Christmas Macarons

Instructions

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1. - Make macaron batter Sift powdered sugar and almond flour together in a medium bowl.
2. - In a separate large bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt on high speed until foamy. With the mixer running, gradually add in small amounts of sifted granulated sugar until fully incorporated. Add vanilla and gel food coloring to the mixture when it reaches soft peaks. Continue whipping just until stiff peaks form.
3. - Gently and gradually pour the almond mixture over the whipped egg whites so they don't deflate. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the almond flour mixture into the egg whites. Fold until you can drop a small amount of batter back into the bowl and it dissolves back into the batter in 10 seconds. The batter should appear to have a honey-like consistency. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients in batches to avoid deflating the egg whites.
4. - Tint Batter. Divide batter and tint 2/3 green, reserve 1/3 white. Combine Kelly Green and Teal Icing Colors for the green shown.
5. - Pipe Cookies. Separately place the batter in two decorating bags fitted with tip 12. Pipe 1 inch rounds of batter onto the parchment lined pans, spacing at least 1 inch apart.
6. - Tap the baking sheet hard on the countertop 4-5 times to release air bubbles. Let unbaked macarons sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes or until they form a skin. The skin should not stick to your finger when carefully touched. Preheat the oven to 275°F while waiting for the skin to form.
7. -

   Bake for 18 to 22 minutes on a shelf in the center of the oven. If baking 2 pans at a time on different oven racks, rotate the pans from bottom to top midway through baking.

   Cool the macaron completely on a cooling rack.

8. - Spray some gold Color Mist food color spray in a small bowl. Use a fine tip brush to paint pine branches on green macarons.
9. - In a second small bowl mix teal and green icing colors with lemon extract. Use a fine tip brush to paint pine branches on white macarons. Let set before assembling.
10. - Assemble Cookies. Using a piping bag fitted with tip 12, place a dollop of the filling of your choice on one macaron shell. Top with another shell.

Notes

How To

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