Pretty In Pink-Raspberry Macaroons

Pink and Perfect - Raspberry Macaroons

I have a little bit of an obsession with French Macaroons, or at least trying to find the most foolproof recipe.  Although I have taken not 1 but 2 classes at schools to perfect my technique it still seems to be a bit of a crap shoot with the results.

Today's recipe worked wonderfully.  Not sure how that is as most of the recipes for French Macaroons are eerily similar no matter how many recipe books you spend your hard earned money on. But since the batter was not too watery and they can together quickly and piped out easily I thought it would be worth sharing.

Making them pink with a few drops of food colouring and adding a little raspberry flavouring to the shells just made them more feminine and pretty, somehow adding to their appeal.

Stiff beaten egg whites with icing sugar and egg albumen

First 1/3 of almond mixture folded in.  Mixture should be streaky.  No over mixing!

Piped out and sitting to develop 'feet' before being baked.

All baked up - They are truly pretty little things!

Pretty in Pink seemed the perfect title to this blog and had me asking myself in anyone else reading this remembers the original movie.  I saw it in the theatre during its first run..I am so dating myself.   Duckie, the quirky boy friend, grew up to become Alan on "Two and A Half Men".  Did you know an often asked question of Google is whether Jon Cryer is gay.  Well he is not and is actually on his 2nd wife...well not 'on' on.

Now back to pretty, pink macaroons.  Do you know they taste even more amazing out of the freezer. I had to hide them away from myself as my self control for all things sweet is minimal.  Just remove a couple from the freezer...and yes they froze and thawed beautifully filled with the buttercream, wait just a couple of minutes and enjoy.  You will actually close your eyes as you savour that first bite into the thin layer of crisp macaroon and then you will swoon when your taste buds encounter the raspberry buttercream filling.  If you can limit yourself to a couple at a time the damage to your waistline is negligible...or at least I choose to believe that.  And if I believe, it is so!

Now go ahead make some up and Net Flix 'Pretty In Pink' the next time you are in the baking mood.

All Baked up and Ready to Taste

Macaroons (Very Forgiving) - About 40 sandwiched macaroons

195 grams ground almonds (same as almond flour)
340 grams icing sugar
140 grams egg whites
40 grams fine sugar (granulated sugar that has been through your food processor!)
10 grams Powdered egg whites or Egg Albumen (this helps stabilize your batter)
2-3 drops Food Colouring

Preheat oven to 325F.  Parchment line your baking sheets and set aside.

Sift together the almond flour and icing sugar to remove any lumps.

Whip egg whites until frothy and add in the fine sugar and egg albumen.  Whip until stiff.

Add a few drop of food colouring to the mixture.  It is nice to use colours that compliment your flavours...yellow with lemon filling, brown with chocolate ganache, etc.

Gently fold one-third of the almond mixture into the whipped egg whites using a rubber spatula.  Your mixture should stay streaky like in the photo above.  Add in another third and fold lightly then add the remaining mixture and again fold lightly.

Using a large piping bag and a #12 tip, pipe your batter about 1 inch apart onto the prepared sheets.

Once the baking sheet is full bang firmly several times on the counter to remove air bubbles.  Rotate pan and bang again.  Let unbaked shells sit for about 20 minutes until they look glossy and firm.

Bake for about 11-14 minutes and rotate sheets half way through.  Set your timer so you do not forget to rotate baking pans.

Allow the macaroons to cool completely before filling with whatever your heart desires.  How about Buttercream (any kind), a little Nutella (why not), maybe some lemon curd.  They are so good they can be popped into your mouth with no filling at all.

Remember frozen macaroons are better than an ice cream sandwich!