Strawberry Mint French Macarons

This would not be my blog if I didn't post anything about french macarons.  They say if you can make french macarons you can make pretty much anything.  I failed many times before I actually started making perfect batches with no cracks.  But oh boy...was it worth it!!!  It is so exciting to make these, with so many flavors and so many ways to decorate them, it has been an addiction of mine.  I am writing not only the recipe but also detailed instructions of how to make these scrumptious macarons .  Strawberry mint is not a popular combination of ingredients, but after making the strawberry mint filling I seriously thought I was in heaven.  So good! (Forgive me if I am going a little overboard here, but these really are SO good).  If you love strawberries, you will be in love.  So here is everything I learned through my own failures and remember that this recipe takes time, precision and most importantly passion. 

Macaron Shells: makes 56 small filled macarons (1.5 inches)

2 3/4 cups - almond flour (I prefer unblanched)

2 3/4 cups - powdered sugar 

1 cup egg whites (7-8 eggs) at room temperature 
(make sure there is ONLY egg whites and no yolk).

pinch of creme of tartar 

pinch of salt 

3/4 cup - superfine granulated sugar 

1/2 tsp - pure vanilla extract 

red food coloring 



Strawberry Mint Filling:  recipe adapted by Laduree  

1 cup + 2 tbsp - superfine granulated sugar 

2 tsp - pectin powder 

13 oz strawberries 

Juice of 1/2 lemon, strained 

15 fresh mint leaves, finely sliced 


Instructions: 

In a large bowl, add the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt. Set aside and let it sit in a room temperature. 

Preheat oven to 325 and line your baking sheets (5-6) with parchment paper. (If you don't have that many baking sheets you can reuse the same ones. Just make sure sheets are cooled off before you pipe the macarons).  

Combine the flour with the powdered sugar and mix well. Sift together, discarding any large crumbs to make sure mixture is as fine as possible. Add more powdered sugar and flour to compansate for the discarded mixture. Sift one more time if needed. This keeps crumbs from forming on the macaron tops as they bake. (Do not make this in advance as mixture has to be fluffy.) 

With an ellectric mixer, beat the egg whites (which should have reached room temperature)at low speed. When the eggs become foamy, add the sugar slowly beating at the same time. Add the vanilla extract beating at the same time. Increase speed. When the meringue is starting to form, drop a few drops of red coloring. Beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks and your meringue is firm and shiny. (Merengue peaks should not droop but should be streight up).

Scoop two cups of the almond/sugar mixture and pour on the top of the egg mixture. Using a rubber spatula you will cut the batter as with a knife and flip the mixture without shaking the spatula. Just cut and flip while turning the bowl a few times (4-5). This will allow the eggs to stay fluffy while introducing the flower mixture to the merengue. Repeat the same with another 2 cups of flower. And then again with 1 1/2 cups of flower. You will know that the macaroon batter is ready when there is no more visible flower crumbs, mixture is glossy and flowing. (This is the hardest part to know when you are done. It is always better for the batter to be underdone than overdone). 

Fit your pastry bag with a number 806 round tip or equivalent. Pipe the batter into even circles. I like to pipe mine about 1 3/4 inch diameter but you can make them smaller or bigger if you wish. You can make a template to put under the parchment so that all the shells will be exactly the same size. Be sure to leave about one inch of space between macaroons so they will not touch each other while they bake. (If the peak that forms on the top of the macaron doesn't disappear after piping, it means the batter could have been beaten a little more. To eliminate the peaks, tap the baking sheet on the tabletop, making sure to hold the parchment paper with your thumbs. This also helps to get rid of the air bubbles). 

Let the piped macaroons rest for at least 20 minutes before baking.

Bake for 14 minutes. After the first 5 minutes of baking, open the oven door briefly to let the steam/moisture out. Don't forget to do this, it's very important to get the excess moisture out of the oven. Do not open the oven at any other time. Let macarons cool completely on the pan before taking them off the parchment paper. If the macarons seem too hard and you can see discoloration on top of the macaron, reduce baking time to 13 minutes. ( I have noticed with mine that the bigger macarons need 14 min and the smaller in size 13 minutes). 

Tips:

If you "age" the egg whites in the fridge for one day in advance, it will help a little of the moisture evaporate, giving you a better chance to success. 

If you live in a very humid area, add 2 teaspoons of powdered egg whites to your fresh egg whites to help stabilize.

Strawberry Mint Filling Directions:

Combine the sugar and the pectin powder in a bowl.

Put the strawberries into a bowl and reduce to a pulp using a stick blender. Put the strawberry pulp in a sauce pan and warm. Stir in the sugar - pectin mixture then, the lemon juice. Bring to the boil over medium heat; Bring to the boil over medium heat; cook for 2 minutes.

Pour the filling into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside until cold then, refrigerate. Gently stir the mint leaves when the filling is very cold. Pipe onto macarons. It is recommended that the macarons should be refrigerated over night before serving. Enjoy!