Tips For Baking: 1 ) Age your egg whites by separating them from the yolks at least 24 hours before baking. Store them in the fridge, in a airtight container for up to 3 days. This is just extra insurance for better macs. And will insure the proteins inside the egg whites can relax. Which will result in better volume meringue. 2 ) I use the Costco Kirkland Brand of Almond Flour. In my experience it works best for baking macarons.
Ingredients:
Macaron Shells:
• 82 grams Aged Egg whites ( about 3 eggs )
• 88 grams Fine Ground Almond Flour
• 150 grams Powered Sugar ( Confectioner Sugar)
• 1 (1/2) tsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 62 grams Granulated Sugar
• 25 Drops of Yellow Food Coloring
• 14 Drops of Red Food Coloring
Pumpkin Spice Buttercream:
• 3/4 cup Unsalted Butter Softened
• 2 (1/2) cups Powered Sugar ( Confectioner Sugar)
• 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 (1/4) tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
• 3/4 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of Salt for taste
Bake macacron shells at 310F for 15-17 mins.
Recipe makes about 26 macarons
1 ) Bring aged egg whites to room temperature. Meanwhile scale out the almond flour, powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Using a food processor pulse the ingredients until combined. Then blend together until finely ground, about a minute. This will ensure the almond flour is ground fine. Next double sift these ingredients using a sieve into a medium size bowl and set aside. Line 1 big or 2 medium size baking sheets with parchment paper. And get all other ingredients scaled out.
2 ) Using a electric mixer, start beating the room temperature egg whites. Start slowly on a low speed, just until frosty. Then little by little add in the granulated sugar while mixer is running. Don’t add in the sugar all at once. When all of the sugar is dissolved. Turn up the mixer to high and whip until the meringue has stiff peaks. While your mixing up the meringue, add in the drops of yellow and red food coloring. Stop mixing when the Meringue is clumping or bunching around the whisk and has stiff peaks.
3 ) Add the almond flour, powdered sugar and cocoa power mixture to the whipped meringue. And start folding from the bottom of the bowl by hand with a large rubber spatula. Mixing slowly and gently as you wet the dry ingredients. You’ll know the mixture is at the right consistency when it flows like lava off the spatula. It should ribbon off the spoon and dissolve into the rest of bowl in about 6-10 seconds. It’s very important that you don’t over mix. Stop mixing and transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with round metal tip.
4 ) Pipe the macaron batter onto the parchment paper. Leaving at least 1 inch of space in between each piped macaron. After all of the batter is piped out. Hit or drop the baking sheet against a flat surface about 8-10 times or until air bubbles rise to the top of the macaron shells. Use a toothpick to smooth out or pop remaining air bubbles. Set the baking sheet to dry, until a dry coat is formed on the macaron shells. Depending on the humidity of your kitchen or space. This could take up to an hour. You’ll know the shells are ready to bake. When you can rub your finger on top the shells, without messing up the shell. Finger should stay clean.
5 ) Preheat oven to 310f and bake for 15-17 mins. Bake one sheet at a time if using multiple baking sheets. Let the macaron shells cool completely before gently removing from parchment paper. They should pop right off the parchment paper. ( Your macaron shells probably needed a couple more minutes of baking if they are still sticking to the parchment. )
6 ) To make the the pumpkin spice buttercream start by beating the softened butter on a medium speed in a electric mixer. Mix until it’s light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl often with a spatula. Next add the the powdered sugar in 1/3 portions. While continuing scraping the sides of the bowl. Once combined, add in the heavy cream, vanilla and all 4 of the spices. Keep mixing until it looks smooth. Transfer the pumpkin spice buttercream to a pasty bag fitted with a round tip.
7 ) Arrange the baked macarons into perfect pairs. And gently fill each pair of shells with desired amount of pumpkin spice buttercream. Careful press each pair of shells together to make the perfect macarons. It’s very important that you store the finished macrons. In a airtight container for at least 24 hours in a freezer or refrigerator to allow the flavors to mend together. This will result in the best tasting Macarons. Enjoy!