my first attempt

Happy St. Patrick's Day and maybe you are like me and it is just like any other day of the year that is not a holiday. I have never been one to celebrate St. Paddy's Day much except for corned beef my mom would make growing up. That was about the extent of my St. Patrick's Day celebrations. However, that doesn't mean I don't wear green today, I do indeed or try to make something green for dessert and share the recipe with you all. I had a bag of almonds in my refrigerator and I was thinking of what could I make with that and turn it into a green dessert  and aha! macarons. I have always wanted to do make but to be honest a little intimated by them. Macarons are not a spur of the moment, I'll make that right now dessert either. There is at least 24 hours the egg whites have to sit out, you have to purchase almond flour or make your own, it isn't a quick dessert by any means, however, the results are excellent. 
The almonds I had in the refrigerator were sliced almonds with the brown coating and I attempted to make almond flour using those almonds. Big fail, the almonds were not chopping up finely enough in my food processor to somewhat resemble a flour at all.
Don't use these almonds to make almond flour!

Use these almonds!

 After a quick trip to the store to purchase some slivered almonds and some almond meal to test out both, I was ready to make the macarons. As I mentioned earlier, macarons need preparation so the day before you want to make your macarons, you let your egg whites sit out for at least 24 hours. 


Since today is St. Patrick's DAy, I had to make mint macarons for their green color and the perfect filling to accompany mint is chocolate ganache. 
To make the macarons you need 2/3 cup almond flour, 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 3 egg whites (left overnight on the counter), 5 tablespoons granulated sugar, a few drops of peppermint extract and a few drops of green food coloring. For the filling, 1/2 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate morsels, 2/3 cup heavy cream and 2 tablespoons butter. 
The slivered almonds gave me the best result for almond flour, which I chopped up in my food processor. Once the almonds are fine enough, add in the powdered sugar. I was able to put only 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with the almond flour in my food processor as I have a small one. After I pulsed these two ingredients together, I poured them into a large bowl and add the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar.







 In your mixing bowl, add the egg whites and began to beat them. Once the egg whites are foamy, add in the granulated sugar a tablespoon at a time. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks are achieved, between 5-10 minutes. 



Add the almond/powdered sugar mixture to the egg whites and fold in with a spatula. 


Put in the few peppermint extract drops and green food coloring and mix until fully incorporated. 

Put the macaron shell egg white mixture into a piping bag with a round pipe. Pipe the egg white mixture onto a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper. 




Try and make the macarons uniform sizes. Allow the shells to sit for 15 minutes to allow any air bubbles to escape. After sitting for a bit in an oven that is preheated to 350 degrees, bake the macaron shells for 8-9 minutes. Let the macaron shells to cool completely before removing them from the parchment paper.

Make the ganache filling while the shells are cooling. Put the chocolate in a bowl or measuring cup. Heat up the heavy cream until it is slightly boiling, about 3-5 minutes. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate hips and allow it to sit for 1 minutes before stirring. 

Add the butter to the cream and chocolate mixture and stir. 



The ganache might be a bit runny so place it in the freezer for 30 minutes before piping to finish the macarons.
After the ganache is set, put it in another piping bag with a round piping tip. 
Match the macaron shells that are similar sizes and pipe the chocolate ganache on one side of the shells and place the other shell on top like a sandwich.


 If the ganache is a bit runny again, place the macarons in the freezer for 30 minutes, then enjoy!
 p.s. I wanna apologize for my macarons not being uniform in size, this is my first attempt and i can only improve :-)

15 comments:

Pamela said...

They look good!!

Simply LKJ said...

Good for you for giving it a go!

brooke lyn said...

i am super impressed by this. even if they aren't all uniform in size!

Kelli Gilbert said...

wow! way to go! i'm seriously impressed! i never really do anything either for st. patty's--but now I want to! haha!

JumpingJE said...

Great work! I'd be too intimidated to make these, I bet they were amazing!

Sarah said...

Those look great! Seems odd to leave out eggs for 24 hours, but you make it look doable, I might have to this...one of these days.

Anonymous said...

You're making me hungry!! These look amazing! I'll have to try them!

xo
Rachel

Becky Borgman said...

Ahhh these look awesome!! Now that I have a little one I am always looking for fun and easy ways to add SOMETHING to each holiday. Love it!

Lauren said...

for a first attempt I am IMPRESSED :) they look delicious!

Heather @ Simple Wives said...

Oh, yum!! I need to try these sometime. My mom would appreciate it! ;)

Morgan said...

Those look amazing! I have never made them before and I am so impressed that yours look so good and it was your first time. Thanks for all the tips you posted, I feel encouraged to try and make them. :)

Allison said...

I've made macarons a few times and definitely had some fails. They are so temperamental, but so fun! Yours look delicious. Happy St. Patrick's day, Meg!

Kayla MKOY said...

YUM!!!! I've never attempted to make these, but they look incredible!

PS -- officially following you again. WOO! I've missed you :)

Elle Sees said...

my hat is off to you!! i can only make these in soap and bath comb versions, which are a million times easier, hehe. i'll take a dozen, kthnx

The Olive Tree Blog said...

Yeah for you! I tried a macaroon for the first time this summer...I hated it...I think I built it up in mind to much...and I didnt think they were better than donuts...donuts hold my heart lol!