Macacron is one of the trickiest recipe I have ever made. My first time was a disaster ! The shells were flat and stuck to the cookie sheets ! The color was dull and uneven. After reading many many recipes and trying a number of times, I finally succeed ! It helps if you plan and organize what you need before you start. Here are some tips:

1. Some recipes recommend aging the egg whites, I tried both aging and using them straight from the shells and didn’t really notice a big difference. One important thing though, they must be at room temperature before whisking.
2. Colouring can be tricky. I just used cocoa powder here. If you want other colours, do not add the cocoa powder and add colouring powder or paste.
3. Prepare the piping bag, line a medium bowl with the bag. This helps to pour the batter into the bag.
4. Print or draw some circles on a piece of paper, about 1+1/2 inch in diameter, place it underneath the parchment paper on the cookie sheet to help piping the batter. Just make sure you remove it before baking.
5. For easy fillings, you can use Nutella or any kind of jam.

Makes about 12 macarons

• 3/4 cup icing sugar
• 100 g finely ground almond
• 1+1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 75 g egg whites (from 2 large or 3 small eggs)
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• Powder or paste food coloring if desired
• Fruit jam (I used raspberry jam) or Nutella for fillings

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF
2. Sift ground almond, icing sugar and cocoa powder
3. Using an electric mixer with whisk attachment, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar at medium speed until frothy
4. Add sugar slowly
5. Increase speed to high, whisk until a stiff peak is formed (the meringue at the tip of the whisk should be glossy and won’t drip back)
6. Gently and quickly, fold in almond mixture in 2-3 portions until just blended, don’t over mix (batter should flow like lava)
7. Pour mixture in a piping bag with 3/8″ round tip
8. Pipe batter into circles on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, about 1+1/2 inch in diameter and 2 inches apart
9. Tap cookie sheets on counter a couple of times to remove air bubbles
10. Let sit at room temperature for at least about 30 minutes (remember to remove paper with pre-printed circles)
11. Bake for about 8 minutes
12. Let cool for 5-10 minutes on cookie sheets then completely on rack
13. Sandwich with your favourite fillings