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Ingredients
Powdered sugar, 300 grams
Almond flour, 300 grams (Not almond meal, which has skins attached. Some brands are a little oily. I do not like Bob’s Red Mill or Arrowhead Mills almond flour for macarons. My favorite brands are Kirkland and Trader Joe’s.)
7 or 8 large eggs
Water
Granulated sugar, 450 grams
1 1/2 tsp gel food coloring (optional) (Americolor and Chefmaster are good brands. Wilton does not hold up well in baked applications. Do not use liquid food color. It must be gel color.)
corn syrup, 1/2 cup
unsalted butter, 1 lb
1-2 ounces flavoring, such as a liqueur or extract or, 6 ounces chocolate, or espresso powder, or berry puree, etc.
Equipment
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Food Scale that can measure in grams. (This is not optional. I am not providing volume measurements. Macarons are hard enough, don’t make them harder by trying to measure by volume).
3 or 4 flat baking pans
Non-stick parchment paper or silpat mats
Electric mixer. I highly reccommend a stand mixer for this project. A high mixer can work, but will be tricky to manage while trying to add the hot syrup.
Piping bags and plain round piping tip with about 1/3 - 1/2 inch opening. This corresponds to a Wilton 2A or Ateco 803 or 804. I don’t have a strong preference on piping bags. You will want a bag that is at about 16 inches long or longer.
Candy thermometer. I use a Thermapen for almost all temperature related things. Taylor makes good thermometers as an alternative. Make sure your thermometer is calibrated by boiling water. At 3000 feet or lower, boiling water measures 212F.
Fine mesh sieve or crank style sifter. Do not use the squeeze style, the almond meal gets stuck between the disks.
Two or more mixing bowls.
Small pot
Glass liquid measuring cup
Oven thermometer (optional, but useful to understand the true temperature in your oven)
