LEMON MACARONS

These lemon macarons are bursting with flavor, tangy, and are the perfect summertime treat!

Hey guys! So I’m currently in Malaysia for my summer holiday, and boy, IT IS HOT (and  humid). I’ve had quite a wild ride with these good ol’ macarons, but came across a new method of making them. I’d heard whispers of this method but never really thought of trying it out, but after probably 10 failed attempts at the French method over 4 years, I thought I’d give it a go – result: I WAS AMAZED, and it totally made my day. The Italian method wasn’t that much harder than the French and the macarons turned out great on the first go. Trust me, after having such bad experiences with macarons, I was literally so happy when I saw those little feet on the macarons in the oven.

I still remember the first time I made macarons. A 11 year old me, that didn’t quite understand the fickleness and difficulty of macarons. I ended up with a neon pink caterpillar of super sweet, slightly chewy cookie-like things which I ended up eating before workouts to give me that ‘sugar boost’. I had wanted that cute baby pink color but did not realize Malaysian ‘rose pink’ food dye was neon pink. I piped them so close together and didn’t let them dry out that they just joined together in the oven! A few more tries along the way I ended up making super crunchy chocolate buttons rather than macarons, and the one time I did have feet the macarons were so hard I couldn’t even sink my teeth into them. Needless to say, macarons are certainly not my best friends.

I decided to make lemonade/lemon inspired macarons because it was way too hot in Malaysia and I was craving a ‘teh limau ais’ (basically iced lemon tea). My mom hates using food colorings because she claims its highly unhealthy and artificial, so I resorted to making just plain white macarons with a delicious yellow lemon curd in between.

Now, the Italian method involves mixing icing sugar, almond flour, and a little bit of egg whites until it forms a paste (quite thick). Then, you boil sugar and water together and while your egg whites are whipping, drizzle the sugar mixture in to make a meringue (which by the way, tastes like marshmallows and is so good). After, you fold the meringue into the almond paste and you’re done! Ha! If only it were that simple. The good thing about the Italian method is that since you make a meringue by drizzling in the hot sugar and water, the egg whites are more stable so when you fold the mixture, there’s less room for error (as in its not as easy to overmix). The macaron batter should be thick, and fall in thick flowing ribbons from the spatula, and go back into the mixture in around 20 seconds. It’s better to undermix than overmix because when you transfer it to your piping bag, and pipe it out, you’ll be mixing it a little bit more. But once you overmix, there’s no going back, so BE CAREFUL!

NOTE: I suggest making these when it’s not raining so there’s less humidity and your macarons dry out quicker!

This was adapted from The Finer Cookie‘s recipe.

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INGREDIENTS:

– 106g almond flour

– 106g powdered/icing sugar

– 41g egg whites, at room temperature

– 45g egg whites

– 118g granulated sugar

– 79g water

METHOD:

1) Place the almond flour and icing sugar in a food processor/blender and pulse.

2) Sift the mixture into a bowl (this is very important in order to aerate the mixture and remove lumps)

3) Fold in the 41g of egg whites. It will be very stiff but don’t worry

4) In a saucepan over low heat with a candy thermometer, place the granulated sugar and water. Stir constantly until all the sugar has dissolved. Then, stop stirring and increase the heat to medium

5) When the sugar mixture reaches 203°F / 95°C,  reduce the heat to low and in a clean bowl (no grease), begin whipping the 45g of egg whites on low speed until soft peaks. (you can use a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer)

6) Without stirring, heat the syrup to 248°F / 120°C. When it reaches this temperature, slowly drizzle the syrup in a steady stream into the egg whites while mixing.

7) Turn mixer speed to high and continue whipping until the temperature of the bowl has cooled to room temperature, and the meringue is stiff and glossy. (Roughly 3-5 minutes)

*about 1 minute before finishing whipping the meringue, if you would like to add coloring, do so at this stage*

8) Add 1/3 of the meringue into the almond mixture and fold until the texture is uniform and well combined.

9) Add the rest of the meringue and fold gently. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT STAGE.

10) Fold gently until the mixture becomes almost lava like – it should fall off the spatula in thick, flowing ribbons and dissolve into the rest of the mixture slowly. Be careful not to overmix.

11) Fill a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip or with the end cut off. Place a sheet of parchment paper or a silpat onto a baking tray and pipe roughly 2.5cm circles. If you would like a printable piping guide, you can get one HERE.

12) Bang the tray on the counter several times to force large air bubbles to the top. Leave the macarons out to dry (you can speed up this process by turning on the fan). The macarons should have formed and skin and not be sticky when touched.

13) Bake in a preheated oven of 325°F / 162°C for 8-10 minutes in a convection, or 10-15 minutes in a standard oven setting. NOTE: (I like putting my tray in the lowest shelf to avoid browning). The macarons are done when the tops are shiny and crispy.

14) Remove the tray from the oven and let the macarons cool slightly on the tray before peeling them off the paper and cooling further on a wire rack.

FILLING:

15) You can fill these macarons with whatever you would like but if you would like my recipe for lemon curd, you can find it HERE

*I find these taste better a one or two days after they have been baked and filled*

*these freeze very well too!*