Macarons

Get ready. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit neatly in a baking sheet. Use a permanent marker to trace 1 1/4-inch circles spaced 1 inch apart. Place the parchment paper, marker-side down, on the baking sheet.

Grind and sift the dry ingredients. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the almond flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Pulse until extra fine, 10 to 15 (1-second) pulses. Sift through a mesh sieve into a mixing bowl, and discard any large pieces that remain in the sieve.

Make the meringue. Beat the egg whites in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment on medium speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium-high, and add the granulated sugar in a slow, steady stream. Pour in the almond extract, and continue to whip on medium-high speed until the meringue has a satin sheen and stiff peaks form, 3 to 4 minutes.

Make the batter(Macaronage). Add about half of the dry ingredients to the meringue. Use a large silicone spatula to gently fold the mixture until incorporated. Add the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold to combine. Continue gently mixing, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl, to loosen the batter, until it has lost about half its volume, is shiny, and flows off the spatula in a smooth ribbon. You should be able to make a figure eight in the batter without it breaking, and the figure eight should slowly melt back into the batter.

Prepare to pipe the macaron shells. Glue the parchment paper to the baking sheet using a small dab of batter in each corner. Scrape the batter into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch (1cm) round piping tip. Twist the bag to close.

Pipe the shells: Holding the bag perpendicular (straight up and down) with the tip about 1/2-inch above the center of one of the traced circles, apply steady pressure to the bag until the macaron batter fills the circle. Stop squeezing the bag, lift, and quickly twirl the tip to break the flow of the batter cleanly. Continue filling in the rest of the circles. Tap the baking sheet firmly on a towel-lined work surface a few times to pop any large air bubbles. Use a toothpick to pop any large bubbles below the surface and fill in the depressions left by the popped bubbles.

Dry the macaron shells. Let the macarons stand uncovered at room temperature for about 45 minutes, or until the surfaces are matte and have formed a thin skin. This may take longer if you live in a humid area. You should be able to gently poke them without the batter sticking to your finger.

Get ready to bake. While the macarons dry, preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).

Bake the macaron shells. Bake the macarons in the preheated oven for 12 to 16 minutes. The macarons should be dry on the surface, with a ruffled foot around the base. If you gently wiggle a macaron, it should stay put on the parchment and not jiggle. If you used more than one baking sheet, bake them one at a time.

Cool the shells. Let the macarons cool completely on the baking sheet, then carefully peel them from the parchment paper.

Fill the macarons. Transfer the jam to a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip. Pipe a generous teaspoon of jam on the flat side of half of the cooled shells, then sandwich them with the remaining shells.

Age and serve. Carefully pack the macarons into a container, cover, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Serve chilled. The macarons will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge.