Day 86

My daughter Tate encouraged me to help her on her/our first try of one of our favorite desserts, macarons. Macarons are not to be confused with macaroons, the decadent little coconut puffs that are often drizzled with chocolate.  Macarons are similar to pavlova, an egg white meringue cookie, but are made with almond flour and served, sandwich-like, filled with a decadent cream. 

Photos by Taylor Fowler

For ours, we chose not to use food coloring, but it’s definitely an option for you if you prefer a splash of color.  We also chose to fill them with a chocolate buttercream because we liked the idea of a simple black and white presentation. 

Tate was in charge of this one, so we started with a helpful how-to video that you might also find useful if you try them. The link is below the recipe, and it contains some very handy tips to warn you of any potential pitfalls. 

I am pleased to report that, although ours weren’t as professional in appearance as those we saw on the tutorial, they were certainly just as tasty. 

Yin-Yang Macarons

Ingredients:

Cookies- 

3 egg whites

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

¼ tsp cream of tartar

pinch of salt

1 cup almond flour

Directions: 

It really is best to watch the video we watched if you’re going to make these cookies. The directions are there, with tips. We substituted the chocolate buttercream filling (with directions below), if you are interested, and we did not use artificial food coloring. 

Chocolate Buttercream Filling-

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature

3½ cups confectioners’ sugar

1- 3.5 oz dark chocolate bar (70% cacao), melted

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract 

4 tbs. heavy cream

Instructions:

Cream butter and sugar in mixer until light and fluffy. Add heavy cream, salt, and chocolate and beat until well mixed and creamy. Add vanilla and mix just until blended.