Lemon Macarons

March 20: World Macaron Day and First Day of Spring

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When Mum gives you homemade lemon curd, make macarons! That is exactly what we did to observe World Macaron Day. So we added lemon flavoring and a sunny shade of yellow to basic macaron shells and filled them with Mum’s homemade lemon curd. Take the opportunity to make lemon macarons as they are a wonderful way to welcome the spring season.

Recipe

(Adapted from TeaTime magazine – January/February 2010)

For the lemon macarons (Italian meringue method)

• 1 cup almond flour/meal
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 egg whites (fresh, unpasteurized and aged overnight at room temperature)
• 1 cup sugar, granulated white
• ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• yellow food coloring (we used AmeriFoods brand lemon yellow food paste gel color)

Directions

Sift the almond flour/meal with the powdered sugar. Grind in a food processor in batches to remove any lumps (optional). Whip the egg whites until peaks form.

Make a simple syrup to stabilize the egg whites by boiling the sugar and water together until it reaches a temperature of 245 degrees F on a candy thermometer (or until it reaches a soft ball stage). Pour into the egg whites and whip again until stiff and glossy. Fold in the almond flour/meal-sugar mixture until the consistency “flows like magma.” Stir in the lemon extract.

Tint the macaronage with yellow to make a sunny shade of lemon. Pipe one-inch discs on a parchment paper on top of an insulated baking sheet. Let the discs air dry to develop a thin skin for at least 30 minutes. Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes. Watch the “feet” develop, but be careful not to brown or burn the macarons. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Peel off the macarons from the parchment paper. Sort by size and match pairs. Make the lemon curd filling.

For the lemon curd

Directions

To complete the macarons, spread lemon curd between two shells. Sandwich them together and repeat the process for the rest of the shells. Refrigerate the macarons to set. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Notes

• Search our site for more macaron recipes. Or click on our MacAttack page to see our macaron gallery. Happy World Macaron Day!
• Dale Carnegie coined the famous quote: “When fate hands us a lemon, let’s try to make a lemonade” (see variations of the phrase at the Innocent English website). With this statement, he meant to encourage others to turn a negative into a positive position and to take the opportunity to change a disadvantageous situation into an advantageous one.
• Thanks to Highlander’s Mum for the lemon curd and recipe.  Store-bought instead of homemade lemon curd may be substituted for the lemon macaron filling.
• Thanks to Lisa L. for the ground almonds from Germany.
• See our Food Flops page for our lemon macaron mess.
• This post is our entry into the MacTweets monthly challenge #27 for World Macaron Day. Take a look at all the lovely macs on the site!
• HI Cookery is proud to partner with M5 Cake to make macarons this month. See our lemon macarons paired with the strawberry macarons that we made together below and on their site.

Guinness Brownies

March 17: Feast Day of St. Patrick

Slainte! St. Patrick’s Day is a time to celebrate Highlander’s heritage. He has traced his ancestry to the Ulster-Scots (Scots-Irish). Today is also a time to eat brownies boozed up with beer from Dublin, Ireland—Guinness. The dry Irish stout, mixed with a “trinity” of chocolate (unsweetened, semi-sweet and white),  makes this dessert dense and delicious! Shake some shamrock sprinkles on top for an edible emerald color contrast. Get into the “spirit” of St. Patrick’s Day and indulge in Guinness brownies.

Recipe

(Adapted from Detroit News)

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• ¾ cup unsweetened/baking cocoa powder (we used Nestle Toll House brand)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces (8 squares) of unsweetened chocolate (we used Baker’s brand)
• ¾ cup white chocolate chips (we used Nestle Toll House brand premiere white morsels)
• 6 tablespoons butter (we used Kerrygold brand Irish unsalted butter)
• 1 cup sugar (we lessened the amount to ¾ cup)
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 ¼ cup Guinness beer, room temperature
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (we used Ghirardelli brand)
• candy shamrock sprinkles (optional)

Directions

Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with foil. Mist with cooking spray. In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside. Melt together the unsweetened chocolate squares, white chocolate chips and butter. 

Stir until smooth. Beat the eggs. Add the sugar. Mix in the melted chocolate. 

Gradually add the flour-cocoa mixture. Stir in the Guinness beer and blend well. The batter will be thin. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spread evenly with a spatula.

Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven. Cool completely. Slice with a plastic knife. While the brownies are still warm, sprinkle candy shamrocks (optional). Yield: 24 square brownies.

Notes 

• The background in the final food photo above features Highlander’s family tartan, a plaid with green, blue and white colors.
• Instead of the shamrock sprinkles, dust the Guinness brownies with powdered sugar before serving.
• Search our blog for more brownie and Irish-inspired recipes.

Whoopie Pies

March 14 (3.14): National Pi (π) Day

Whoopie!!! HI Cookery has guest chefs for National Pi (π) Day!

Our goddaughter, Keira B., and her older sisters, Keisha and Kiana, who live in Maine, would send Whoopie Pies in care packages to us and our families on birthdays and the holidays. Whoopies Pies are little round sandwich cakes with a creamy marshmallow filling. The snack cake originated in the northeast region of America, is a popular dessert in Maine and is becoming a trendy treat nationwide. The classic “pie” is chocolate filled with vanilla flavor. But red velvet, pumpkin and other cake flavors and fillings are creatively combined for seasonal celebrations. Also, the sides of the filling may be rolled in nonpareils or mini chocolate chips for a party-style presentation.

Thanks to Keira and her sisters for being the guest chefs on HI Cookery, and to their mother Cherlyn, for sharing their family recipe for our blog post today. Make Whoopie Pies for National Pi (π) Day.

Recipe

(From Kumare Cherlyn B. and Family)

For the pies

• 1 cup cocoa powder (Hershey’s brand)
• 4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups sugar
• ¾ cup vegetable shortening (Crisco brand)
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

In a bowl, combine the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar with the shortening. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture and blend well. Using a small ice cream scoop, drop the batter on a greased cookie sheet about two inches apart. Use the back of a spoon to flatten each pie a bit with a circular motion. Bake in a preheated oven for 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.

Remove the pies from the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Sort by size. Turn over half of the batch in preparation for filling them.

For the filling

• 1 cup marshmallow cream (Marshmallow Fluff brand is highly recommended)
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup milk

Directions

In a large bowl, mix the marshmallow cream, shortening, sugar, vanilla, salt and milk until smooth and well blended. Spread a generous amount of the filling on one side of the pie. Sandwich with another pie. Yield: Approximately 3 dozen.

Notes

• Each Whoopie Pie may be stored individually in plastic wrap or sandwich bags and frozen. Thaw it at room temperature for an hour before serving.
• Optional decoration for observing National Pi (π) Day: Write the mathematical symbol for pi (π) on one side of the Whoopie Pie with extra filling. One year, we had decorated the top of a Crack Pie with π by sprinkling powdered sugar on it.
• Search our blog for other traditional pie recipes.