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Before you start, get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare a large piping bag, fitted with a large round tip, I use a 0.5” tip. Set aside.
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Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
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I use a baking mat with the macaron template already in it. You can make your own or print it from the internet, and just place it under silicone mat, or parchment paper. I recommend using a silicone mat.
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Measure out all of the ingredients.
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Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together. Set aside.
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Place the egg whites and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl or in a double boiler. Over a pan of simmering water, whisk the whites and sugar until frothy and sugar completely melted. It will take a couple minutes. You can test by touching the mixture between your fingers, and if you feel any sugar granules just keep whisking mixture over the water bath.
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Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the simmering water.
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Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer.
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With the whisk attachment, start whisking the mixture on low for about 30 seconds, then gradually start increasing speed to medium. Whisk on medium for one to two minutes, until mixture is white and starting to become fluffy. Raise speed to medium-high and finish whipping for a few more minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Best way to check this is to keep your eye on the whites. Once they get glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, it might be time to stop.
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Whisk until stiff peaks have formed. When you pull your whip up, the peaks should be shooting straight up, not bent down.
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Pour the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into stiff whites.
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Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula.
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Add the food coloring at this point, if using. In the case of these Mint Macarons, I used two different colors.
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To make the two color shells, follow these instructions.
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Add a little bit of green and teal to the meringue.
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Fold the dry ingredients with the meringue until just incorporated.
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Once you can see no more streaks of dry ingredients in the batter, separate it into two different bowls.
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Cover one bowl with a towel so the batter doesn’t start drying, and work with one batch at a time.
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Fold the first batter until it reaches the proper consistency, flowing effortlessly off the spatula. Read below on tips for identifying the right consistency.
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Then, transfer this batter to a piping bag, secure the top so the batter doesn’t leak out, and set it aside.
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Next, it’s time to color the remaining batter. I wanted to do a swirl effect with a darker green color, so grab the second bowl, and add a bit more green to the batter, to make a stronger more vibrant color. Fold until the proper consistency is achieved, and transfer the batter to another piping bag.
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How to know when to stop folding the batter: It’s time to stop folding when the batter is glossy and has a thick and flowing consistency. There are several ways to test this.
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First, pick up some batter with the spatula and try to draw a figure 8 with the batter that is dripping off the spatula. If you can form several 8 figures without the batter breaking up, that’s one indication that it might be ready.
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There’s another test you can do. I call it the Teaspoon test.
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Grab a teaspoon of batter and spoon onto the parchment paper or silicon mat. Wait a minute to see how it behaves.
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If the batter stays stiff, forming a point and doesn’t spread out a bit, start folding a little bit more, about 3 folds.
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Test again.
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Once the batter spreads out a bit and starts to look glossy and smooth on top, on the baking sheet, transfer it to the piping bag.
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You don’t want the batter to be too runny either. So be careful not to over mix. It’s always best to under mix and test several times until the proper consistency has been achieved.
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The best way I can describe this stage being perfect is when you hold the spatula with batter on top of the bowl and the batter falls off the spatula slowly but effortlessly. The batter will keep flowing off the spatula non-stop, but not too quickly.
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So, when both batters are ready and inside piping bags, snip the end of the piping bags with scissors, and place both piping bags in the piping bag fitted with the large round tip. (watching the video located on this page, or on Youtube will help you see how this was done)
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Place the piping bag containing both batters directly 90 degrees over the center of each macaron template. Apply gentle pressure and carefully pipe for about 3 seconds, and then quickly pull the bag up twisting slightly.
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Once you’ve piped as many circles as you could, bang the trays against the counter a few times each. This will release air bubbles that are in the batter and prevent your macaron shells from cracking.
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Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles in the surface of the shells.
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Let the trays sit for a while so the shells will dry out a little bit. I usually leave about 20-40 minutes, depending on how humid the day is. You’ll know they’re ready when you gently touch the surface of a macaron and it seems dry.
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Pre-heat the oven to 325ºF.
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Bake one tray at a time.
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Bake for 5 minutes, rotate tray.
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Bake for 5 more minutes. Rotate again.
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I bake each tray for about 18 minutes rotating every 5 minutes.
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When baked, the macarons will have a deeper color and formed feet. If you try to move a macaron, it shouldn’t feel jiggly. If the macaron is still jiggly, keep baking.
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Remove from the oven and bake the other tray.
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Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling.