Orange Macarons

It has been a month since I learned how to make macarons with an Italian meringue.  A small group of us went to Paris and we all learned how to make macarons from La Cuisine Paris. Our instructor was incredible and I can't wait to go back to learn more!

Tonight I attempted to deviate a little from what I learned in class.  I added a bit of orange zest to my almond flour and powdered sugar combo.

I thought I added enough orange coloring, but in the end, it didn't look like it made a difference...you'll see a little later.  For future reference, I think next time I'll definitely have to have a richer color at this point. I used a water soluble food coloring so I colored the egg whites.  They turned out looking like egg yolks!

Got my sugar water mixture set! Just needed it to get to the right temperature before adding it to the egg whites that were beating away.

Added the hot sugar syrup to the egg whites and really got the meringue going.

After the meringue was done, I folded it into the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture and made the macaronage.

Next step: piping!

Bake these babies in the oven for a little bit, and voila!

Flip and match tops halves to bottom halves and get them ready to be filled with orange buttercream.

These aren't the prettiest macarons, and didn't turn out as orange in color as I thought, but they sure did taste good! Nice and light!

For the Orange Buttercream:

100g unsalted butter
250g icing sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice (adjust levels according depending on personal taste)
3 teaspoons orange juice (adjust levels according depending on personal taste)
2/3 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons orange-infused milk (leave 1 tablespoon orange zest in 2 tablespoons of milk in fridge, overnight)

1. Beat butter and icing sugar together till creamy.

2. Add juices and zest and beat till smooth.

3. Add milk and beat till combined. If this is too runny, chill buttercream before piping onto shells.