Macaron 101 with a Girl Scout cookie Champ

With us in the kitchen today is a Girl Scout Cookie champ! Sofia Tejeda is here to show us how to make irresistible macarons! You can catch her on the Food Network competing in the Girl Scout Cookie Championship Monday, February 24th.

SofiaTejeda.com

Chef Sofia’s Macaron Recipe

60gegg whites
50ggranulated sugar
75g almond flour
90gconfectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
*GEL food coloring if desired

*Before you start scaling anything you might need to make your macaron batter, have your “Mise en Place” ready to go. Mise en Place is a term used in kitchens that in French translates to “everything in its place”, and for macarons you will need the following:

Stand Mixer with attachments
Oven set to 275* Fahrenheit (this might change depending on your oven)
Sheet pans lined with silicon matts (Silpat brand is great but expensive, Amazon sells their own brand which are more cost effective and work great) or parchment paper, while making sure to spray the sheet pan so your parchment paper stays in place
A medium sized circle piping tip inside of a piping bag, placed in a measuring cup for easier handling (trust me)
A large rubber spatula
Food coloring

Method:

1.)Mix together the almond flour and powdered sugar, sift and have it ready in a bowl.
2.)In the bowl of a stand mixer (separate to the one you used for the dry ingredients), scale out the egg whites. Make sure you DO NOT get any yolks in the bowl, the fat from the yolks will stop your whites from whipping fully.
Tip: Make sure your bowl is extremely clean and dry. Any residue may affect the way your egg whites whip.
3.)In a separate container, scale out the granulated sugar.
4.)Begin to whip your egg whites slowly, forming some bubbles (this will help it become more stable). Once you have some large bubbles, crank the speed up to high and whip until stiff peaks are formed (it will kinda look like cotton candy).
5.)Slowly sprinkle in the sugar, continuing to whip at high speed, until you form a shiny and glossy meringue. Once you have added all the sugar, continue whipping while adding any food coloring.
Tip: You will know when its ready if you dip the whisk, pull it out and the meringue folds over like the mountain Jack Skellington stands on in Nightmare Before Christmas. Do not get too excited with the food coloring, if you add too much the consistency of your batter will be affected.
6.)Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the dry ingredients into the meringue in 3 to 4 additions, making sure you get rid of any pockets of flour before adding any more.
7.)Once you have added all four, continue to fold until the batter falls from your spatula like a ribbon.
8.)Transfer the batter into your prepared piping bag and begin to pipe.

For piping:
1.Hold the pointy end with your dominant hand and the other end with your non dominant hand.
2.With your dominant hand, steadily squeeze until the shells are the size you want them to be.
3.Do not jump from one macaron to another without fully stopping from piping. Pipe, stop, pull up & swish, repeat.

9.)Leave the macaron shells out to dry. Drying time will vary depending on the weather and humidity so always make sure to keep an eye on them. A shell that is too dry will crack during baking.

Tip: If you ever need them to dry faster, place them under a ceiling fan or use a small fan to help.

10.)You will know the shells are ready for baking once you slightly touch them with the tip of your finger and nothing sticks to it.
11.) Bake for 20-25 minutes (this also depends on your oven so adjust as you see necessary) and let the shells fully cool before removing them from the matts/parchment paper.

Tips:
1.If you take your shells out and you start to see some dark spots appear, they are still raw on the inside. You can throw them back in the oven to finish baking.
2.If you see that one side of the macaron starts to get darker than the other, rotate the sheet pan to even out the color.
3.Do not panic if you try to pick up a shell when it is hot and it sticks to the matt/parchment, this will happen when they are warm.

12.)Fill and enjoy!