Macarons colored for Halloween with a mascarpone-caramel filling. After much trial and error, I was able to perfect a macaron recipe that worked for me. I am a reluctant baker but this seems to work even for a scatterbrain like me. It is very important that certain guidelines are followed to ensure a proper cookie. These are worth every effort. I recommend weighing the ingredients instead of using volume measurements.
Ingredients
- fine ground almond flour (scant measure): 0.66667 cup
- confectioners' measure (scant measure): 0.66667 cup
- powdered orange food coloring: 1 Tbsp
- medium egg whites, at room temperature: 2 piece
- pinch cream of tartar: 1 piece
- superfine sugar: 0.25 cup
- ounces mascarpone cheese, at room temperature: 6 piece
- caramel sauce: 2 Tbsp
- confectioners' sugar: 1 Tbsp
- powdered black food coloring: 1 tsp
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Line 2 baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
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Sift almond flour and 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar into a bowl. Sift again into a second bowl, adding powdered orange food coloring. Whisk well and set aside.
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Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on medium speed until they begin to foam, 1 to 3 minutes. Add cream of tartar and continue whisking until creamy, 1 to 3 minutes more. When the whisk leaves traces in the egg white mixture, increase speed to medium-high. Add 1/2 the superfine sugar while whisk is in motion. When sugar is fully incorporated, add remaining sugar. Whip until stiff peaks form, another 1 to 3 minutes.
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Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in 1/3 the almond flour mixture until incorporated. Fold in remaining flour mixture gently; overmixing will create a runny batter and cookies will not rise. Pour batter into a piping bag or a resealable plastic bag with a corner cut off. Pipe 32 small circles onto the prepared baking sheets, allowing approximately 2 inches between cookies. Lightly rap the baking sheets to release any air bubbles from the batter; cookies will spread slightly, this is normal.
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Allow cookies to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes; during this time, tops will become opaque and no longer glossy and if you lightly touch them, the batter will give and bounce back.
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Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
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Bake 1 baking sheet in the preheated oven until cookies rise and bottoms begin to get crinkly and firm, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Wait for oven to return to temperature before baking the second batch.
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While cookies are baking, whip mascarpone cheese, caramel sauce, 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar, and powdered black food coloring together until fluffy. Store filling in the refrigerator until needed.
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Cool cookies completely before filling. Transfer filling to a clean piping bag and pipe filling onto 1 cookie base and top with another. Use leftover filling to decorate the tops of the macarons if desired. Let cookies rest before enjoying.
