Celebrating Kara's birthday with a MACARON PARTY!

Kara recently celebrated a milestone birthday and to celebrate she invited her closest friends to make MACCHERONE (MACARONI) no we didn't make pasta...we made Macarons!  Which were initially created in Italy and called Maccherone...the recipe on paper is very easy to make...but becomes difficult to replicate at times due to temperature and little tricks that need to take place when making macarons.  We've listed our recipe along with some fun photos from the party!

Here is the recipe we used...

Ingredients

For the macarons

1 3/4 c.

powdered sugar, spooned and leveled

1 c.

super-fine almond flour, spooned and leveled

3

large egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 tsp.

cream of tartar

Kosher salt

1/4 c.

superfine sugar

8

drops pink food coloring 

For the buttercream

1/2 c.

 (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 c.

powdered sugar, spooned and leveled

1 tsp.

pure vanilla extract

Directions

1.    Preheat the oven to 300°. Make macarons: Set a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl and sift 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar with almond flour. Use a rubber spatula to help push larger pieces through. Keep pressing until less than 2 tablespoons of solids remain. Discard solids.

2.    In a mixer, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt until frothy. Increase speed to medium-high and slowly add superfine sugar. Continue to beat on medium-high until egg whites are stiff and glossy, about 5 minutes.

3.    Beat in food coloring until combined, about 30 seconds more. Fold dry ingredients into beaten egg whites with a spatula until it flows like thick lava, about 2 minutes. 

4.    Fit a pastry bag with a a 1/4-inch round tip and transfer batter into bag. Dab some remaining batter in bowl onto the corners of two baking sheets and line sheets with parchment. Pipe batter into 1-inch circles, spacing each circle about 1 inch apart. Tap baking sheet against counter a few times to release any air bubbles. 

5.    Bake one sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until risen and just set, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. 

6.    Using a mixer, beat butter with remaining ¾ cup powdered sugar and vanilla until fluffy and smooth. Pipe or spread filling on flat sides of half of cookies; top with remaining half. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until ready to serve.