Here is a photo tutorial of my festive and delicious Shamrock Macarons with a Minty-Green Buttercream. A delicious treat for St. Patrick’s Day
Let’s BAKE!
INGREDIENTS:
MACARON
150 grams powdered sugar
124 grams almond flour
100 grams egg whites, room temp (about 3)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
66 grams castor sugar (ultra fine). about 1/4 cup
MINTY GREEN BUTTERCREAM
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon mint extract, room temp
1 drop green gel food coloring
green sprinkles for decorating
DIRECTIONS:
MACARON: In medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and almond flour. Sift mixture through a sieve into another medium bowl. If there about a pinch remaining of pieces too large to sift, throw them out. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium speed until frothy; add cream of tartar, Whip until eggs start leaving a trail; add castor sugar 1/3 at a time. Whip until stiff peaks form (when you pull out the whisk the peak should be stiff and not droopy, and you can hold the bowl upside down and nothing comes out.).
Pour 1/3 of the almond flour-powdered sugar mixture into the egg whites and gently fold in until incorporated. Continuing to fold in 1/3 of the almond flour-powdered sugar mixture at a time, until it is completely blended (do not over mix, it should be like thick pancake or brownie batter, and you can make a figure eight).
Prepare parchment paper by making a template of 1-1/2″ circles on the back side about 2-inches apart (about 20 to a baking sheet 4 across by 5 down). Fit a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip and fill the bag with the batter. Using the template as a guide, pipe circles onto the parchment papers. The peaks in the center should fall, if they don’t wet your finger and pat the peak down. Tap the bottom of each sheet on the work surface to release trapped air bubbles. Top with green sprinkles.
Let the cookies stand at room temperature for 15-60 minutes,to allow the cookies to dry to the touch and develop their crusts. While the cookies are standing at room temperature, preheat oven to 320 degrees F. Once the cookies are dry to the touch, bake, one cookie sheet at a time, at 320 degrees F. for 12-14 minutes, until the top is not wiggly (error on the side of overcooked). Cool slightly, remove from parchment (they should release, if not, use an offset spatula) Let cool completely. Match up same size cookies with one top side up, and the other filling side up.
MINTY GREEN BUTTERCREAM: In mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Add sifted powdered sugar 1/3 at a time, until completely combined and fluffy. Mix in mint extract and 1 drop of green gel food coloring. Spoon minty-green buttercream in piping bag fitted with a #12 piping tip.
Pipe a dollop of the buttercream on each filling side up cookie. Press 2 cookies together until filling comes to the edge. Place in an airtight container, place in the refrigerator for about 24 hours (so the shells absorb the flavor of the filling). Take the cookies out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving, to bring back to room temp.
Enjoy!
