Before you start, get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare a large piping bag, fitted with a large round tip.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
Measure out all of the ingredients.
Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together. Set aside.
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.
Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the simmering water.
Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer.
With the whisk attachment, whisk the mixture on low, and gradually increase the speed over the next 2 minutes, until you achieve high speed. Then continue to whip for a few 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.
Whisk until stiff peaks have formed. When you pull your whip up, the peaks should be shooting straight up. The peak should be stiff, forming a slightly curved shape at the top, but not bending down to the side.
Pour the powdered sugar and almond flour into stiff whites.
Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula. Add the food coloring at this point, if using.
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.
First, pick up some batter with the spatula and try to form a figure 8 a few times. If you can draw a figure 8 with the batter falling off the spatula a few times, without the batter breaking up, that’s one indication that it might be ready.
Then, you can perform what I call the Teaspoon Test. Grab a teaspoon of batter and spoon onto the parchment paper or silicon mat, then tap the tray gently against the counter and wait one minute.
If the batter stays stiff and doesn’t spread out a bit, fold the batter a bit more, then test again.
Once the teaspoonful of batter smooths out on top and starts to look glossy on the parchment paper/silicone, without forming a peak at the top, transfer the mixture to the piping bag.
You don’t want your batter to be too runny either. So be careful not to overmix. It’s always best to undermix and test several times until the proper consistency has been achieved.
Pipe 1 1/2" inch circles on the parchment or silicone. Hold the bag at a 90 degree angle right in the middle of a circle template. Apply gentle pressure for about 3 seconds, then pull the bag up.
Once you’ve piped as many 1 1/2” circles as you could, bang the trays against the counter a few times each.
Use a toothpick to poke any air bubbles on the surface of the macarons.
Let your 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 and doesn't stick to your finger.
Pre-heat the oven to 300°F.
Bake one tray at a time.
Bake for 5 minutes, rotate tray.
I bake for a total of 15 to 20 minutes. Until you try to move a macaron and it doesn't feel jiggly.
When baked, the macarons will have a deeper color and formed feet. And they will peel off the tray easily.
Remove from the oven and bake the other tray.
Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling.
Strawberry Lemonade Curd
Cream the butter at medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer. Slowly add sugar and lemon zest to butter and keep creaming at medium speed for a few minutes, until mixture is light in color and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, waiting until egg has been completely incorporated before adding the next one.
Add the salt and freeze dried strawberry powder. And finally, add lemon juice, and stir on low speed.
Pour mixture in a small sauce pan and bring it to a boil over medium heat, while stirring nonstop.
You are looking for a very thick and creamy curd. Don’t stop stirring, don’t look away.
The temperature of the curd should be reaching 170F.
When that happens, remove from heat and pour into a heat proof bowl.
Let it cool in the fridge.
STORAGE: The shelf life of lemon curd will be up to 1 week in the fridge, and up to 3 months in the freezer, if well protected.
Strawberry Lemonade Buttercream
Place strawberries in a blender cup, process until they become powder. Or simply use powdered freeze dried strawberries instead.
Sift powdered sugar and strawberry powder together. Set aside
Cream butter and cream cheese at medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer for about 1 minute. With the mixer off, add all of the powdered sugar, and powdered strawberry in.
Mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated. Once they are incorporated, turn speed to medium and cream for 1-2 minutes until very fluffy. Add vanilla and milk in, beat for another 30-45 seconds.
If the consistency of the frosting seems a bit runny, add more powdered sugar in it to make it thicker. If the consistency of the frosting seems too stiff, add more milk, only 1 teaspoon at a time, as necessary.
STORAGE: Store buttercream in the fridge for up to 1 week.
How to assemble
Pipe a circle of frosting around the edges of the macaron, in a way that you have a little hole in the middle. Fill the little hole with a bit of strawberry lemonade curd. Don't overfill it. Place another shell on top.
STORAGE: This Strawberry Lemonade Macaron's shelf life is 4 to 5 days in the fridge. I don't recommend freezing macarons with curd or jam fillings.
Notes
*If you process 1 cup of freeze dried strawberries, you'll obtain about 1/4 cup of freeze dried powder.Scale: Please use a scale when measuring the ingredients for accuracy.Macaron amount: it will vary greatly depending on how big you pipe the shells, and on how runny or thick the batter is.Baking time/temperature: Baking time and temperature will vary according to your own oven. I recommend experimenting with your oven to find out the best time, temperature, position of the baking tray.Oven thermometer: Make sure to have an oven thermometer to bake macarons. It’s one of the most important things about making macarons. Home ovens aren’t accurate at all at telling the temperature, and even a slight 5 degree difference can make or break your whole batch.Tray rotation: Lots of bakers don’t have to rotate the trays 180 degrees in the oven every 5 minutes, but I do have to with my oven, or I will get lopsided macarons. Please adjust this according to your oven.