Makes about 2 dozen
Ingredients
215 grams (7½ ounces) confectioners’ sugar
100 grams (3½ ounces) egg whites (about 3 large) at room temperature
140 grams (5 ounces) almond flour or sliced almonds
25 grams (2 tablespoons) castor or superfine granulated sugar
Pinch salt
Green food coloring (preferably paste)
2 teaspoons very finely grated key lime rind
Directions
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper adhering them to the sheets with a little butter.
If sliced, grind the almonds very fine in a food processor with about half the confectioners’ sugar, scraping regularly. Add the remaining confectioners’ sugar and process until homogenous. Pass through a medium-coarse sieve and regrind the remaining almond bits if necessary. If using almond flour, sift together with the confectioners’ sugar.
Beat the whites and salt with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the granulated sugar and beat until stiff and shiny. Add coloring and beat until homogenous. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula fold in the almond mixture in two additions until just homogenous. The mixture will deflate. Gently fold in the lime rind.
Fit a piping bag with a 3⁄8-inch (1 cm) round tip. Pipe the batter onto the baking sheets in circles about 1 inch in diameter. Let the macarons dry about 20 minutes (a little longer is OK if you need to cook them in two batches) so a little skin forms on the outside.
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Set the macarons in the center of the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 350°F. Prop the door sligthly ajar with a wooden spoon or something similar. For small macarons, bake about 10 minutes, larger ones will take about 15. They are done when shiny and hard on the outside. When you pry one apart it should be a little moist in the middle. Set on a cooling rack and cool briefly. Remove from the macarons from parchment while still warm. Cool on cooling racks.
Sandwich the macarons with 1-2 teaspoons of buttercream. Set in an air-tight container and refrigerate overnight.
Lime Buttercream
Makes about 1 cup
Ingredients
125 grams (4½ ounces or 1 stick + 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, softened
70 grams (2½ ounces or 5 tablespoons) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
3 egg yolk at room temperature
2 teaspoons key lime juice
1 teaspoon key lime rind
Green food coloring (preferably paste)
Directions
Beat the butter until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with an electric mixer until thick and foamy.
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and boil to the soft ball stage (238°F). Very gradually add the syrup to the egg mixture in a thin stream, beating rapidly between each addition. Beat with an electric mixer until thick and fluffy and room temperature. Beat in the butter, a tablespoon at a time. If the mixture looks curdled keep beating at high speed. If it gets soupy, refrigerate for about 15 minutes and beat again. Finally beat in the food coloring, then the lime juice a drop at a time and finally stir in the lime rind. Refrigerate until firm enough to pipe.
Recipe Copyright by Michael Krondl