Food | Red Velvet Macarons

Aloha! Last weekend I made these Red Velvet macarons as a valentine's day treat! They were so tasty and turned out pretty perfect so I thought I'd share the recipe here! Get your stand mixers at the ready, here's how you can make them too!

Macarons Ingredients:

* 3 egg whites

* 70 grams of caster sugar, sifted

* 120 grams ground almonds, sifted

* 180 grams icing sugar, sifted

* 1.5 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted

* ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

* 1 teaspoon red food colouring (I used Dr Oetker gel colouring) 

Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients:

* 115 grams cream cheese, cold, cut into cubes

* 115 grams of unsalted butter, softened

* 1½ cups of icing sugar, sifted

* ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

* ½ teaspoon of lemon juice

* pinch of salt

* 1-3 teaspoons of whole milk (optional depending on consistency desired)

Instructions

Macarons

1. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat - if using a template, slide underneath parchment paper before piping. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl sift together ground almonds, icing sugar and cocoa powder.

3. With a stand mixer or hand mixer, whisk egg whites at medium speed until the egg whites begin to foam. Slowly sprinkle in caster sugar.

4. Slowly increase speed to medium-high and beat until a firm meringue forms with stiff glossy peaks.

5. Beat in the vanilla extract and red food colouring.

6. Use a rubber spatula, gently fold the almond mixture into the egg whites. Only fold the batter in one direction by sliding the spatula into the centre of the batter, then lifting it up and letting the batter fall back onto itself. It should take about 40-45 strokes to work the batter. The batter is ready to pipe when it has a smooth, shiny surface and flows in one large ribbon off the spatula. 

7. Transfer mixture to a pastry bag with a plain round tip.

8. Pipe rounds onto prepared baking sheets following the templates if using them, leaving space between the macarons to allow batter to spread.

9. Once all macarons have been piped, pick up baking sheet with both hands and tap it firmly on counter several times. This will remove any air bubbles.

10. Let macarons sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on humidity levels. The macarons are ready to bake when tops are no longer sticky to touch. Gently slide or remove paper templates from underneath before baking.

11. While you are waiting, preheat oven to 160 C. When macarons are dry to the touch, lower the oven temperature to 150 C and bake for 14-16 minutes (if your oven doesn't have room for 2 trays at once, bake in 2 batches), rotating trays once. Let macarons cool completely on parchment paper before removing. 

Filling

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter until lightened up, for about 3 minutes.

2. Add cream cheese 1 cube at a time and beat until fluffy and incorporated.

3. Add the remaining ingredients and beat on high for 3-4 minutes.

4. Transfer to a pastry bag for piping or you can simply use a butter knife or spoon to fill the macarons.

Assembly

1. Match up the cooled macaron shells with similar sizes and shapes.

2. Pipe filling onto a macaron shell and sandwich together with a second matched up shell. Repeat until all shells are used.

3. Store in an airtight container, in the fridge, for 24 hours.

And there you have it, some tasty macarons! Not a recipe you can do in a flash, but so worth it if you have an afternoon to kill! 

Happy baking!

xxx