French Macarons Recipe

Begin by adding your almond meal and powdered sugar to a food processor. Pulse for 10 to 15 seconds, until the two are combined well. Pour the mixture through a flour sifter to break up any clumps and catch any unwanted scraps from the almond meal; set aside. If you're using almond flour, then you skip the food processor step and go straight to adding the flour and sugar to the flour sifter.

In a large stainless steel bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk your egg whites on high speed until they lose their yellow tint and become extremely frothy.

Gradually add the granulated sugar in and continue mixing on high speed. Continue whisking until the egg whites have obtained stiff peaks. You want to keep checking on the egg whites during this entire process so that you don’t over-mix them. They should look stiff, meaning when you hold the whisk upside down, the tip of the egg whites are stiff and pointy; the egg whites should be past that shaving cream stage but they should not be over mixed so as to form big clumps of egg whites that don't form any tips.

Now, with your egg whites ready, fold in the gel food dye. To add the food dye, poke a toothpick into the dye and add to the whites. Gently fold to incorporate and add more dye using the same process until you obtain the hue you desire.

Add 1/3 of the egg whites into your bowl of dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to fold the whites in. You don't have to be super gentle at this point as you are just trying to help loosen up the batter at this point. It will feel really tough to incorporate the whites in at this point, but just be patient.

Add another 1/3 of egg whites in, and this time, very gently fold them in to combine.

Now, add the remaining egg whites and very, very delicately fold them into the batter. There should be no visible clumps of egg whites. The batter should also fall off your spatula slowly and steadily, dropping into the bowl in ribbons as it falls on the batter in the bowl. If it’s falling way off way too slowly in globs, continuing folding a few more times and check again.

Line a baking sheet with a macaron-stenciled silicone mat, or a piece of parchment paper. Place a large pastry bag fitted with a small (not tiny) plain tip into a large, tall glass. Then, fill the pastry bag with your macaron batter. The batter will probably just begin to ooze out of the tip. Holding the pastry bag straight above the stenciled circles (or just piece of parchment paper), pipe out batter to the rim of the stenciled circles (or 1 inch wide mounds). After 15 seconds, the batter should smooth out a bit on the top. Space the macarons about 3/4” apart if you're not using a stenciled mat.

Give the baking mat a gentle tap on the counter a few times to pop any air bubbles. Then, let the macarons dry on the mat until they're dry to the touch. If you live somewhere where the humidity is greater, they may need up to two hours to dry. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Once ready, bake at 325°F for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven to 285°F and continue baking for another 7 minutes.

Let the macarons cool on the sheet. While the macarons cool, create your filling. Beat the butter and mascarpone on medium speed until they’re combined and creamy. Add in the powdered sugar and apricot preserves and mix until combined.

Once the macarons are cool, use a knife or offset spatula to apply the filling to a macaron shell. Grab another shell that matches in size and gently press down onto the filling to create a sandwich. Place in airtight container and refrigerate overnight for best results.