Two Macarons Definitely Make a Right

"Trust the process" never felt more relevant than when I made these bad boys.

Honestly, I was SO intimidated but my love of France overcame my intimidation. So I searched "easy French macaron recipe" and found this recipe.

My family didn't want me to get my hopes up because macarons are known to be difficult to make--BUT I think they turned out pretty well, merci beaucoup.

Tips:

• Follow the recipe très carefully! There are a lot of steps, but The Food Network's recipe breaks it down in digestible steps!
• Be patient! The whole process took me at least the 2 hours and 10 minutes that the recipe predicted... but the final product is worth the wait!
• No pastry bag necessary! I just used a spoon to divvy up the dough and it worked well--just be consistent in how much you use so that the macarons end up the same size.

FulFILL your heart's desire:

Even though I keep emphasizing to follow the recipe, I didn't do that entirely myself...

Instead of the fillings the original recipe suggests, I made two completely different fillings: chocolate and lemon curd.Who doesn't like chocolate? If you answered "me!" then I'm sorry but your opinion is wrong. (Desole, non desole!) I simply melted chocolate using a double boiler, and voila!

My mom LOVES lemon flavor, so I used this recipe to make a lemon curd filling. Although I enjoyed half of a plate's worth of both flavors, the lemon curd-filled macarons were my favorite. I thought the lighter flavors paired really well together--mother knows best!

But please try them out and let me know what you think!

Bon appetit!

Original Macaron Recipe from Food Network: (I excluded food coloring)

• 1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup almond flour
• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup superfine sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F using the convection setting. Line 3 baking sheets with silicone mats. Measure the confectioners' sugar and almond flour by spooning them into measuring cups and leveling with a knife. Transfer to a bowl; whisk to combine.
2. Sift the sugar-almond flour mixture, a little at a time, through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing with a rubber spatula to pass through as much as possible. It will take a while, and up to 2 tablespoons of coarse almond flour may be left; just toss it.
3. Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt with a mixer on medium speed until frothy. Increase the speed to medium high; gradually add the superfine sugar and beat until stiff and shiny, about 5 more minutes.
4. Transfer the beaten egg whites to the bowl with the almond flour mixture. Draw a rubber spatula halfway through the mixture and fold until incorporated, giving the bowl a quarter turn with each fold.
5. Continue folding and turning, scraping down the bowl, until the batter is smooth and falls off the spatula in a thin flat ribbon, 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip. Holding the bag vertically and close to the baking sheet, pipe 1 1/4-inch circles (24 per sheet). Firmly tap the baking sheets twice against the counter to release any air bubbles.
7. Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the tops are no longer sticky to the touch, 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the humidity. Slip another baking sheet under the first batch (a double baking sheet protects the cookies from the heat).
8. Bake the first batch until the cookies are shiny and rise 1/8 inch to form a "foot," about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Repeat, using a double sheet for each batch. Peel the cookies off the mats and sandwich with a thin layer of filling (see below).

Lemon Curd Recipe from Family Table Treasures:

• 1/2 Cup Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Lemon zest
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 3 Large Eggs
• 6 Tablespoons Unsalted butter