Raspberry Macarons

🥘 Ingredients

Macaron Shells

• Almond Flour - Try to use almond flour that is labeled as fine or ultra-fine. My preferred brand is Bob's Red Mill.
• Confectioners Sugar - Some powdered sugar (or icing sugar).
• Egg Whites - Give your egg whites plenty of time to come up to room temperature before getting started. For more consistent results, try aging your egg whites in the fridge for 24 hours beforehand.
• Cream of Tartar - A little bit of cream of tartar helps to produce a stronger meringue by stabilizing the egg whites, which also improves the macaron shell texture.
• Sugar - I use regular white granulated sugar, but fine caster sugar would work as well. Both types of sugar also help to stabilize your meringue and maintain an airy texture.
• Freeze-Dried Raspberries - I found my freeze-dried raspberries at Target, and have seen them on occasion at Trader Joe's and Wal-Mart. Happily, I have my own freeze-dryer now and can make all sorts of sweets with it. Yum!

Raspberry Buttercream Filling

• Butter - You can't have buttercream without butter.
• Confectioners Sugar - This will help to thicken the buttercream and add sweetness.
• Freeze-Dried Raspberry Powder - You can find this online, or just pulse some freeze-dried raspberries in your food processor (which is what I did).
• Heavy Cream - A tiny bit of heavy cream can be used to thin the frosting to your desired consistency.
• Salt (optional) - Add a pinch of salt to balance the frosting flavors.

🔪 How To Make Raspberry Macarons

If the raspberry powder topping intimidates you, you can easily leave it off. There's still plenty of raspberry flavor in the buttercream.

You will need a mixer, some baking sheets, piping bags or storage bags, a kitchen scale, and a food processor.

This recipe will make 40 macaron shells or 20 fully assembled macarons.

Make the Macaron Batter

Crush the raspberries. Place ¼ cup (59 grams) of freeze-dried raspberries into a storage bag and use a rolling pin to gently crush them. Or use a food processor or Nutribullet (photo 1).

When crushing by hand, covering the bag with a kitchen towel prevents a mess if the bag splits or pops open. Set aside when done.

Get prepared. In the bowl of your food processor, add the 125 grams of almond flour and 125 grams of confectioners' sugar (photo 2).

Pulse and sift. Blend with the food processor on low speed until the mixture has become very fine. Then, use a fine-mesh sieve to sift the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Use a spoon to push any large chunks through the sieve. Set aside (photo 3).

Begin making the meringue. In a separate large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer with the whisk attachment to beat the 100 grams of egg whites and ¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar (photo 4) until soft peaks form. The egg mixture will start with a foamy appearance and will have soft peaks once the whisk begins to leave tracks (photo 5).

Slowly add sugar. Gradually add 80 grams of sugar to the egg whites while continuing to mix until everything is fully distributed.

Reach stiff peaks. Continue to beat the egg mixture until stiff peaks form (photo 6).

Begin folding. Scoop ⅓ of the whipped egg mixture into your flour mixture (photo 7) and use a rubber spatula to gently fold it in until it is combined.

Repeat. Repeat this process with the remaining ⅔ of the egg whites, only adding ⅓ at a time, and gently folding in between each addition.

Reach the right consistency. After the last bit of the egg mixture has been added, continue to gently and slowly fold the macaron batter until the batter falls from the spatula in ribbons (photo 8). *The consistency should be similar to honey or lava. If you let the batter fall from your spatula, it should only take about 10 seconds to sink back into itself.

Pipe the Macarons

Prepare your piping bag. Once you have reached the perfect consistency, transfer the batter into a piping bag that has been fitted with a round tip (or a storage bag with the corner cut off).

Prepare your baking sheet. If you have a silicone macaron mat, place it onto your rimmed baking sheet. However, if you don't have one, place a dot of batter into each corner of your rimmed baking sheet and place a piece of parchment paper on top (the batter acts as the glue to keep the paper from sliding around).

Pipe. Pipe the macarons onto your parchment paper (or mat) in 1½-inch circles, making sure to space them at least ½-inch apart from each other (photo 9).

Remove bubbles. Firmly tap the baking sheet on the counter 5 times to get rid of any air bubbles. Then, use a toothpick to pop any remaining bubbles that you might see.

Top. Use a small sieve to sift the crushed raspberries over the top of the shells (photo 10).

Rest. Allow the macarons to rest on the counter at room temperature for 30-60 minutes or until they are dry to the touch and no longer tacky.

Bake & Cool

Preheat. While the macarons are resting, go ahead and preheat your oven to 300˚F (150˚C/Gas Mark 2) and move the rack to the lowest part of your oven.

Bake. Once ready, bake the macarons for 13-17 minutes, or until the macarons don’t move if you tap on them slightly. If your raspberry powder is browning too quickly, you can cover the macarons lightly with foil and finish baking.

Cool. Remove the macarons from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet (photo 11) for 10 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Make the Raspberry Buttercream

Add. In a large mixing bowl, add your 4 tablespoons of butter and cream until smooth, then add 1½ cups (120 grams) of confectioners sugar and ⅓ cup of freeze-dried raspberry powder (photo 12).

Mix. Mix, starting at low speed and gradually increasing it until thick and creamy.

Adjust. Add 2 tablespoons of heavy cream to thin out the buttercream as needed, and whip until you reach your desired piping consistency (photo 13). Taste and add a pinch of salt if your frosting is too sweet.

Assemble the Macarons

Transfer. Scoop the buttercream into a piping bag with a round tip (or a storage bag with the corner cut off).

Form the sandwich. Take one cooled macaron shell and pipe some buttercream into the center (photo 14). Place a second macaron shell on top and gently press them together, forming a sandwich.

Repeat. Repeat this process with your remaining macaron shells and raspberry buttercream.

Chill. For best results, place the macarons into an airtight container in the fridge for 24 hours. Then, allow them to come up to room temperature and serve.

💭 Tips & Notes

• Add some jam. These would also be delicious with a ring of vanilla buttercream and raspberry jam in the center.
• Reach stiff peaks. Make sure that you beat your egg whites until they reach stiff peaks! You should be able to flip the mixing bowl upside down, and nothing will fall out. 
• Try a piping bag. While you can use a storage bag with the tip cut off, it is easier to be more precise with a piping bag and tip. I used a Wilton 12 tip for both the macarons and the buttercream.
• Use a template. Macaron baking mats make piping macarons much easier, as they help to ensure your macaron shells are all the perfect size. However, if you don't have a mat, you can always print out a template, trace circles onto parchment paper, or buy parchment paper that has the template already on it.
• Don't overmix the batter. Make sure you don't overmix your batter, as it will cause your macarons to flatten out. See my top tip in the instructions above.
• Make your own raspberry powder. If you don't have freeze-dried raspberry powder for the buttercream, you can just pop some freeze-dried raspberries into your food processor. I do recommend sifting it before using it to remove any seeds. 
• Don't burn the raspberries. The raspberry powder on top of the macaron shells can easily burn and turn bitter. To prevent this, make sure your macarons are on the lowest rack in your oven. You can also loosely place a piece of foil over your macarons towards the end of the baking time. 

🥡 Storing

Place shells into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 6 days. Simply add your filling when you are ready.

If assembled, place your macarons into the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Freezing

Once the shells have fully cooled, place them into an airtight container and freeze them. When ready, allow them to thaw in the fridge for a few hours before filling and assembling them.

If assembled, allow your macarons to fully bloom in the fridge for 24 hours before freezing them. Stack them carefully in an airtight container and place them in the freezer. When ready, allow the macarons to thaw in the fridge for a few hours.

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