French Macarons
Ingredients
100 g egg whites
100 g sugar
112 g almond meal (aka ground almonds or almond flour) . Fine ground and blanched is preferred
115 powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with silpat mats or parchment paper.
If your almond meal is very coarse, grind it with the powdered sugar in a food processor until fine. Sift the almond meal-powdered sugar mixture twice through a mesh sieve.
Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer, and begin to beat on medium-high. When the eggs are quite frothy, and you no longer see liquid at the bottom of the bowl, gradually add granulated sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until fully incorporated. Continue to beat the egg white mixture until glossy and stiff peaks form when you lift the beaters. Stir in desired gel coloring.
Add the sifted almond mixture, and gently fold it into the meringue using a flexible silicone spatula. Lift from the bottom, up around the sides, and toward the middle. It’s ok to be a little rough with the mixture, as you are going for a consistency that will slowly spread on the trays, and smooth out after piping.
To get the right texture, you will need to continue to mix, but not go too far. Using the flat of the spatula, "punch" down into the center of the batter, then scrape more batter from the sides to the center, and punch again. You will need to repeat this 10-15 times (or more, depending on your arm strength and the beginning texture of your batter) until the batter slowly and continuously drips back into the bowl when you scoop it up with the spatula. Think of the consistency of molten lava. For the best results, punch the batter a few times, check the consistency, then punch a few more times, etc. Do not make the batter too runny or the macarons won't rise as they should, and will be flat pancakes.
Pour batter into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. Twist and clip the top of the bag to avoid overflow. On your prepared baking sheets, pipe out 1-inch rounds in the circles you drew.
Holding the baking sheet in both hands, rap each baking sheet firmly on the counter one or two times. This smooths out the tops and helps form the "pied" or foot on the bottoms of the macarons. Allow the piped macarons to dry, uncovered, for at least 15 minutes. The macarons should form a very thin, leather like, smooth crust where, if you tap it lightly with your finger, the batter will not stick to your finger. If after 15 minutes, the batter is still sticky, let it dry longer. This may take up to an hour on humid days.
Place both baking sheets in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes. After the first 2 minutes, open the oven to allow any excess humidity to escape. Halfway through, swap oven racks and rotate the sheets for even baking. The macarons are done when they are baked all the way through and the shells are just hard. Take care to not underbake (insides will still be mushy) or overbake (tops will begin to brown). Remove them from the oven, and cool on baking sheet placed on a wire rack.
When fully cooled, assemble the macarons with your choice of filling. The assembled macarons can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer.