Are macarons finicky? Yes, but I’m going to tell you where to pay attention, and you’ll see for yourself that these are totally worth making. A strawberry flavored shell with a ganache center, doesn’t that sound amazing? I will say having an oven thermometer is essential as all ovens run different and are usually off from the temperature you preheat to. For these, consistent oven temperature is very important, so keep an eye on it while baking and adjust as necessary.

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Inactive Time: 40 Minutes

Bake Time: 35 Minutes

Total Time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

Makes around 20 Macarons

Ingredients:

1 Cup (100g) Super Fine Almond Flour

¾ Cup (100g) Confectioner’s Sugar

¼ Cup (5g) Freeze Dried Strawberries

¼ Tsp (1g) Salt

½ Cup (100g) Granulated Sugar

3-4 Egg Whites (100g worth)

Red Gel Food Color, if desired

For the Ganache:

4 Oz Semisweet Chocolate, Finely Chopped

¼ Cup (60mL) Heavy Cream

Strawberry Preserves

Directions:

1.     Line a couple cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Place a large piping bag in a cup and fold the edges over the rim of the cup. This will help things go smoothly a little bit later.

2.     Grind the freeze-dried strawberries until they’re a fine powder. Place the powder in a bowl with the almond flour, confectioner’s sugar, and salt, and whisk until thoroughly combined. Pass the mixture through a sieve, then set aside.

3.     In a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, add the egg whites and granulated sugar. Stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. You don’t need to heat the mixture at all, just stir until the sugar is dissolved and remove from the heat.

4.     Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on a high speed for 5-10 minutes, until the egg whites are thick, glossy white and stand up when you remove the whisk from them. Don’t over beat them, you just want to mix them until they get to this point.

5.     Add 1-2 drops of food color, mix on a high speed for about 30 seconds just to incorporate the food color, again, don’t overmix.

6.     Take the whisk attachment out and remove the bowl from the mixer. Add in the sifted almond flour mixture and use a spatula to gently fold together. Pay attention once the dry mixture is absorbed. Keep folding until the mixture resembles thick lava. A good test is to scoop a little batter out of the bowl with the spatula, then hold it over the bowl and let it drip back in. If you can form a figure-8 with the batter before the batter breaks off the spatula, the batter is ready. Don’t stop mixing until this point, but once the batter gets to this point, don’t mix any more. Overmixing will thin out the batter and the macarons won’t bake properly.

7.     Pour the batter into the piping bag, then cut a ½-inch opening in the piping bag. If you aren’t using a disposable piping bag, just make sure the end has a half inch opening or tip in it. Gently pipe the macaron batter onto the sheets lined with parchment. Pipe 1.5-inch circles, leaving about an inch and a half of space between each one.

8.     Once the batter is piped, tap the pans on the counter several times to release any air bubbles from the batter, then allow to sit at room temperature for 25-45 minutes, until you can gently touch the top of the macaron shells and batter doesn’t stick to your hand. Once you finish piping the macaron shells, go ahead and preheat your oven to 315 Degrees F (160C) and place a rack in the center of the oven.

9.     Once the macaron shells have dried slightly, bake one pan at a time for 11-13 minutes, or until you can gently touch the macaron and it doesn’t jiggle. Be sure to keep an eye on them in the oven, and if some start to look lopsided, rotate the pan. Also be sure to keep an eye on oven temperature because it can tend to fluctuate.

10.  To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a bowl, and heat the cream in the microwave for about 30 seconds or until simmering. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow to sit for one minute before gently stirring to combine. Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes so it can cool and thicken a bit.

11.  To assemble the macarons, flip half of the macaron shells over and pipe a small ring of ganache in the center of each one. Don’t pipe is all the way to the edges since you are going to sandwich them together and press the filling out a bit. Take a small bit of strawberry preserves and put that in the center of the ganache, then place the other half of the macaron shells on top.

-Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.