Pink Lemonade French Macarons

A little experiment -- Pink Lemonade French Macarons, I loved how these turned out: so light, tangy and sweet. The flavours worked so well. This french macaron recipe is also a great one for beginners (it doesn't need a sugar thermometer).

Makes: 14 Macarons

The Recipe --

The Macarons:

1 cup icing sugar

3/4 cup ground almonds

2 egg whites (at room temperature)

1/4 cup caster sugar

red food colouring gel

The Buttercream:

70g butter (softened to room temperature)

140g icing sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tablespoon milk or cream

pinch of salt​

The Lemon Curd:

2 eggs & 2 egg yolks 165g Caster Sugar 80g chilled unsalted butter Zest and juice of 2 lemons

The Macarons --

Step 1:

In a large bowl sift in icing sugar and ground almonds. Whisk together.

Step 2:

Separate the egg yolk from the egg whites (Reserve the egg yolks for the lemon curd). Add the egg whites into another large bowl / bowl of a standing mixer.

Step 3:

Beat the egg whites until light and frothy. Once you have reached this point add half the sugar whilst beating on a high speed. Beat for 1 minute and then add the rest of the sugar. Beat on high speed for 2 - 3 minutes until you reach the soft peak stage. Add a few drops of red food colouring until you reach the desired pink (be aware that macarons bake a few shades lighter). Beat in until you reach stiff peaks.

Step 4:

Start the macaronage process by folding in the dry ingredients into the meringue half at a time (using a rubber spatula). Fold in carefully making sure not to knock out too much air by scooping the batter under and folding it over.

Step 5:

Once it is folded through you want to achieve the perfect consistency (we want to remove some of the air). We can do this by scraping the batter on the sides of the bowl and folding it back over. The consistency is perfect when the batter slowing drips off your spatula in a ribbon like effect. The batter should slowly sink back into the bowl.

Step 6:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the batter into a piping bag. Pipe small rounds onto the parchment paper making sure to keep them around the same size. Make sure to leave room between each macaron. You should get about 28 halves to make 14 macarons.

Step 7:

Bang the baking tray on a work surface a few times. This will remove any air bubbles in your macarons. Make sure to do this on all four sides. Let the macarons sit for about 30 minutes to and hour so that they dry out and form a skin (when you touch them with your finger there should be no batter on your finger).

Step 8:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Once preheated drop the oven temperature to 150 degrees C and bake the macarons for 15 - 18 minutes. They should have formed the classic macaron foot. Let cool.

The Buttercream --

Step 1:

In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or using a hand mixer whip the butter until light and creamy (about 7-8 minutes) on medium/high speed.

Step 2:

slowly add in the icing sugar one spoon at a time on medium speed. Let the sugar fully incorporate before adding in more sugar.

Step 3:

Add the vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds, salt and cream. Beat in. Add in the lemon juice.

Step 4:

Whip on high speed for another 3-4 minutes until very light, creamy, and fluffy.

The Lemon Curd --

Step 1:

Whisk eggs, yolks and sugar in a saucepan until smooth.

Step 2:

Place pan over a low heat. Add the butter, juice and zest and whisk continuously until thickened.

Step 3:

Strain through a sieve into a jar. You will have extra lemon curd than needed for the macarons however, this is great for toast or other treats and it stores in the fridge for up to 2 weeks (covered).

Assembly --

Step 1:

Match together macarons that are similar inside.

Step 2:

Place the buttercream into a piping bag and pipe a circle onto one half of a macaron shell.

Step 3:

Fill the hole of the circle with lemon curd. Top with the other half of the macaron shell.

Step 4:

Decorate how you wish. For these macarons I drizzled an extra bit of lemon curd on top !

Enjoy.

Let me know if you make these !

Instagram: @luluerie

#macarons #pinklemonade #lemoncurd #buttercream #lemonmacarons #patisserie #biscuits #meringue