LEMON LAVENDER MACARONS

The french Macaron craze has hit America pretty hard the last couple of years. I loved eating them in France over 20 years ago.  But they just looked to delicate and hard to make.  I have to say the  best I've had are at the famous chocolate shop in paris called " La Masion du Chocolat".  A couple of months ago I even took a class on the art of making these delicious little treats.  The teacher was obsessed on how they looked, rather than the taste, I thought they were bland.    Then I meet this wonderful cook at the Salt lake farmers mkt.  We immediately connected.  Her family had imagrated from Croatia 15 years ago, and my mothers side of the family is from Croatia.  She shared some of her Macarons and they were delicious.  She said "they aren't perfect, but they taste good". I didn't make macarons for long time because I was afraid they wouldn't be perfect. Now I don't care if they are perfect, I just want them to taste great. They are a little delicate and take some thought and pre-planning. Just go for it, even if they flop, they'll still taste good!   
                       Bon Appetite,  Peggy

The only way to really ramp up the taste of macarons is through the fillings.  The Macarons it's self is pretty standard, you can add a bit of color and flavorings,but not much. So that being said, make your filling first.  In my Macaron I used a lemon curd that has been infused with lavender.  My favorite lemon curd recipe you'll find on my daughters blog www.rozlynnshomemadegoodness.blogspot.com her blog is also connected to mine.  I add 1 tsp. lavender then strain it at the end before the butter is added. All curds should be strained to eliminate any stray egg whites.       

Basic Macaron recipe

pre- heat oven 300

68 gram egg whites, covered and aged at room temp for 12-24 hours

34 grams sugar

75 grams blanched almonds

136 grams confectioners sugar

Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer, mix until frothy. Add sugar a little at a time, scraping down sides of bowl.  When sugar is incorporated turn mixer to med high and beat until stiff peaks form.  

Combine almonds and confectioners sugar in a food processor until you can not distinguish the almonds from the sugar.  

With a spatula incorporate half of the almond mixture into the egg whites.  This first half you mix slightly vigorously just until almonds are incorporated.  The second half of the almonds mixture should be incorporated gently using a folding technique.  Fold in just until all is combine, not too much.

Fit a large pastry bag with a #6 or #7 tip.  Pipe a 1 inch rounds on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Now, if you want to try to be perfect you can down load a pattern you put under your parchment. Let Macarons sit on the counter for about an hour so a shell can form.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden.

cool and fill.