Awww, these are super cute, aren’t they? Cute little snowmen as macarons. I find it so fitting that it actually snowed during the night, what better time to publish this recipe than today? I published a bucket list on January 1 with 24 ideas of what you may wish to tackle in your baking, myself included. In my opinion French macarons should definitely be on your baking bucket list. I already have several recipes on my blog. However, what I hadn’t tried so far is to decorate macarons with royal icing. Maybe due to all the gingerbread houses I decorated with royal icing not long ago made me think. You can also decorate French macarons with them, so I decided to make some snowmen. I only decorated the macaron shells on the top with rocal icing. It actually was a lot of fun. I hope these sweeten a cold winter day for you!
We are going to make these macarons with the Italian method. This means we are going to heat the egg whites before we beat them cold into stiff meringue. Supposedly the Italian method yields more consistent results. However, if you have a macaron recipe you swear by, by all means, feel free to use it instead. What I like about this recipe in particular? That you don’t have to use any artifical food coloring, but that the macarons shells can be left as they are. My husband wanted to know what the specks on the shells are, well, these are almond crumbs that were not processed as finely. But regardless, the recipe turned out great and that is why I prefer the Italian method to the French method (which means simply beating the egg whites into meringue without heating them up first). If you prefer the French method, use this recipe instead.
These cute snowmen macarons are made with the Italian method and get their faces with royal icing. Weigh the almonds and icing sugar and put them through a food processor. Sieve and put in a large mixing bowl. Place the egg whites and sugar in a pot usable for a waterbath and heat on medium in a second pot filled with water until the sugar dissolves. The temperature should reach 65 degrees Celsius. If you don't have a thermometer, you should not feel any sugar crystals if you rub a little bit of the mixture between your fingers. Be sure to stir and don't let the egg whites cook. Once they have reached the right temperature, transfer to a mixing bowl and mix while still warm on medium high. It may take 5-10 minutes for it to become a stiff meringue. If turning the bowl upside down, the meringue shouldn't fall out. Add the almond and sugar mix and start folding by using a spatula. Most important part, the creation of the batter (macronage). This is really important, read carefully! If you undermix the batter, you will not have proper macarons at the end, but this holds also true if you overmix. Finding the right constistency is key for the macarons to turn out beautifully. The first important thing to keep in mind is to only fold the whole mix. First it will look like the almonds and the meringue don't like each other. This is normal. Simply continue folding slowly. Continue doing so until the batter starts moving back slowly if you take out the spatula. Your final batter should have the constistency of honey or you should be able to write an eight with the batter. It is liquid, yes, but it will move very slowly. If you have pancake batter, you went too far. The best video for knowing the right constistency is this one in my opinion. Once you are happy with your macronage, prepare a baking sheets with parchment paper. I simply printed two sheets of this template and slipped them below the parchment paper for me to see. If not using the template, pipe two circles, one being smaller on top of each other, they should touch each other slightly. Once you are done, rap and bang the baking sheets to get out any air bubbles. If the macronage has the right consistency, any "swirls" will move back into place. Heat oven to 125 degrees Celsius and bake the first baking sheet. You don't need to wait for the macarons to dry, you can start baking immediately. While the first one bakes, it is OK for the second baking sheet to sit at room temperature. Repeat with the second batch. Let them cool. Look for two matching ones, you will only decorate the top with snowmen. For the royal icing mix the egg white with the icing sugar. Divide into three parts in three bowls and color each in one color. Transfer to three different piping bags and only cut off a tiny top, try to imagine that you want to write something with the piping bag. Decorate the snowmen as seen on the photos. Let them dry for at least half an hour before filling (in my case caramel). Keep chilled in the fridge before serving.Cute Snowmen Macarons
Ingredients
Instructions
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