Jolly Holiday Raspberry Rose Macarons Recipes

ROSE RASPBERRY MACARONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in lower third. Place almonds in a food processor; process until as fine as possible, about 1 minute. Add confectioners' sugar; process until combined, about 1 minute.
• Pass almond mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Transfer solids in sieve to food processor; grind and sift again, pressing down on clumps. Repeat until less than 2 tablespoons of solids remains in sieve.
• Whisk egg whites and granulated sugar by hand to combine. Beat on medium speed (4 on a KitchenAid) 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high (6) and beat 2 minutes. Then beat on high (8) 2 minutes more.
• The beaten egg whites will hold stiff, glossy peaks when you lift the whisk out of the bowl. Add rose water and food coloring, and beat on highest speed 30 seconds.
• Add dry ingredients all at once. Fold with a spatula from bottom of bowl upward, then press flat side of spatula firmly through middle of mixture. Repeat just until batter flows like lava, 35 to 40 complete strokes.
• Rest a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch round tip (Ateco #804) inside a glass. Transfer batter to bag; secure top. Dab some batter remaining in bowl onto corners of 2 heavy baking sheets; line with parchment.
• With piping tip 1/2 inch above sheet, pipe batter into a 3/4-inch round, then swirl tip off to one side. Repeat, spacing rounds 1 inch apart. Tap sheets firmly against counter 2 or 3 times to release air bubbles.
• Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until risen and just set, 13 minutes. Let cool. Pipe or spread filling on flat sides of half of cookies; top with remaining half. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

RASPBERRY ROSE MACARONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Heat a small pot of water over medium heat until it steams. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine egg whites and granulated sugar. Place bowl over steaming pot, creating a double boiler.
• Whisk egg whites and sugar until sugar melts completely and egg whites become white and frothy, 1 to 1.5 minutes. Remove from heat and place bowl back onto standing mixer.
• Fit standing mixer with whisk attachment and whisk on high speed for 2-3 minutes, until stiff peaks form. Congratulations, you just made a Swiss meringue!
• Sift together almond flour and powdered sugar, then gently shake into meringue bowl. Add in red food coloring and rosewater.
• Place bowl onto stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Turn mixer to medium speed and whisk for 10 seconds. Stop mixer and use a spatula to scoop up some of the batter. If you can make a figure-eight with the dripping batter without the batter breaking, you can stop. But most likely you will need another 3-5 seconds. So repeat process, and try the figure-eight again. The best way to describe the perfect consistency is like slow moving lava. It should give, but only slightly, like in slow-motion.
• Once your batter is the correct consistency, scoop it into a large pastry bag fitted with a 1 inch tip. Pipe silver dollar-sized circles onto prepared baking sheets, keeping about 1.5 inches between each meringue. Bang baking sheet on counter 3 times to remove any air bubbles.
• Here's the fun part: you don't need to let them air dry. Just pop them into the prepared oven for 13 minutes, turning around halfway through, then allow to cool completely before removing from baking sheets.
• While the macarons are baking, make the buttercream. Cream the butter in a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
• Add in the powdered sugar, whole milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat for 60 seconds, until the frosting is nicely whipped. If the frosting is too dry, add in another tablespoon of whole milk.
• Scoop mixture into a piping bag fitted with a ½ inch star tip. Once the macarons have cooled completely, pipe the buttercream around the perimeter of the underside of half of your macarons, leaving the center empty.
• Mix the raspberry preserves with the rosewater (a little goes a long way!). Spoon a teaspoon of the rose-scented raspberry preserves into the center. Sandwich with another macaron. Repeat with all macarons.
• Last, melt your white chocolate in the microwave on low power. Drizzle it over your macarons, then top with dried rose petals! I finished with gold decorating sugar, but that was just for fun ????