This week has been nuts. Mini egg macarons are obviously the answer.
I’m finally cleared to drive again so I took myself on a little jaunt to the grocery store (easy) and to and from Vancouver for an appointment with my surgeon (pushing it).
My physical therapist described my knee as “gritty” which was so not what I wanted to hear from him. But he did spend a solid chunk of my appointment doing a form of massage to disperse and get rid of the scar tissue, so I can’t really be mad about that. Who ever says no to a massage?!
Not me.
Although I am so over this recovery. It’s going SO SLOWLY and as possibly the most impatient person in the world, that’s not really working for me. The only things keeping me from banging my head against a wall are my best friends, my parents and finally being able to do some baking again.
And I’m glad I’ve got stools in my kitchen to sit on as I bake because standing for an extended period of time is just not happening right now.
Not. Happening.
After a pretty positive check-up with my surgeon on Wednesday, I was so ready to do some baking yesterday.
And surprise, surprise I went with my favourite thing to bake, macarons!
Milk chocolate buttercream and crushed mini eggs, sandwiched between two dainty shells.
It’s a match made in heaven, you guys ?
Mini eggs are an essential part of Easter, macarons are one of the keys to my heart. These mini egg macarons make SO MUCH SENSE.
During this process I had a battle with the batter, a fight with my oven (uneven heating and an inaccurate temperature are not ideal), and even held a bowl of whipped egg whites upside-down over my head (they stayed in the bowl, thank goodness!)
Fortunately the end result was damn near perfect.
Mini Egg Macarons
Ingredients
- Macaron Shells:
- 275g almond flour
- 250g powdered sugar
- 210g sugar
- 210g egg whites
- Gel food colouring (optional)
- Milk Chocolate Buttercream:
- 6 1/2 oz. milk chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Crushed Mini Eggs
Directions
- Step 1 Shells:
- Step 2 To start, put the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor and blend thoroughly. Sift into a bowl to ensure there are no lumps.
- Step 3 In the bowl of a stand mixer (make sure it’s clean and dry), beat the egg whites until foamy. Slowly add the sugar, about 2 tbsp at a time, beating on a medium speed. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase speed to medium high and beat until a thick glossy meringue forms. Add food colouring, if using, and beat to combine. The mixture should form stiff peaks and you should be able to tip the bowl over your head with none of the mixture coming out.
- Step 4 With a large, flat rubber spatula, gently fold 1/3 of almond flour/powdered sugar mixture into egg whites until combined. Repeat until all of the almond mixture has been added. Fold to combine until you see no streaks of almond flour in the batter. The batter should be pretty fluid, a lot of people describe as a lava-like consistency. It should run smoothly off the spatula when you pull it out. This part comes with practice. Once you know the consistency, you’ll just be able to feel when it’s ready.
- Step 5 Pipe the batter into circles onto parchment or silicone lined baking sheets. Bang the tray a few times on a table to remove air bubbles and allow to sit for about 30 minutes before baking. To see if they’re ready for baking, touch your finger to them. If you get batter on your finger, they need to rest longer.
- Step 6 While resting, preheat your oven to 300°F with a rack placed in the lower third of the oven. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 15-18 minutes (this depends on your oven, my old one was fine at 15 minutes, this one needs 17-18). The shells should cool completely before you remove them from the parchment/silicone.
- Step 7 Buttercream:
- Step 8 Melt your milk chocolate and set aside to cool.
- Step 9 Once chocolate is completely cool, sift the powdered sugar and cream together with the butter.
- Step 10 Add the cream and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.
- Step 11 Fold in the melted chocolate and crushed mini eggs, then beat until buttercream is nice and fluffy.
- Step 12 Assembly:
- Step 13 Pair together macaron shells of similar shape and size. Pipe some buttercream on one half of each pair and gently sandwich together.
- Step 14 Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
These are beautiful! Happy Easter 🙂
Thanks, Janelle! Happy Easter to you too 🙂