Honey Macarons

1. Before you start, get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare a large piping bag, fitted with a large round tip, I use a 1/2” diameter tip. Set aside.

2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
3. I use a baking mat with the macaron template already in it. You can make your own or print it from the internet, and just place it under silicon mat, or parchment paper. I recommend using a silicon mat.
4. Measure out all of your ingredients.

5. Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together. Set it aside.

6. Place the egg whites and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl or in a double boiler. Over a pan of simmering water, whisk the whites and sugar until frothy and sugar completely melted. It will take a couple of minutes. You can test by touching the mixture between your fingers, and if you feel any sugar granules just keep whisking mixture over the water bath.

7. Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the simmering water.

8. Also, don’t over heat the sugar syrup, this may cause issues down the line, such as wrinkly macarons.

9. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer.

10. With the whisk attachment, start whisking mixture on low for about 30 seconds, then gradually start increasing the speed to medium. Whisk on medium for one to two minutes, until mixture is white and starting to become fluffy. Raise the speed to high for a few minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Best way to check this is to keep your eye on the whites. Once they get glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, it might be time to stop.

11. Whisk until stiff peaks have formed. When you pull your whip up, the peak should be stiff and shooting straight up, with possibly a slight bend at the top, but not bending to the side. Pour the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into stiff whites.

12. Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula.
13. Add the food coloring at this point, if using.

14. How to know when to stop folding the batter: It’s time to stop folding when the batter is glossy and has a thick and flowing consistency. There are several ways to test this. First, pick up some batter with the spatula and try to draw a figure 8 with the batter that is dripping off the spatula. If you can form several 8 figures without the batter breaking up, that’s one indication that it might be ready. There’s another test you can do. I call it the Teaspoon test. Grab a teaspoon of batter and spoon onto the parchment paper or silicon mat. Wait a minute to see how it behaves. If the batter stays stiff, forming a point and doesn’t spread out, start folding a little bit more, about 3 folds. Test again.

15. Once the batter spreads out a bit and starts to look glossy and smooth on top, on the parchment paper, transfer it to the piping bag.
16. You don’t want your batter to be too runny either. So be careful not to overmix. It’s always best to undermix and test several times until the proper consistency has been achieved.

17. When you hold the spatula with batter on top of the bowl and the batter falls off the spatula slowly but effortlessly the batter is ready. The batter will keep flowing off the spatula non-stop, but not too quickly.

18. Transfer the batter to the piping bag. Place the piping bag directly 90 degrees over the center of each macaron template. Apply equal pressure and carefully pipe for about 3 seconds, and then quickly pull the bag up twisting slightly.
19. Once you’ve piped as many circles as you could, bang the trays against the counter a few times each. This will release air bubbles that are in the batter and prevent your macaron shells from cracking.
20. Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles in the surface of the shells.

21. Before the macarons dried, I sprinkled some bee pollen on top of the shells. This will give the macarons a delicious honey fragrance and taste. And it has to be done before the shells have a chance to dry, or the pollen won’t stick.

22. Let the trays sit for a while so the shells will dry out a little bit. I usually leave about 20-40 minutes, depending on how humid the day is. You’ll know they’re ready when you gently touch the surface of a macaron and it seems dry.

23. Pre-heat the oven to 325ºF. Bake one tray at a time.
24. Bake for 5 minutes, rotate tray. Bake for 5 more minutes. Rotate again.

25. I bake each tray for about 15 to 20 minutes.

26. When baked, the macarons will have a deeper color and formed feet. If you try to move a macaron, it shouldn’t feel jiggly. If the macaron is still jiggly, keep baking.
27. Remove from the oven and bake the other tray. Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling.

Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Add the butter and cream cheese to a bowl, and cream with a mixer for about 2 minutes, until fluffy.
2. Add the honey, and mix to combine.
3. Add the powdered sugar and mix on low until incorporated, then raise the speed to medium-high until creamy.

4. If the frosting is too runny, add more powdered sugar to thicken it. And if the buttercream is too stiff, add a teaspoon or so of water or milk to thin it out.

To assemble

1. Place the Honey Cream Cheese Frosting in a piping bag. Pipe the filling on half of the shells. Top with another shell.
2. I also decorated the top shells with melted white chocolate (about 2 oz), and sprinkled bee pollen on top.

Storage

1. Store these Honey Macarons in the fridge for 5 to 7 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months, in an air tight container.