Lovely pastel macarons

Hello everyone, I hope you are all well.

Lovely pastel colored macarons are perfect for weddings or other spring/summer parties, and these macarons are super easy to make. Just make sure to use egg whites that are at room temperature, if they are fridge cold the macarons may crack during baking.

Lovely pastel macarons

• 2 tablespoons (35 g) regular sugar
• 4 1/4 oz. (120 g) egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/2 vanilla bean (split in half lengthways and seeds scraped out)
• 2/3 cup (150 g) regular sugar, for the sugar syrup
• 1/4 cup (50 ml) water, for the sugar syrup
• a drop of food coloring
• 1 1/3 cup (150 g) ground almonds
• 1 1/4 cup (150 g) powdered sugar

The fillings

• lemon curd
• chocolate frosting of your choice
• white frosting of your choice

Preheat the oven to 320 ˚F (160 ˚C).

Put the ground almonds, powdered sugar and half of the egg whites into a bowl.

Stir until everything is well blended.

Set aside for now.

In a small saucepan, stir together the seeds from the 1/2 vanilla bean and sugar and water for the sugar syrup. Heat until the temperature reaches 245 ˚F (118 ˚C).

Put the other half of the egg whites into a bowl with 2 tablespoons (35 g) sugar, whisk until frothy.

When the sugar syrup is 245 ˚F (118 ˚C), pour it into the meringue mixture.

Try to pour the sugar syrup down the inside of the bowl to avoid that the syrup touches the whisk.

Whisk for a few more minutes. If you are using food coloring, add it here.

Carefully fold the meringue into the almond mixture with a rubber spatula.

I used Wilton food coloring pastes for these macarons; Lemon, Sky blue and Pink.

Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large Wilton 1A tip. With the bag held vertically, pipe 1 ½-inch (4 cm) flat circles onto the lined tray, alternatively use a macaroon baking mat to achieve perfectly shaped macaroons.

Leave to rest for at least 1-2 hours, then bake on top of another (empty) baking tray on the bottom shelf in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Cover the macaroons with a sheet of baking parchment for the last 3-5 minutes to preserve the lovely pastel color. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

The yellow macarons are filled with lemon curd, you can find the recipe for lemon curd here.

The baby blue macarons are filled with a chocolate frosting to which I added 2-3 tablespoons licorice powder. You can find recipes for several frostings here.

I filled the pink macarons with a white frosting, I recommend using a white chocolate frosting with real vanilla.

So pretty…

These macarons make such a nice present, and they are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.

Wishing you a wonderful start to the new week.

Hugs from me to you.