1
["Mix the powders with the almond flour.", "Finely grind up the freeze dried strawberries or black tea leaves (using a food processor or a mortar and pestle).", "Sift the almond flour.", "(It's easier to sift if you put it in the freezer about 15 minutes before sifting, and sift just before using it.)", "Put the egg whites and sugar in a bowl, and beat over a hot water bath that's about 70 C. When the hot water is about 70C, it should just have fine bubbles around the bottom and sides of the pan.", "Beat the egg whites and sugar very well, until it's stiff enough that it clings to the bowl when inverted.", "The meringue should be snowy white, very finely textured, shiny, and a little sticky.", "(It will also be warm.)", "Take the bowl of meringue off the hot water bath.", "Sift the almond powder from Step 1 again as you add it to the meringue.", "(The almond powder should be sifted 2 times in total.)", "Mix the ingredient(s) of your choice into the bowl.", "Fold the meringue and almond flour together, then mix well until the batter forms a thick, heavy ribbon when dropped from the spatula.", "If you want to dry the macarons out, go to Step 10.", "If you want to skip the drying step, see""Macarons with no drying needed"".", "Put the batter from Step 8 into a piping bag, and pipe it onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper in 2-3 cm circles (leave 2-3 cm between each one).", "To test-bake the batter, it's a good idea to cut small pieces of parchment paper to bake on.", "(Use to test how much to dry the batter and to adjust the oven temperature.)", "Leave the piped out batter it has completely dried on the surface.", "(It should not stick to your fingers when you touch them, and they should feel rubbery.)", "On a warm day with low humidity, the macarons will dry out in about 30 minutes.", "They will take some time on a cold day.", "It's most difficult to dry them out on humid days.", "Preheat the oven to 160C, and bake the dried batter from Step 12.", "Lower the oven temperature to 130C, and bake for 15 to 16 minutes.", "(Adjust the time and temperature depending on your oven.)", "Try doing a test-bake of the dried macaron batter using the small pieces of paper from Step 11.", "If the test macarons turn out, you can bake the rest.", "Let the baked macarons cool down completely before peeling them off the parchment paper.", "If it's hard to peel them off, put them in the freezer on the paper for a few minutes, and they should come off easily.", "They are baked just right when they stick to the paper and can't be peeled off easily.", "If they come off easily, it is likely that they are a bit overbaked, and may be hollow in the middle.", "Sandwich two macarons with a cream filling of your choice in between, and the macarons are done.", "They are tastiest from the following day onwards after they have become moist.", "Macarons that are baked just right do not have hollow centers, and give a moist and airy sensation.", "(The one in the photo is a black tea flavored macaron filled with berry paste.)", "Store the macarons in the refrigerator, and consume them within a week.", "You can also wrap them individually and freeze them.", "(Defrost them in the refrigerator.)", "For details on the reasons why things can go wrong, see""Helpful Hints for Foolproof Macarons"".", "To make chocolate ganache, put chocolate and whipped cream in a piping bag, and suspend it over 60C warm water to melt the chocolate.", "Squeeze the bag to mix.", "To make matcha tea- or coffee-flavored ganache, use white chocolate and melt it before adding the powder.", "Squeeze the piping bag well to mix.", "When it has been chilled and has stiffened to the right consistency, the ganache is done.", "If you add instant coffee to the (brown) chocolate, you'll have a cafe-mocha flavored ganache.", "From left to right: matcha, black tea, coffee, mlik, cocoa, and strawberry (I crushed some freeze dried strawberries into a powder and mixed it in).", "I have another recipe for more flavored macaron varieties like kabocha squash , azuki beans, purple sweet potatoes, almonds, kinako, pistachios.", "Try using strawberry powder for pretty pink macarons, cherry blossom shaped macarons).", "I decorated these macarons with chocolate (dark, white, matcha tea flavored, coffee flavored).", "Macarons sandwiched with homemade guimauves like French marshmallowsare elegant, too.", "For easy marbled macarons: Prepare the plain macaron batter up to the step before the macaronage.", "Divide the batter in half inside the bowl.", "Mix flavorings into one half of the plain macaron batter.", "Fold the two batters together, and it will easily turn into a marbled pattern.", "Freeze the leftover egg yolks with 5 g of sugar mixed in per yolk.", "This way, the texture of the yolk will not deteriorate when frozen.", "Defrost the yolks in the refrigerator before use."]
