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Flourless Chocolate Kahlua Cake

4 oz 100% cacao unsweetened chocolate 

( I used the premium baking bar by Ghirardelli)

1/2 c chocolate chips

1/2 c cocoa powder ( I used two packets of nestle hot cocoa mix)

2/3 c sugar

8tbs butter

1/4 c kahlua liqueur 

4 eggs

1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt

For topping (optional):

Powdered sugar for dusting 

Chocolate syrup ( I used Torani spicy dark chocolate)

Using a microwave or double-boiler, melt unsweetened chocolate, chocolate chips and butter.  Stir until smooth.

In separate bowl, whisk together the 4 eggs. Add the sugar, cocoa powder and salt.  Continue to whisk until fluffy and thickened (about 6 minutes). 

Fold the melted chocolate into the whipped egg mixture. Finally stir in the kahlua.

Pour the cake batter into a cake pan.  An 8” inch springform pan or 8” bundt pan works well.  Bake at 300 degrees for about 45 minutes.  The top of the cake will form a thin crust, but the inside will stay moist.

To prevent the bottom from burning, you can bake the cake in a water bath if you prefer.

When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and let cool in the pan for at least 15 mins.  Loosen the edges with a silicon scraper. Place the cake on a plate and remove the springform mold, or invert onto the plate.

Dust the top with powdered sugar and then drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Macarons

Other recipes and pictures: 

Orange Vanilla Macaron Recipe

Green Tea and Honey Macaron Recipe
Green Tea Vanilla Macaron Recipe

Snickerdoodle Macarons

Dry ingredients.

In one bowl mix:

1 cup almond flour

1 cup powdered sugar

Pinch salt

Sift the dry ingredients through a sieve, or aerate with food processor to remove clumps.

In a separate medium-sized bowl make the meringue mixture.

You’ll need:

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp white vinegar

1/4 cup cinnamon sugar (or 1/4 c granulated sugar mixed with. 1 tbsp of cinnamon)

Add the vinegar to the egg whites. Whip until frothy. Slowly add cinnamon sugar, one tsp at a time, while continuing to beat egg whites until stiff peaks are formed about 3-5 minutes.

When meringue mixture is done, sprinkle 1/3 of dry mix over the meringue and gentle fold the dry mix into the meringue using a rubber spatula. Be careful not to deflate the meringue. Sprinkle another third of dry mix onto the meringue. Continue to fold the dry mix into the meringue mixture. Add the last third of dry mix and fold gently to incorporate the dry ingredients. The macaron mixture is done when the batter is thick and “lava like”. It should fall off the rubber spatula in a thick ribbon and begin to self-level after about 20 seconds. If the batter “ribbon” is still thick or bumpy, fold the batter a few more times. Do NOT over mix. It is better to undermix than overmix the batter.

Pipe the macarons onto a silicone macaron template, or onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. About 1.25” rounds work well. Place them about an inch apart to allow them to expand. Tap the tray onto the countertop or tap the bottom of the tray with your hand to remove air bubbles.

Let sit for 30-60 mins until the shells are dry to the touch. You may need to set in oven or put a fan on in the kitchen during the resting period to avoid the effects of humidity. The cookie shells are ready to bake when you can touch the cookie and no batter sticks to your finger. If you do not allow proper resting time, your cookies will not rise and create the “feet” that are such an identifiable feature of a macaron. While the cookies are resting, preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

During the resting period, begin the filling:

Vanilla buttercream filling.

You’ll need:

4tbsp butter softened

1 tbsp cream

1/2 tsp Vanilla

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Whip butter and vanilla until creamy. Add powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Finally add the cream and mix until a light and fluffy filling is created. Spoon into a piping bag with a round tip and set in the fridge to chill slightly.

When the macarons are dry to the touch, bake one tray at a time for 12-15 minutes in a 300 degree preheated oven. The cookies are done if they lift easily off the mat or parchment when cooled. If they are still moist or sticky, bake a couple more minutes or let them sit in the warm oven for a few additional minutes.

Remove the filling from the fridge to soften slightly while the shells cool. Let the macaron shells cool completely before adding the filling. Pair the macaron shells by matching sizes. Pipe a small amount of filling on one shell. Gently twist the top shell onto the bottom shell to evenly distribute the filling around the shell.

Place the macarons into an airtight container and place in the refrigerator. Allow the cookies to refrigerate at least 24 hrs for the flavors and textures to meld together.

Enjoy!

Note: I placed them in an ice cube tray to cool again after adding the vanilla creme filling.

New Crochet Pattern : Cascading Cardigan Vest Lace Crochet Pattern

A "one-size-fits-most" seamless lace crochet pattern for a long, asymmetric cardigan vest with halter back. The garment, as shown, drapes 56" in the front and then drapes 22" in the back leaving a 15" back opening. A wonderfully versatile piece that can be worn in many ways. Looks great over a tank top with skinny jeans, leggings or shorts for a fun summer outfit. Or, layer over longer sleeves on a cooler day. Great layering piece to add a dressy overlay to an otherwise casual look. Very comfortable and easy to make.

Garment used 8 skeins of Cascade Yarns Peach Pearl Ultra Pima 100% Cotton Yarn. 

Materials Used:

  

Green Tea Vanilla Macaron Recipe

Other recipes and pictures: 

Orange Vanilla Macaron Recipe

Green Tea & Honey Macaron Recipe

Green Tea Vanilla Macarons

Dry ingredients.

In one bowl mix:

1 cup almond flour

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp matcha powder

Pinch salt

Sift the dry ingredients through a sieve, or aerate with food processor to remove clumps.

In separate medium-sized bowl make the meringue mixture.

You’ll need:

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp white vinegar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Green food coloring (optional)

Whip egg whites until frothy.  Slowly add sugar, one tsp at a time, while continuing to beat egg whites until stiff peaks are formed about 3-5 minutes. Add one drop of food color if desired and mix until desired color is achieved.

When meringue mixture is done, sprinkle 1/3 of dry mix over the meringue and gentle fold the dry mix into the meringue using a rubber spatula.  Be careful not to deflate the meringue. Sprinkle another third of dry mix onto the meringue. Continue to fold the dry mix into the meringue mixture.  Add the last third of dry mix and fold gently to incorporate the dry ingredients. The macaron mixture is done when the batter is thick and “lava like”.  It should fall off the rubber spatula in a thick ribbon and begin to self-level after about 20 seconds.  If the batter “ribbon” is still thick or bumpy, fold the batter a few more times.  Do NOT over mix.  It is better to undermix than overmix the batter.  

Pipe the macarons onto a silicone macaron template, or onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. About 1.25” rounds work well. Place them about an inch apart to allow them to expand. Tap the tray onto the countertop or tap the bottom of the tray with your hand to remove air bubbles.

Let sit for 30-60 mins until the shells are dry to the touch. The cookie shells are ready to bake when you can touch the cookie and no batter sticks to your finger.  If you do not allow proper resting time, your cookies will not rise and create the “feet” that are such an identifiable feature of a macaron. While the cookies are resting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

During the resting period, begin the filling:

Green tea vanilla buttercream filling.

You’ll need:

4tbsp butter softened

1 tbsp cream

1 tsp Vanilla

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp matcha powder.

Whip butter until creamy. Add powdered sugar and matcha powder and mix until smooth. Finally add the cream and vanilla and mix until a light and fluffy filling is created.  Spoon into a piping bag with a round tip and set in the fridge to chill.

When the macarons are dry to the touch, bake one tray at a time for 12-15 minutes in a 325 degree preheated oven (or 295 convection setting). The cookies are done if they lift easily off the mat or parchment when cooled. If they are still moist or sticky, bake a couple more minutes or let them sit in the warm oven for a few additional minutes.

Remove the filling from the fridge to soften slightly while the shells cool. Let the macaron shells cool completely before adding the filling.  Pair the macaron shells by matching sizes. Pipe a small amount of filling on one shell.  Gently twist the top shell onto the bottom shell to evenly distribute the filling around the shell.

Place the macarons into an airtight container and place in the refrigerator.  Allow the cookies to refrigerate at least 24 hrs for the flavors and textures to meld together.

Enjoy!

Update:: Crochet Pattern Purchase Information : Ravelry & Amazon

You can now find my patterns on Ravelry! In addition to the design portfolio, I have also set up a group forum (visible to registered users) where people can ask questions about the patterns, and showcase their completed projects from the patterns.  I look forward to seeing what folks contribute to the forum.

My patterns continue to be available on Amazon as well.  Here you can find both ebook (color) & paperback (trade-size b/w).

New patterns will be made available over the summer as time permits.

Skinny Meringue foam: My healthier low-calorie version of the Starbucks Cloud foam

I was thrilled to see that Starbuck's added a new line of coffee drinks inspired by the delicious Spanish drink "Leche Merengada".  The leche merengada is a meringue milk flavored with cinnamon and lemon.  It is popular in Spain, especially in the summer, as a cold drink or made into an ice cream or gelato.

Starbuck's refers to their espresso meringue powder milk foam drink as the "Cloud Macchiato". They offer it in caramel or cinnamon.  The cinnamon version is more like the traditional Spanish drink in that the drink is flavored with a cinnamon & lemon flavored syrup.

Both of the drinks are very sweet.  Too sweet for my liking. Even if I ask for just one pump of the syrup, it is still very sweet for me. So, I was on the quest for a skinny, low-fat version of the drink that I could make at home. I love the thick foam, but I prefer to have less sugary drinks that let the rich taste of the espresso flavor the foam.

My goal was to get the same thick meringue foam, but with much less sugar and fat.  I opted to substitute honey for the flavored syrup and tested out using meringue powder, egg white powder, or a combination of both, to make the meringue foam. 

So, I experimented with Wilton's Meringue Powder and Judee's Dried Egg White Powder . Both whip up great peaked meringue foam with just water as the liquid ingredient. You can, of course, choose another liquid.  But, I wouldn't recommend anything heavy like whole milk or half/half.  They will weigh down the meringue and you won't get the beautiful shiny peaks.  I actually whipped them up with just water and was thrilled with the result.  Again, my goal was to cut calories and sugar.

Both products whipped up great. But, when looking over the ingredients, the meringue powder has quite a bit of extra ingredients and has more calories than the plain egg whites.  The egg white powder has only one ingredient: dried egg whites.  

Nutritional Info on the Meringue Powder.

Nutritional Facts on the Egg White Powder. (This is the one I preferred.)

CHAI::

The first drink I made was for my daughter who loves chai more than espresso.  To make the foam, I used

1/2 tsp meringue powder
1/2 tsp egg white powder
1/4 c water

Mixed with an electric whisk for about 2.5 minutes and got this wonderfully thick foam.

This quantity would work well for a large 12-16 oz. glass, or 2 smaller 6-8 oz. glasses.

Meringue foam from 1/2 tsp of each of the powders and 1/4 cup of water. 

I made her a drink with:

2 oz of chai concentrate

4 oz of 2% milk 

ice cubes

I topped with the foam and then sprinkled cinnamon and drizzled with raw local honey. Total calories = about 130.

Iced Chai with Meringue Foam

The foam held up incredibly well.  Still foamy well after the drink was finished!

ESPRESSO ::

For me, I love espresso.  So, I made a test batch for a small one-shot iced espresso with meringue foam. I topped with cinnamon and a drizzle of honey.  To cut down on calories and sugar content, I didn't use the meringue powder or any milk product. I used just the egg white powder with water and vanilla.  My drink had only 15-20 calories.

For my low-calorie, low-sugar meringue foam "cloud" iced espresso, I used**:

1 tsp egg white powder

1/4 cup of water (you can substitute with low-fat or skim milk, or almond milk, etc.)

1/8 tsp vanilla (optional)

I whipped this for about 2.5 minutes with an electric whisk.  

(**Note:This made too much foam for just my small 6 oz. cappuccino glass. You can easily cut this down to 1/2 tsp powder and 1/8 cup of water for just one serving and a splash of vanilla.) 

Poured one shot of espresso over ice and topped with the foam.  I then sprinkled the foam with cinnamon and a drizzle of raw local honey. (If you prefer a sweeter drink, consider adding a little honey to the espresso before you top with the foam. The foam is so thick that the honey stays on top.)

Meringue foam from 1 tsp egg white powder and 1/4 cup of water (before adding vanilla)

Iced espresso with meringue foam cinnamon and honey

The foam was so thick that the espresso wasn't even coming through the foam.  I took a spoon and stirred the foam into the espresso to flavor the foam a little more.  The foam stayed incredibly thick.  In fact, the foam lasted longer than the drinks and the ice cubes.  Even two hours later and the foam still has it's shape! Eventually it will separate, but it holds its shape incredibly well.

If you prefer a sweeter coffee, add a little honey to the espresso before you top with the foam.  I personally like my sweetness to stay on the foam, so I prefer to drizzle the foam with the honey.

UPDATE (My favorite so far for iced coffee):

Update on a sweeter version more similar to a Leche Merengada flavored foam.  Today, I made the meringue foam and flavored it with a tsp of lemonade and cinnamon.  It was delicious on iced espresso.  Here’s what I used for one serving:

1/2 tsp egg white powder

1/4 c of water

Drop of vanilla

1/2 tsp sugar 

1tsp lemonade

Cinnamon (to taste)

Espresso

Milk or cream (if desired)

Add the egg white powder, water and vanilla to a medium sized mixing bowl. Whipped with handmixer for about two minutes until peaks formed.  I then sprinkled the top of the meringue with the sugar and mixed until the sugar was incorporated.  I then added a the lemonade and sprinkled the top of the meringue with cinnamon and mixed with the hand mixer a little more until the meringue was smooth, peaked and cloud-like.

Added one shot of espresso to a glass of ice.  Poured a tiny bit of half & half over the espresso to give a cascading effect and then topped with the foam.  Delicious! Calories were about 70. 

Alternatively: (note that this has higher sugar content and calories)

If you'd like to make the foam more like a traditional leche merengada. Make a lemon-cinnamon syrup by boiling water with sugar, a cinnamon stick and a little lemon zest. Boil until the mixture thickens.  Let cool.   Add this syrup to your coffee drink instead of the honey.

YUM!!!

Ingredients and Utensils used: (The litte frother was use to froth the chai. It is not strong enough to whisk the egg whites. I needed the electric hand mixer with whisk attachment for the egg whites.)

I participate in the Amazon Services Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books & more, and affiliated sites.

Newest Crochet Pattern. Great for a summer cover up or cool night out.

New pattern for an asymmetric bare shoulder drape sleeve shawl-type top.

A seamless lace crochet pattern for an asymmetric bare shoulder shawl-type top with single drape sleeve. The piece wraps around the body and under one arm then drapes beautiful across the other side of the body with a single wide sleeve opening for the other arm. This piece could be worn as a beach coverup to dress up a bathing suit. Or, it can be thrown on over a tank or camisole to dress up an otherwise casual outfit. Although designed to be worn with one bare arm showing, you can also move the opening up to the neck and wear as a shawl or wrap across both shoulders with a wide boat neck opening at the top .

New French Macaron Recipe : Orange Vanilla

Tried my hand at another new macaron recipe.  We were so pleased with how the green tea and honey macarons turned out that we shared with friends and neighbors.  As a result, we had only a few tasty treats left for ourselves.  So, I again looked at the ingredients I had on hand and decided to make Orange Vanilla French Macarons.

I made a slightly smaller batch than the green tea macarons as this was an experimental batch to test the recipe.  But, I'm very happy to report that they turned out well! I also don't like to overfill the macarons. I find that a thin layer of filling is all that is necessary given the fragility of the shell.  You can certainly add extra filling, but it may make the cookie a bit soggy if you don't eat them within a few days.  Using a thin layer of filling also keeps the sugar content and calories down if you are watching your calories.

Here’s what I did:

Orange vanilla macarons
Made 16 medium-sized sandwiched macarons (32 shells)

The dry ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar 

1 cup super fine almond flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Almond Flour)

Pinch salt

The meringue ingredients:

2 large egg whites

1/8 tsp cream of tartar or 1/4 tsp white vinegar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla 

Orange Vanilla Buttercream Filling (The recipe makes enough for a thin layer of filling. Double the recipe for thicker layer as desired.)
4 tbsp softened unsalted butter

1/4 c powdered sugar

1 tbsp orange juice
1/2 tsp vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the first 4 ingredients: powdered sugar, almond flour  and salt. Set aside.

Make the meringue mixture: Put the egg whites into a spotlessly clean large mixing bowl. Add the cream of tartar (or vinegar) and vanilla. With stand (or hand) mixer on high, beat the egg white mixture until foamy. Continue to beat on high speed as you slowly add the granulated sugar. Do a tsp at a time, let the sugar get mixed in smoothly and then add another tsp. Continue adding sugar slowly while beating on high about 5 minutes until the meringue is glossy and stiff peaks have been created.

Sprinkle 1/3 of the dry mixture atop the meringue. With rubber spatula scrape the bowl in clockwise direction and cut down through half the mixture as you gently fold the dry ingredients into the meringue. The meringue will deflate slightly. When the dry ingredients are folded in smoothly, add another 1/3 of the dry mix on top of the wet mix. Fold in gently until no additional dry mix is visible. Add the last 1/3 of the dry mix. Fold into the meringue mixture. Do not over fold. Fold the mixture until the mixture runs off the spatula in a sticky ribbon. Test a spoonful on a plate. You want the mixture to self level in about 15-20 seconds. The folding process takes about 3 minutes or 50 folds. The mixture should have the thickness of cake batter or molten lava. 

Add the mixture to a pasty bag with round tip. Squeeze out round cookies that are about 1.25 inch in diameter. (There are silicone mats with templates preprinted on them or see below) Tap the tray firmly and evenly on the countertop 2-3 times to smooth out air bubbles. Leave on counter, or in dry oven for 30 mins -1 hr until they are no longer sticky. (This resting period is perfect for cleaning up the cooking area and prepping the buttercream filling.) After about 30 minutes, touch the piped macarons lightly with your finger. If no batter sticks to your finger, then they are ready to bake. On humid days, it may take longer than an hour to get to the correct baking stage. (Usually takes 40-45 minutes for my trays.) You may need to let them rest in a dry oven on humid days or place under your oven's fan. If you bake the cookies too soon, you will not create the feet on the cookie that is such a distinguishable feature of the French macaron.

When they are no longer sticky to the touch (I had to wait 40 mins for this batch), bake in center rack on a tray lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper at 295 degrees in a convection setting for 15 minutes. You might need more time if you made thicker, larger cookies. Place an empty cookie sheet on the top rack of oven to absorb some of the heat from the top of the oven and help prevent the tops of the macarons from browning too quickly. If you don’t have a convection setting on your oven, bake at 315 for about 18 minutes. Check the cookies after 12 to make sure they aren’t browning too soon. 

Remove from oven and cool for about 15 minutes. They are done if they are easy to lift off the paper or mat after cooling.

(Note:After 15 minutes, I turned off the oven. Opened the oven door and let the tray sit in the open oven for another 3 minutes.  A few of my macaron shells were on the large size so I gave them a little more time to bake.)

The Orange Vanilla Buttercream filling:

With whip attachment, whip the butter and vanilla until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and continue to whip. Finally add the orange juice and whip until smooth and fluffy. Add the filling to a pastry bag with round tip and keep cool until ready to use.

When the macarons are fully cooled match up pairs of similarly sized shapes. Squeeze out a small amount of icing and place between two macaron shells. Don’t over fill the cookies. A thin layer is usually all that is needed in order to sandwich the cookie and still keep the shell light and crunchy while the center stays chewy.

Keep in fridge for up to a week. The cookies freeze well too!

Enjoy.

The cookies straight from the oven. 

The finished macarons.

One macaron sacrificed as a sample. Delicious!!!

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Materials Used:
These are the actual items that I used. You can use parchment paper in place of the silicone mats and you can use a plastic ziplock type bag in place of the pastry bag.

I participate in the Amazon Services Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books & more, and affiliated sites.

I purchased the above items at full-price. I did not receive a discount or a promotional credit in exchange for my post. I'm simply linking to the items that I actually bought and used in this recipe in case others might be interested.

Green Tea & Honey French Macarons Recipe. (My first try with this recipe.)

A recipe blog post today instead of a new crochet pattern!

My daughter's birthday is coming up and I thought I'd surprise her with her favorite cookie: The French Macaron. (These are the delicious fluffy sandwich cookie made with almond flour that is crunchy on the outside & chewy on the inside with a light layer of icing, ganache or buttercream between shells. Not Macaroons that are made with coconut.)  The cookies are often very expensive and hard to find.  So, I thought I'd try my hand at baking some for her upcoming birthday.

I experimented with one recipe, but the buttercream frosting with egg yolk was overwhelming and much too rich for our liking.  Plus, I ground the almonds myself and I think the ground almonds were still too coarse for the recipe. The cookies didn't come out quite right.  We ate a few of them, but discarded them.  They were just not worth the calories given that they only slightly resembled the delicious delicate French treat!

I blamed the first finicky batch on the weather and the less than ideal recipe & ingredients.  Half of the mixture is meringue-based after all and you know my feelings about making meringue on humid days. (Avoid if at all possible!)  Well, the same holds true for French Macarons.  You really need a nice dry day for these finicky, yet delicious, morsels!

So after the rainy weather passed, I chose to try modifying another recipe in order to use the chocolate that I had on hand.  I made cocoa flavored macarons with a dark chocolate ganache filling.  They were delicious, but a little smaller than I would have liked.  Plus, I don't think I folded the mixture long enough because they didn't self-level as much as I expected them to.  They turned out more like round cream puffs. They tasted good once they were cooled, but the shape was still not the macaroon shape with the distinguishable raised shell over the 'feet' of the cookie.

So, I waited a few more days until more bad weather passed and decided to use the dry day to try another recipe.  Our household drinks a lot of tea.  So, I had matcha green tea powder on hand.  One of our favorite drinks is green tea with honey.   So, I thought I'd make Green Tea Macarons with a light Honey Buttercream filling. I used actual Matcha Green Tea Powder from Japan. It's more of a ceremonial grade than a cooking grade matcha.   (The taste is better, in my opinion.) You can find cooking grade matcha that is much brighter green. (If so, you can avoid using additional food coloring.)

We are also obsessed with honey.  We love trying new flavors. The most recent puchase was a Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey that is absolutely incredible.  It has a sweet, herbal, woodsy flavor that is nothing like traditional honey. It's thick and creamy too, so it was the perfect choice to add to the filling.

Here's what I did:

 Green tea and honey French Macarons

The dry ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar 

1 cup super fine almond flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Almond Flour)

1-2 tsp matcha green tea powder  (I used Japanese Maeda-en Green Tea Powder)

(Note that matcha has caffeine, so use less if you are making for young kids or are sensitive to caffeine.)

Pinch salt

The meringue ingredients:

3 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar or 1/2 tsp white vinegar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla (optional)

1-2 drops of green food coloring (optional)

Matcha Honey Buttercream Filling (The recipe makes enough for a thin layer of filling. Double the recipe for thicker layer as desired.)
4 tbsp softened unsalted butter

1/4 c powdered sugar

1 tbsp milk or cream

1/2 tsp matcha green tea powder (I used Japanese Maeda-en Green Tea Powder)

1tsp thick creamy honey ( I used Tasmanian Leatherwood)

The recipe made about 18-20 large macarons (36-40 shells). If you choose to make smaller ones, you can probably squeeze out about 24-26 complete macarons (48-52 shells).

(Pictures are provided below.)

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the first 4 ingredients: powdered sugar, almond flour matcha and salt. Set aside.

Make the meringue mixture: Put the egg whites into a spotlessly clean large mixing bowl. Add the cream of tartar (or vinegar) and vanilla. With stand (or hand) mixer on high, beat the egg white mixture until foamy. Continue to beat on high speed as you slowly add the granulated sugar. Do a tsp at a time, let the sugar get mixed in smoothly and then add another tsp. Continue adding sugar slowly while beating on high for about 5 minutes the meringue is glossy and stiff peaks have been created.

Sprinkle 1/3 of the dry mixture atop the meringue. With rubber spatula scrape the bowl in clockwise direction and cut down through half the mixture as you gently fold the dry ingredients into the meringue. The meringue will deflate slightly. When the dry ingredients are folded in smoothly, add another 1/3 of the dry mix on top of the wet mix. Fold in gently until no additional dry mix is visible. Add the last 1/3 of the dry mix. Fold into the meringue mixture. Do not over fold. Fold the mixture until the mixture runs off the spatula in a sticky ribbon. Test a spoonful on a plate. You want the mixture to self level in about 15-20 seconds. The folding process takes about 3-4 minutes. The mixture should look a little like cake batter. Add the green food coloring (if desired) and fold until desired color is achieved.

Add the mixture to a pasty bag with round tip. Squeeze out round cookies that are about 1.25 inch in diameter. (There are silicone mats with templates preprinted on them or see below) Tap the tray firmly and evenly on the countertop twice to smooth out air bubbles. Leave on counter, or in dry oven for 30 mins-1 hr until they are no longer sticky. Touch them lightly. If no batter sticks to your finger, then they are ready to bake. On humid days, it may take longer than an hour to get to the correct baking stage. You may need to let them rest in a dry oven on humid days. If you bake the cookies too soon, you will not create the feet on the cookie that is such a distinguishable feature of the French macaron.

When they are no longer sticky to the touch, bake in center rack on a tray lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper at 300 degrees in a convection setting for 18-20minutes. You might need more time if you made thicker, larger cookies. Place an empty cookie sheet on the top rack of oven to absorb some of the heat from the top of the oven and help prevent the tops of the macarons from browning too quickly. If you don’t have a convection setting on your oven, bake at 325 for about 20 minutes. Check the cookies after 15 to make sure they aren’t browning too soon. Remove from oven and cool for about 15 minutes. They are done if they are easy to lift off the paper or mat after cooling.

Add the Green tea honey buttercream filling.

With whip attachment, whip the butter until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and continue to whip. Finally add the milk and honey and whip until smooth and fluffy. Add the filling to a pastry bag with round tip and keep cool until ready to use.

When the macarons are fully cooled match up pairs of similarly sized shapes. Squeeze out a small amount of icing and place between two macaron shells. Don’t over fill the cookies. A thin layer is usually all that is needed in order to sandwich the cookie and still keep the shell light and crunchy while the center stays chewy.

Keep in fridge for up to a week. The cookies freeze well too!

Enjoy.

Pictures of the process:

The sifted dry ingredients

The frothy egg whites for the meringue mixture.

The meringue mixture after mixing on high for about 5 mins.

Folding the dry mixture into the meringue mixture.

Nearly ready. Fold until the batter drops off the scraper in a sticky ribbon.
(This is the mixture before adding food coloring if desired.)

With the food coloring added but before tapping out the air bubbles.

Here's the picture after taking them out of the oven.  They are the first batch that have the distinguishable crust and "feet" that you expect to see on a French Macaron.  I expect that I will get better as I continue to make them.  On the template that I used, I used the outer circle.  They were bigger than I expected, but they are delicious! Next time, I intend to try the smaller circle so that the filling is easier to see when sandwiched together.

After removing from oven.

Overall, I am quite pleased with how they turned out.  This is the first time using the recipe and the third try at making macarons.

My next flavor will be lavender!

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Materials Used:
These are the actual items that I used. You can use parchment paper in place of the silicone mats and you can use a plastic ziplock type bag in place of the pastry bag.

I participate in the Amazon Services Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books & more, and affiliated sites.

I purchased the above items at full-price. I did not receive a discount or a promotional credit in exchange for my post. I'm simply linking to the items that I actually bought and used in this recipe in case others might be interested.