Hello, Hello! I’m Alexis, and I blog over at Persia Lou.
I am so excited to be over here at Toni’s place sharing some holiday goodies!
Earlier this year I decided to attempt French Macarons for my daughter’s tea party birthday, and I got hooked.
I’ve tried out lots of flavors, colors, and fillings since then, and these peppermint macs are my latest.
The shells look pepperminty, but the flavor really comes from the yummy peppermint buttercream filling. To create the peppermint swirl look of the shells, I used a lollipop stick to paint stripes of gel food coloring onto the inside of a pastry bag. Then I filled the pastry bag with batter.
When I piped the shells onto the parchment lined baking sheets, I did it in a swirl pattern. If you are a perfectionist, you can use guidelines printed on a piece of paper under the parchment, but they don’t have to be perfect, so I just wing it. Here’s what they looked like before going into the oven:
And, here they are all baked and filled! Yum!
Peppermint French Macarons
Recipe Adapted from Entertaining with Beth
INGREDIENTS
Shells:
3 Egg Whites (room temperature)
¼ cup white sugar (50 g)
2 cups powdered sugar (200 g)
1 cup almond flour (120 g)
pinch of salt
¼ tsp cream of tartar (2 ml) * You can omit if needed, just may take longer to reach
stiff peaks but the recipe will still work
¼ cup white sugar (50 g)
2 cups powdered sugar (200 g)
1 cup almond flour (120 g)
pinch of salt
¼ tsp cream of tartar (2 ml) * You can omit if needed, just may take longer to reach
stiff peaks but the recipe will still work
Peppermint Buttercream Filling: (recipe adapted from Savory Sweet Life)
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
3-4 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar, sifted
¼ teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
up to 4 tablespoons milk
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 300 F degrees
- Sift almond flour, and powdered sugar.
Discard pieces that don’t go through the sieve. - Beat egg whites until foamy, then
add salt, cream of tartar and white sugar until they form a glossy peak that
stands upright. - Fold flour/sugar mixture into the
egg white mixture. Press the air out of the mixture to get a shiny batter with
a consistency like molten lava (see this video for visual). - To create the candy cane stripes, paint the inside
of your pastry bag with stripes of red gel food coloring. Transfer batter to a pastry bag. - Pipe out 1 inch rounds on a baking
sheet lined with parchment paper. Tap
the pan hard at least 2-3 times to release the air bubbles. - Let them sit out for 20-30 mins, up
to an hour. They are ready to go into the oven, when the batter does not stick
to your finger when lightly touched. - Bake for 15-20 mins. Turning
sheets once halfway through baking time. Shells are ready when the feet do not
bulge when lightly pressed on from the top. They should lift off of the
parchment paper easily when they are done. - For Peppermint Buttercream Filling, beat butter for a
few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 3 cups
of powdered sugar and mix. When sugar has been incorporated, increase mixer speed to medium and add peppermint extract, salt, and 2
tablespoons of milk and beat for 3 minutes. Add milk or powdered sugar to adjust consistency as needed. - Pipe peppermint buttercream onto one cooled shell and
cover with another shell.
Macarons are best when they have aged in an airtight
container in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours and should be eaten within 3-4
days. Filled macarons store well in the freezer, so you can make a big batch and enjoy a few at a time.
container in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours and should be eaten within 3-4
days. Filled macarons store well in the freezer, so you can make a big batch and enjoy a few at a time.
Thanks for having me, Toni! Happy Holidays, everyone!
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WoW! Is everyone else ridiculously impressed by these awesome macaroon? I mean talk about snazzy!
If you don’t already know all about Alexis and her blog Persia Lou, you definitely need to get your tush over there for a visit. She whips up some of the coolest projects I’ve seen, and I just want to copy everything she makes; like this amazing light up canvas art, and honestly, who doesn’t need a rhinestone encrusted Bruce Willis? (total blog crush!) And she’s so posh, she was even featured in Homespun magazine this month. Seriously, you need to go say Hi right. this. minute!
wow, those look impressive! I've never made macaroons… :o) Love the colors. Emily@nap-timecreations
Oh my, those are so pretty! I'm already laughing thinking of how these would look if I attempted them 🙂 They look so gorgeous and delicious!
Didn't know it was that easy to create a swirl design! Gorgeous.