French Macarons

STEP 1

Wow, you’ve got some beautiful ingredients! Once you’ve unpacked your Red Velvet kit, remove 3 eggs from your refrigerator. Separate eggs into whites and yolks: Put whites in large glass or metal bowl and set aside to reach room temperature; put yolks in a small bowl and save for another culinary adventure (like a custard or pudding!). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper provided, printed side down. Prepare piping bag by inserting the tip and cutting just above the opening of the tip.

STEP 2

Combine almond flour and confectioner’s sugar in a food processor and blend well. (A high-powered blender or an immersion blender will work for this too.) Over a large bowl, sift the mixture through a medium sieve or sifter to remove any lumps or large pieces of almond flour. Repeat until there are no lumps; the final mixture should resemble fine sand.

STEP 3

Make French meringue. Using an electric mixer, beat reserved egg whites on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until they begin to get foamy and look like bubbles; add cream of tartar and salt. With the beaters running, slowly add the granulated sugar, sprinkling it over the egg whites. Whip until soft peaks form. Add red food coloring and turn mixer up to high. Whip until you have stiff peaks; the mixture will hold its shape when beaters are lifted up (tip: there should be no movement at all from the egg whites). This should take 10 to 12 minutes.

STEP 4

Make the “macaronage” (batter for the macaron shells). Use a large, flat spatula to combine a third of the meringue with the almond mixture and gently fold. Make a “down-across-up-and-over” motion to do this. Once the mixture is well coated, gently add the next third of meringue; then add the remaining third. Tip: for each third, fold the batter about 22 times (or 66 times total). As soon as the batter begins to look homogenous, test the consistency. Lift up some batter with the spatula and let it flow down while drawing a figure 8. If it is viscous enough to do that, immediately stop folding so you don’t overmix.

STEP 5

Pipe 40 macaron shells. Using a spatula, fill the piping bag: Fold over the top to form a cuff, gently scoop in batter, then unfold and twist to seal. Hold the bag straight up and about half an inch above baking sheet. Pipe batter onto parchment: Hold bag steady at the center and squeeze until you fill the solid inner circle. Gently tap the baking sheet onto your counter a few times to remove air bubbles. Let sit at room temperature for 30 to 90 minutes or until a “skin” forms; the batter is ready when it doesn’t stick to your fingers.

STEP 6

Preheat oven to 300°F. Prepare a rack in the center of the oven; only bake in the middle of the oven (bake trays one at a time if necessary). Bake macarons for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway. They’re done when they don’t move when touched. Remove trays and place on a wire rack; let shells cool completely before attempting to peel them from the parchment paper. Using a small spoon, scoop a scant teaspoon of raspberry preserves onto the underside of a shell; sandwich with another shell. Repeat to make 20 sandwiches. Enjoy with a cup of tea!