French Lavender Macarons with Honey Buttercream

TorriPhoto - Shutterstock

Just in time for Mother’s Day, chef Stephen Coe shares some tips for making the cookie-of-the-moment: the French macaron. These beautifully-hued little treats will brighten anyone’s day and this recipe makes as many as 40 so you can spread the love – the delicious, buttercream and meringue-y love.

Details

Servings: 5

Ingredients

for the macarons
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 1 tablespoon dried lavender buds
  • 3/4 cup almond meal
  • 2 egg whites
  • 3 tablespoon sugar
  • food coloring of your choice
for the honey buttercream
  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 2 tablespoon honey

Directions

for the macarons
  1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F.
  2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  3. Blend the confectioners' sugar, lavender, and almond meal in a food processor until fine, then whisk everything into a large bowl.
  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment affixed, add the egg whites and sugar.
  5. Turn the mixer on to power level 4 and whisk the mixture together for 3 minutes.
  6. Next, turn the power up to 7 and whisk an additional 3 minutes.
  7. Turn the power up to 8 and whisk an additional minute or two. By now, there should be a stiff meringue in the bowl. Feel free to mix in the food coloring at this point and whisk at 8 speed for an additional minute to incorporate the color.
  8. Knock the meringue that’s trapped in the whisk back into the bowl.
  9. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip and pipe 1 1/4-inch circles (20 per sheet).
  10. Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the tops are no longer sticky to the touch, 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the humidity.
  11. Bake each batch until the cookies are shiny and rise 1/8 inch - about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
for the buttercream
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter using the whisk attachment for about 2 minutes.
  2. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar, and whisk until everything is incorporated.
  3. Do the same with the honey.
  4. Beat another minute or so to get everything well incorporated.
to assemble
  1. Peel the cookies off the racks and sandwich with a thin layer of the buttercream.

You may also be interested in