Raspberry Macarons
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Recipe type: Cookie
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 16
 
These natural macarons with pink raspberry buttercream filling taste deliciously like raspberries and are the perfect bite-sized melt-in-your-mouth raspberry almond treat for Valentine's Day or any other day.
Ingredients
Macarons {Courtesy of Martha Stewart}
  • 1¼ cups plus 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) finely ground sliced, blanched almonds
  • 6 tablespoons fresh egg whites (from about 3 extra-large eggs)
  • Pinch of salt
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
  • 3¾ cups powdered sugar
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 Tbsp milk
  • A couple spoonfuls of raspberry freezer jam (or raspberry puree), to taste
Instructions
Blanching Almonds
  1. Place plain, raw almonds in a bowl and pour boiling water over the almonds.
  2. Let them set for 1 minute, drain the hot water away and rinse them with cold water until they have cooled.
  3. Once drained and rinsed, you will notice the almond skins starting to shrivel.
  4. Place an almond between your thumb and index finger, gently squeeze, and the almond will pop out of the skin.
  5. I found that some almonds were more difficult than others and if the skin had not started to shrivel, I could rinse the "difficult" almonds in water again.
  6. Place the blanched almonds in a food processor and blend until finely ground, being careful not to over process them into a butter.
Macarons {Courtesy of Martha Stewart}
  1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the ground almonds and the powdered sugar.
  2. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites and salt until foamy.
  3. Increase the speed and add the granulated sugar.
  4. Continue whisking on high until stiff glossy peaks form.
  5. Using a spatula, fold the powdered sugar-ground almond mixture into the egg whites.
  6. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  7. Using a ⅜-inch round tip, pipe the batter into 1-inch circles (or other shapes) on the parchment paper, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie.
  8. Let the piped cookie batter stand for about 15 minutes until a soft crust forms on the top of the cookies and the shiny surface turns dull.
  9. Bake them at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes with the oven door slightly open until the macarons are completely dry but being careful not to brown them.
  10. Let the macarons cool completely on the parchment paper and then gently peel them off and place them on a wire rack.
  11. Fill and use them immediately or store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
  12. The macarons are fragile and can be easily crushed so take care when handling them.
  13. To fill them, use the frosting, jam or other filling of your choice and pipe about 1 tsp on the bottom of half of the macarons and sandwich them with the remaining macarons, flat side facing down.
  14. Refrigerate them until firm, for about 1 hour.
Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
  1. Beat the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and milk until the frosting is smooth and creamy.
  2. Blend a couple spoonfuls of raspberry jam, to taste, into the frosting.
  3. Refrigerate any leftover frosting in a sealed container.
Recipe by Itsy Bitsy Foodies at http://itsybitsyfoodies.com/raspberry-macarons/