French Macarons Recipe

1. Place powdered sugar and ground almond in the food processor and process until extra fine. Sift the almond flour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl and discard the larger lumps. Set aside.
2. In a separate large bowl, beat the egg whites with pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add the granulated sugar until fully incorporated. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Add the food coloring and beat until combined and color has changed.
3. Add about ⅓ of the sifted almond flour mixture at a time to the beaten egg whites and gently fold using a spatula until combined. After the last addition of almond flour continue to fold slowly until the batter completely combined, the mixture will be smooth, sticky, and glossy. Another method to know how much to fold is the batter falls into ribbons and you can make a figure 8 while holding the spatula up.
4. Transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a round, medium-sized tip. Pipe the macarons onto a parchment paper or a silicone mat in 1½-inch (3-cm) circles, spacing at least 1-inch (2-cm) apart. Tap the baking sheet on a flat surface for at least 5 times to flatten the macarons and release any air bubbles. Let the macarons sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes until dry to the touch.
5. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F). 
6. Bake the macarons, one sheet at the time, for 14-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
7. Make the filling: place the raspberries in a small saucepan, heat over low heat until very soft and bubbly. Sieve and discard the seeds. Pour the smooth raspberry puree back to the saucepan, add chopped white chocolate and heavy cream. Place over low heat, heat stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, transfer to a piping bag and refrigerate for 1 hour or until it cools down and ready to use.
8. Match two cookies of about the same size, add a dollop of the filling to one macaron shell. Top it with another macaron shell to create a sandwich. Repeat with remaining macaron shells.
9. Place the macarons in an airtight container for 24 hours. Serve at room temperature.

Notes:

• Makes about 25 cookies.
• For a perfect result you must use a kitchen scale in this recipe (you can find good quality kithcen scale here: http://bit.ly/KitchenScale21).
• For the meringue, make sure your bowl is very clean and grease free.
• Don’t try to disconnect the macarons from the tray before cools down.
• When mixing your flour and meringue batter, do not overmix or undermix. The batter should fall back into the bowl in a thick ribbon.
• Can be stored in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.