian Macaroons. Well, I did. And let me tell you- they are WAY over-rated. Not eating them, just making them. The ingredients include Almond Flour- which is hard to find and very pricey! I paid $9 for just a few cups of it (and that was at Walmart, people). Anyway, so here was my entire day devoted to making Macaroons... I've included my recipe at the end for those of you brave enough to try what I did.

First I burnt the almond flour. Some recipes do not call for baking it, but mine did. It still worked though. Also, I sifted this stupid almond flour twice and each time it took at least 20 minutes. Agh!

After reading many recipes online and buying a macaroon book (which I returned), I came up with a basic recipe for the shell and the filling. And here's a lot of the other ingredients as well.

 

More ingredients/supplies.

My batter/shells mixture came out an ugly brown color. It was supposed to be a vibrant purple but the almond flour has a yellowish tinge and turned it this color instead. Oh yay!

Watching for a "skin" to form.

PROOF that I used my new stand mixer my sweet mother-in-law bought for me! I love this thing!

So far so good! Except for the color, of course.

Now it's time to pipe the filling!

Is that... a macaroon?!

Oh yes. You would look this nasty after an exhausting day of baking too! And that is my first time trying a macaroon so I had to document it.

Now they look like real macaroons!

So if anyone wants to know what recipe I used (God help you if you do), here it is:


Janae's Purple Vanilla Macaroons:
DAY BEFORE: Prepare 2 egg whites- let sit overnight
DAY OF:
For the Purple Shells:
-Preheat oven to 300 degrees
-In blender: Grind 1/2 cup ground almonds (or almond flour) and 3/4 cup powdered sugar.
-Strain almond-sugar mixture over baking sheet; cook for 5-7 minutes then let cool
-In mixing bowl: Beat eggs with electric mixer into snowy peaks. When stiff peaks form, gradually add 1 1/2 Tablespoons superfine sugar- beat CONSTANTLY. Add food coloring. Stop mixing. Strain almond-sugar mixture over egg whites/ fold in with spatula.
-Fill pastry bag- pipe 4.5cm circles onto parchment paper-lines baking sheet
-Let stand for at least one hour until crust forms
-Cook for 10-12 minutes at 300 degrees
-Let shells cool
-Pour trickle of water between parchment paper and pan
-Remove shells

For the Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercreme:
-2 large egg whites
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/2 cup softened butter (cut in pieces)
-1 tsp vanilla extract

-Boil water in large pot
-Whisk together egg whites and sugar in small pot
-Put small pot in large slightly boiling pot
-Whisk mixture until 150 degrees F
-Remove from heat
-Whip mixture in stand mixer until white and fluffy
-Whip until cool (about 10 minutes)
-Add butter slowly- piece by piece
-Whip 3 more minutes
-Whip until not soupy/grainy (it takes awhile but it WILL come together!)
-Add vanilla and food coloring