Raspberry Cream Pie Macarons

I have had MANY trials and tribulations with the famed and glorious French macaron. I've even had success, but that was probably some anomaly blessed upon me by the French macaron gods. Ever since that success, I've failed more times than I can count. I ultimately gave up for a while, not because I didn't think I could eventually master the thing, but because I was sick of throwing food out; it made me so sad!

Well, it's been quite a while now and I felt that I had taken a break for long enough. I absolutely love French macarons. I try to eat them whenever I can since they are kind of hard to come by. It just makes sense that I would make them on my own. And that I did! I found a recipe that worked for me even though... well, it really shouldn't have worked at all. I did ALL the wrong things: didn't age the egg whites, didn't use parchment paper and used greased foil instead (I'm sure the purists are planning to tar and feather me in the near future)!

Ah, but who the heck cares when you've got these beautiful, utterly-freaking-delicious-magical-supreme beauties to chomp on?!?!?! Seriously I am SOOOO proud of myself. They didn't come out perfect, mind you, but the taste was phenomenal. The macarons themselves were crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Would you believe the greased foil actually worked too? My macarons had perfect shiny, untouched bottoms and... wait for it... wait a little more... okay fine... FEET. They had feet, the macaron gold standard.

The choice of fillings was of course, my favorite custard everrrrrrr. Please see my archives for the MANY uses of this famed custard, as the list is so long now. Perfectly creamy custard paired with perfectly tart raspberries. Really, I think I have died and gone to heaven...

Look ma - I got feet! Whoooopie!

Raspberry Cream Pie Macarons

Yields: 2 dozen macarons

Adapted from this recipe.

For the macarons:

1 cup powdered sugar + 2 tbsn.

1/2 cup almond powder or meal + 1 tbsn.

2 large egg whites, room temperature

5 tbsn. granulated sugar

red food coloring, about 5 drops

For the custard:

1 small box of instant vanilla pudding

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 clam shell of raspberries, washed, dried, and sliced

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Have a pastry bad with a plain tip (about 1/2 inch) ready. In a blender or food processor, grind together the powdered sugar and almond powder/ meal to make sure there are no lumps. Add the red food coloring into the granulated sugar and mix until combined. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the dyed sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes. Carefully fold in the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is smooth and there are no streaks of egg whites, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (the batter should resemble thick magma/ lava). Pipe the batter on the prepared baking sheet in 1 inch circles (about 1 tbsn. each), evenly spaced 1 inch apart. Tap the baking sheet a few times on the counter to flatten the macarons. Let them sit in the open air for about 30 minutes then bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool completely before removing them.

To make the custard, whip everything together until it is well combined and begins to thicken, about 3 - 5 minutes. Place in the refrigerator to cool and thicken some more until ready for use. To assemble, organize the macarons into similar sized pairs. Use a piping bag or a spoon to put some custard on one side of the macaron pair. Top it with some halved raspberries and smoosh (if that's a technical term) lightly with the other pair.