Lemon Macarons with Lemon Buttercream Filling

I had a dream about this recipe two days ago, and I really happy it’s a reality, now. In my dream I could smell the fragrance of the lemon and taste the tangy taste of it, most of all it’s delicious. May be because of the lemon, which my sister carried into the house from the supermarket, their bright color is so lovely.

After the Vanilla Bean Italian Meringue Macarons , I still want to make the macarons using Italian meringue method, so, I decide to use it here.

One of my friends asked me about the shape of the macarons, the vanilla bean macarons are quite flat, so I adjust the recipe to make the batter a little bit stiffer. And you can see that my macarons are thicker and the foot is larger.

I made it 2 times, I take the picture of how-to on the first, but I don’t happy with the color (I use gel color). The second time is the finish product that I show you, the color is so bright and look like lemon, the way I want it to be. The result is from the powder color, and if you want the color to be so tense I suggest using it.

This macarons are the reality of my dream, the lovely lemon color, the fragrance (which I increase from ¼ tsp on my first trial into ½tsp) and the taste of the tangy lemon buttercream.

I have to admit that I felt in love with the macarons making now, and I really hope that you will joy me, because they are so lovely both their look and their taste.

Lemon Macarons with Lemon Buttercream Filling

Makes about 25

Lemon Italian Meringue Macaron
For the macaron base
75 g	almond powder
75 g	icing sugar
25 g	egg whites
½ tsp	Lemon zest
	Yellow food coloring (you can skip this but it will give the macaron a lovely color) *If using powder color, mix it with a little bit of water before use.
For Italian Meringue
120 g	caster sugar
30 g	water
60 g	egg whites
	* You will use 90 g for the macaron and the rest will use for the buttercream

Preheat the oven to 150°C.

Mix the macaron base:

Sift together almond powder and icing sugar into a bowl, put the color, lemon zest and egg white into the bowl. Use a pastry scrap to bring everything together. Set aside.

Make the Italian meringue:

In a sauce pan, put the sugar and water and bring to boil over medium low heat.
When the syrup reaches 114°C, start whisking the egg whites.

The syrup is ready when it reaches 120°C; pour it over the egg whites and continue whisking until cold.

Make the macaron:

Mix together the base and 90g of Italian meringue.

The mixture should be softer and very glossy, a little stiffer then cake batter..

Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Pipe or spoon mixture into 2.5cm rounds onto baking paper-lined (or Silpat) oven trays. When you’ve pipe out all the macarons lift each baking sheet with both hands and then bang it down on the counter (you need to get the air out of the batter).

Bake for 9 minutes to 15 minutes depend on your oven (oven door maintained open with a wooden spoon). Remove from oven and cool on trays. Slide a knife under each macaron to release.

Make the Lemon Butter cream

Make the lemon buttercream

	Italian meringue the rest from making the macaron
100 g	Unsalted butter
1½ tbsp	Lemon juice
	a dash of salt

Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time into the meringue. Increase the mixer speed to high for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the butter is fully incorporated. Then add the lemon juice and salt, and mix to combine.

Sandwich macarons with filling.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour for filling to be firm.

Lemon Macaron with Lemon Buttercream Filling