Lucky Irish Cream Macarons

Ingredients

• ¾ cup + 2 tbsp powdered sugar
• ½ cup Amoretti® Blanched Almond Flour
• ¼ cup egg whites (from about 2 eggs)
• pinch cream of tartar
• ¼ cup baker's fine sugar
• green gel color
• 1½ cups Amoretti® Irish Cream Ganache

• dark chocolate, melted
• white chocolate, melted
• gold leaf

• food processor or mini-prep
• stand or handheld mixer
• large bowl
• rubber spatula
• large piping bag fitted with #12 tip
• 2 half sheet pans, lined with parchment
• small paintbrush
• piping bag fitted with star tip

Directions

1. In a food processor combine the powdered sugar and Blanched Almond Flour, pulse for about 10-15 seconds. Set aside.
2. With the mixer on medium speed and using the whisk attachment, whip the whites until they are foamy.
3. Rain in the sugar slowly and whip until the angle of the peak of the whites is at 11 o’clock to 11:30. Remove the whisk, tapping it on the side of the mixer to remove excess meringue. Gently dip the whisk partially into the meringue to get a small amount on the tip of the whisk and turn the whisk so that the tip is pointing up and check the angle of the meringue. It should be at about 11 o’clock, using a clock as a reference.
4. Now is the time to add color. Start with a very small amount on a toothpick and add more, a little at a time until you reach your desired color.
5. Slowly fold the whites into dries in three increments, using a spatula.
6. Once combined, slowly “paint” the mixture up the sides of the bowl with the flat spatula, continuing around the entire bowl.
7. Look to see if the mixture begins to fall back down the bowl. If not, then scrape the mixture down to the center and begin again, repeating this process until the mixture is “falling”. This usually occurs after doing this 3 times.
8. Put the mix in a large piping bag and, using a #12 tip, pipe small circles 1¼” in diameter onto a parchment-lined (or silpat) sheet pan. (It is best to make a template on white paper that you can trace over, this way every piece is the same size.)
9. Slam the sheet pan onto a flat surface 4-6 times to knock out air bubbles. Bang the bottom of the sheet pan with your hand 4-5 times to knock out more air bubbles.
10. Let the macarons dry at room temperature until they are dull 15-45 minutes. The length of time it takes for them to dull will depend on the humidity in the air.
11. While the macarons are drying, preheat the oven to 325℉.
12. Bake for 11 minutes or until the “feet” have formed on the bottom of the shells. If they slide when you gently move them, bake 1-3 minutes more. Keep an eye on them as you do not want the shells to begin to brown.
13. Cool completely before removing from parchment.

14. Place melted dark and white chocolates in piping bags, cut very small tips off.
15. On some shells, draw thin lines of white chocolate and dark chocolate and then, using a small knife, drag through the lines to create a design. Add a small piece of gold leaf to the top of the chocolate.
16. On some shells, use a small paintbrush to brush some dark chocolate over the top of a shell and add a small piece of gold leaf to the chocolate.
17. Continue decorating as desired, letting chocolate dry completely before filling. Remember, you only need to decorate half the shells.

18. In a heat-proof bowl slowly melt Irish Cream Ganache, at 30-second intervals, stirring between each interval.
19. Once it is melted completely it will be too thin to pipe, so you will need to chill it a bit. This can be done over an ice bath, with constant stirring until the desired thickness is achieved (it will happen very quickly, so you need to remove the ganache bowl from the ice bath often while stirring!), or you can place the bowl into the refrigerator for a few minutes and check it every 40 seconds. You don’t want clumps of chocolate to form, so it needs to be stirred to stay smooth while firming up.
20. Once it is ready to pipe, fit a Wilton 1M star tip in a piping bag and fill the bag with Ganache.
21. Pipe a small rosette onto an undecorated shell and top with a decorated shell.
22. Continue until all macarons have been filled.

• Macarons are best after an overnight rest in the refrigerator. Ideally, when you bite into the macaron the shell is crisp and the inside is soft.