Lemon Macarons Recipe
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LEMON MACARONS RECIPE
Cuisine
French
Servings
15
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Calories
80
Mon Dessert
Ingredients
-
113g Macaron mix
-
Food colour vial (use sparingly a tiny amount goes a long way!)
-
Lemon curd jar
-
25g Sugar
- Recyclable piping bag
- Macaron template
- 50ml double cream
- 38ml egg white (approx one medium egg white)
-
Optional macaron mat
-
Smeg hand whisk
-
Silicone piping bag
Included
You will need to add
Directions
Prepare the Macaron Mix:
Empty the macaron mix into a bowl. Sieve out obvious lumps. The almond will not go through a fine sieve, but that is okay; you just want to get rid of any obvious large bits (over 3mm in diameter)
Make the Meringue:
Whisk 1 medium egg white with a 25g sugar sachet until stiff peaks form, using an electric whisk if possible. Once complete, turn your whisk upwards and check that the ‘peaks’ in the mixture are very stiff (they should remain upright unaided).
You now have a meringue mixture.If you do not have an electric whisk, you can do this by hand, but you will need to whisk vigorously for at least 10-15 minutes until you have stiff peaks as described above.
Sometimes, it is easier to double the recipe so you have a larger volume of egg whites to whisk. You could make two batches of macarons using two Mon Dessert packs, as macarons also freeze very well.
Mix the Batter:
Fold in the macaron mix and a tiny amount of food colour to your desired shade. A little goes a long way! Scoop the mixture up with your spatular and press it back down into the center of the bowl. Repeat this action 30 times, rotating the bowl as you go.With the spatula raised, you should now see a treacle-like ribbon of batter that takes about 20 seconds to fall back into the bowl. If it is thicker than this, fold again and re-check until the consistency is perfect. The batter should be smooth and shiny with no grainy bits. Pour the mixture into a piping bag, keeping it in a glass.
Pipe the Macarons:
Place a template under parchment paper on a baking tray. Fill a piping bag with batter and snip 1cm off the end. Alternatively, you can purchase a macaron mat and silicone piping bags, which make it easy to get a uniform shape.
Note that on the macaron mat, it can take a little longer to bake as the base is thicker.Pick up the piping bag with one hand on the nozzle end, and the other hand sealing the open end in a twist. Pipe batter onto each of the cavities on the macaron baking mat.
Pipe generous rounds (circular disks of mixture) 1mm outside of the inner circles of the macaron baking mat, or 1mm shy of the rounds of the template.Pipe using a slight swirling motion from the center of the round to disperse the batter, or pipe at a 45-degree angle. Experiment to see what works best for you. Take your time. The key is to control the flow of the mixture. Tilt the bag upward if it starts oozing out too much.
Remove Air Bubbles:
Remove any air bubbles by tapping the baking tray firmly against your kitchen counter several times, rotating the sheet as you go. When complete, the macarons should form perfect circular rounds in the grooves of the mat. If not, you may need to tease them a little with a teaspoon.
Rest the Macarons:
Let the macarons rest on your kitchen counter until the tops form a skin. They are ready to bake when you touch the tops and the mixture doesn’t stick to your finger. Depending on humidity, this will take around 15-45 minutes.
Preheat and Bake:
While the macarons are drying, take a break. Do the washing up, make tea, or relax with a good book and preheat the oven to 150°C.Once dry, bake the macarons for 12-15 minutes on parchment and 15-18 minutes on a mat. Cool them upside down to harden completely.
Remove from Mat:
The easiest way to take them off the mat is to flip the mat onto a tea towel (so the shells are upside down) and peel the mat away. Note that with a macaron mat, the underside may not be completely smooth but rather quite porous. This allows the shell to absorb the flavour of the filling more.
Prepare the Filling:
While cooling, whip 50ml of double cream until soft peaks form, then gently fold in the lemon curd. Refill it into the same piping bag.Pipe a 10p-sized blob onto half of the shells. Pair similar-sized shells to form sandwiches.
Finish and Store:
Your beautiful macarons are finished! You can enjoy them straight away, but they are even better 24-48 hours later. Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature before serving.
TIPS:
-Doubling this recipe can make it easier to whip the egg white as there is more volume.
-Macarons are even more delightful after 24 hours! This 'aging' process softens the inside while maintaining crisp outer shells.
-Storage and Batching Advice: Store in the fridge for up to 4 days, or they can be frozen and taken out at a moment’s notice.
Recipe Note
This video shows an older version of our chocolate macaron recipe, but it will give you a good visual guide to how to make macarons in general, click here.