I'm a little out of practice....

It's been a while since I wrote a blog post....mostly because I've been busy with work (I know, what else is new). I find myself starting recipes, taking pictures of the dishes as I work on them, but not quite getting them finished to my satisfaction. I'll eventually loop back to them--how to make dashi broth and udon noodle soup, an exercise in cooking potatoes, recipes inspired by my trip to Santa Fe, plus a few others. I'm just a bit out of practice...

Our cooking class calendar updates on the first of every month--so this last Friday, June 1st, the July calendar went live on the website. It's always fun to see which classes our customers jump at first, we often have a couple of classes that that sell out in the first 4 or 5 days each month. This time, we had a class sell out in 36 hours--a class on making macarons. Needless to say, I was thrilled to see our customers respond this way, but I haven't actually made macarons in a while. Like working on the blog, I'm a little out of practice.

So, if I'm going to teach macarons next month, I'd better brush up on my skills in the coming weeks. I did a first practice run a couple of weeks ago, in anticipation of putting the class on our schedule. The flavors were spot on, but I can see every little flaw in the technique. I'll definitely need to practice a few more times before the class. But, I thought you might like to see what I've been up to. I hope you enjoy!

Blueberry Macarons with Lemon Buttercream

Blueberry and lemon is a classic flavor combination. In this recipe, I use freeze-dried blueberries, ground into a fine powder, to give both flavor and color to the cookies. Feel free to use a store-bought lemon curd in the buttercream filling, but the recipe below is really easy to make.

Makes 2 to 3 dozen cookies

For the cookies:

2 ounces freeze-dried blueberries

7 ounces powdered sugar

4 ounces almond meal

4 large egg whites (about 4 ounces)

pinch of Kosher salt

3 ½ ounces granulated sugar

For the filling

4 large egg whites (about 4 ounces)

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

1 pound unsalted butter, softened

²/₃ cup lemon curd, plus more to taste (recipe follows)

To make the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 325°F and place a rack in the center. Line 3 baking sheets with silpat baking mats or parchment paper. 

Place the dried blueberries into a mini-food processor or spice grinder. Process the berries until they are finely crushed into a powder. Shake the berry powder through a fine mesh sieve over a bowl to remove the seeds. 

Place about ¹/₃ of the powdered sugar, the almond meal, and the blueberry powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until a fine powder is formed. Transfer the nut and sugar mixture and the remaining powdered sugar into a fine mesh sieve set over a large bowl. Sift the mixture into the bowl, using the back of a wooden spoon to press any remaining bits of almond meal and blueberries through the mesh.

Place the egg whites and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium high speed until frothy and white in color. Gradually add in the granulated sugar, and once all the sugar has been added, increase the speed and whip until stiff peaks are achieved. Remove the bowl from the mixer.

Scatter about ¹/₃ of the almond mixture over the egg whites and gently fold them into the egg whites. Add the second third of the almond mixture to the egg whites and fold as before. When incorporated, fold in the remaining almond mixture. Continue to fold and mix the batter until it is loose enough to slowly flow and drip off the spatula.

Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a ½ inch round piping tip. Carefully pipe rounds of batter onto the prepared baking sheets. You can pipe them to whatever size you like, but be careful to leave space in between the cookies as they will spread after piping. (I piped mine a little larger than 1 inch in diameter, and the finished cookies are about 1 ½ inches in diameter.) Lift the baking sheets a few inches off the counter and drop them, this will allow any trapped air bubbles to release. Let the cookies stand at room temperature to dry. The cookies are ready to bake with they are dry and not sticky when lightly touched by your fingertip. This may take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes. 

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 6 minutes, then rotate the pan in the oven and bake for another 3 minutes. Let the macarons cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. 

To make the filling:

Place the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and hand-whisk to blend. Bring about 2 inches of water to a boil in a medium saucepan and place the mixer bowl over the saucepan. Whisk constantly until the mixture is no longer grainy and has reached 160°F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the mixer bowl from the heat and attach to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until the meringue is light and fluffy and until the bottom of the bowl no longer feels warm to the touch.

With the mixer on medium-high speed, add the softened butter a couple of tablespoons at a time, allowing each addition to blend in fully before adding the next. Halfway through the butter, stop the mixer and use a silicone spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue adding the remaining butter--the mixture should resemble a velvety mayonnaise.

With the mixer on low speed, mix in the lemon curd and beat until smooth. Taste and add more lemon curd until the desired flavor is reached. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a star tip.

To assemble the cookies:

You will likely have cookies of slightly varying sizes and shapes, so take a few minutes to organized matched pairs. Pipe a swirl of buttercream on the bottom of one of the cookies in each matched pair. Top with the other cookie. Repeat with the remaining pairs of cookies. 

You can store the cookies in a closed container at room temperature, but I recommend storing them in the refrigerator. Storage in the refrigerator will also soften the texture of the cookie and make them even more delicious.

Lemon Curd

Lemon is the classic flavor, but I like to mix it up. Try using grapefruit juice, lime juice, or passion fruit puree (available in most Latin grocery stores, in the freezer section).

Makes about 1 ½  cups

4 large egg yolks

3 ½ ounces sugar

3 ounces lemon juice

zest of one lemon

4 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1" pieces

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk together the yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest. Cook the curd slowly over medium to low heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickenought to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let the curd boil, it should be properly cooked at about 170°F.

Pour the cooked curd through a strainer into a bowl to filter out any curdled egg. Whisk in the butter a piece at a time, and stir until melted and completely incorporated. Cover the curd with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Chill until completely cool.