Recipe

Lemon Macarons

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Bitesize bursts of sunshine!

Crispy macaron shells filled with luscious lemon buttercream with a lemon curd centre – a classic flavour that’s perfect for Spring.

Sweet, tangy and delicious!

And if you’re just as obsessed with lemon as I am, make sure to check out my other lemon recipes:

So many to choose from and they’re all so good!

This recipe will make up to 24 macarons and take up to a total of 3 hours to make – approximately 20 mins to prepare the macaron mixture, 30 mins – 2 hrs drying time followed by 15 mins baking time. The curd can be made well ahead of time and takes about 20 mins to make. I’ve added some tips on how to sterilise your own jars so that the curd can be stored sealed for 1 month.

Ingredients:

For the macarons:

  • 95 g ground almonds, sieved until fine
  • 95 g icing sugar
  • 90 g egg whites (approx. 3 egg whites) at room temperature, aged if possible (see tips)
  • 90 g granulated sugar
  • blue food colouring, powder or gel is best

For the lemon curd:

  • 75 g unsalted butter
  • 150 g caster sugar
  • Juice of 3 lemons
  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg yolks

For the buttercream:

  • 100 g unsalted butter, softened
  • 200 g icing sugar
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

Useful Equipment: 2 baking trays and 2 macaron mats placed on top (if you don’t have a macaron mat, place a sheet of baking paper on each tray and draw out circle templates with a diameter of 3 cm – you can use a cookie cutter to do this), mixing bowls, hand/stand mixer with whisk attachments, stainless steel or glass mixing bowl, saucepans, piping bag with a round nozzle, food processor (optional), sieve, spatula, cocktail sticks, small plate, 250 ml preserving jar (e.g. Kilner)

Useful Tips:

  • For best results, age your egg whites. This can be done by separating your eggs the day before and placing the egg whites uncovered in the fridge overnight.
  • Bring your eggs to room temperature before whisking.
  • You need your dry ingredients to be as fine as possible. Blend them together in a food processor or push them through a sieve a couple of times before combining with the egg. This is how the macarons get their shiny shell.
  • Pay attention not to over-whisk your egg whites. This can cause your shells to crack apart during baking (too much air!). You need to get them to the thick and glossy stage.
  • Leaving your macarons to dry out before baking is crucial for getting the smooth shell. If they are not dry, they are likely to crack when baking. Once you can touch the top of the shells without your finger sticking, they have dried enough.

Please don’t hesitate to send me a message via the contact page or on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) if you need any advice or help troubleshooting your macarons!

Method:

To make the lemon curd:

  1. In a saucepan over a low heat, melt the butter with the sugar and lemon juice.
  2. In a heatproof bowl, beat the egg and egg yolks together.
  3. Once melted, temper the eggs by pouring a small amount of the melted butter mixture slowly into the bowl whilst whisking.
  4. Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and stir carefully until the mixture is thick enough to cover the back of a spoon.
  5. Remove from the heat and pour into a sterilised jar if storing or into a bowl if using straight away. It will thicken when it is cooled completely.

Storing leftover lemon curd: The curd can be made up to 1 month in advance as long as it is stored in a sealed sterilised container. Otherwise it can be stored fresh in the fridge for up to 2 days. To sterilise glass jars, either wash them in the dishwasher or by hand washing with plenty of soap and hot water and then dry them in the oven on a low heat (160 °C). Make sure that you take off the rubber seals beforehand, wash them separately and do not put them in the oven with the jars.

Making the Macaron Shells:

  1. Sift together the almond flour and icing sugar into a bowl. If you have one, I recommend blending them together in a food processor to get the mixture as fine as possible.
  2. In a clean stainless steel or glass bowl on top of a saucepan with simmering water (a bain marie – the water should be about 1 inch deep but make sure your bowl doesn’t touch the surface) lightly whisk the egg whites and granulated sugar together until the sugar has completely dissolved. You can check this by rubbing the egg whites between your fingers – if it’s still got a grainy texture, keep heating and mixing.
  3. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the bowl from the heat. Using a hand or stand mixer, whisk the egg white mixture until stiff peaks form. It should be thick and glossy!
  4. Add the almond flour and icing sugar mixture as well as your food colouring and fold until combined. As you do so, push your spatula down through the mix as you turn the bowl – the aim is to remove some of the air trapped in the mixture.
  5. Repeat this movement until the batter starts to fall like ribbons. This is a key step to get right as under-mixing can upset the texture of the shells. Pick up some batter with your spatula and let it fall off the end. If it is falling like a ribbon, try drawing a figure of 8. If the batter doesn’t break whilst doing this then it is ready. If it does, keeping folding until the ribbon stage is reached. It should fall quite slowly.
  6. Place the mixture into a piping bag with a round nozzle and pipe onto your macaron mat/template. Try piping straight down into the centre of the circle to achieve a circular shaped macaron.
  7. Lift the tray about 10 cm off the surface and drop it down onto the table. Do this a couple of times to bring any air bubbles to the surface. You can then smoothen the top with a cocktail stick.
  8. Let the macarons sit at room temperature until dry on top. This can take from 30 mins to 2 hrs depending on the room. You will know they are ready when you can touch the top and it isn’t sticky.
  9. Whilst the macarons are drying, preheat the oven to 150 °C fan/320 °F.
  10. Bake for 13-14 mins (to get an even bake, rotate the tray every 7 mins). Cool completely on the tray.

Assembling the Macarons:

  1. In order to get neat looking macarons, try and pair similar shaped shells together.
  2. For the frosting, beat the butter in a mixing bowl until pale. Gradually add the icing sugar and continue to mix together until smooth and creamy. Add the lemon juice and mix well.
  3. Place into a piping bag (you could use a piping nozzle of your choice!) and pipe a circle around the edge of the bottom shell. Fill the hole with a teaspoon of curd and sandwich together with the top shell.
  4. Decorate however you choose! See my tip below if you fancy a drizzle of royal icing and a handful of sprinkles. Enjoy!

To decorate, I drizzled the shells with royal icing coloured yellow (you could also use white chocolate or decomelts) and decorated with ‘Life is Gold’ sprinkles medley from Baking Time Club. You can get 20% off on all Baking Time Club sprinkles with my exclusive Pippatisserie discount ‘PIPPA20’

These macarons will keep up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Any leftover curd (not sealed) will keep in the fridge for 1 week.

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I love to hear what you think! Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. And don’t forget to tag Pippatisserie in any photos you share on social media (or use the hashtag #pippatisserie), I love to see your bakes!

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