Strawberry and cream macarons

 I didn't bake macarons much lately, ^^ and yes I miss it.

 Making a macaron is fun, as I have to think about the color and the taste, this cute little cookie needed a lot of attention. Even I baked it many times before I still get exciting when I put them into the oven, will they rise beautifully or will the color change after baking.
Because I'm not the professional baker, I don't have to bake a lot of the same something (like 1000 pairs of macarons or 100 pieces of cake ^^), and that's why baking is still gives me a real buzz. I can bake everything I like the way I want, hehe. 
So, this macaron is purely what I want to bake. I want red macaron, and the color has to relate to the flavour (it will be hard to understand if I make passionfruit macaron and color it in red -*-). With red color, it will be berry and I choose strawberry. When I color the macaron shell in red, I need the filling to be white. So I choose white chocolate ganache, but I don't want it too be too sweet, with cocoa butter, I can use less white chocolate but still got ganache that firm enough to stay in place. 
Freeze dried strawberry adds lovely strawberry taste to the ganache and the macaron and yes the color is cute too.
Right now it's easier to get good quality bakery supplies than when I started baking (a long time ago, hehe, again please don't ask me when). You can get cocoa butter from online shop but if you can't, use white chocolate instead of the cocoa butter is not a bad choice but the taste will be sweeter.  

Strawberry and cream macarons

Makes about 25-30 pairs

Macaron
63g .................................. Almond powder
98g .................................. Icing sugar
3g ..................................... Strawberry powder
50g ................................... Egg whites
15g .................................... Sugar
........................................... A pinch of cream of tartar
1g ...................................... Powder egg whites
........................................... Red food coloring

White chocolate and Strawberry ganache
1g ..................................... Freeze dried strawberry
90g .................................. White chocolate
80g .................................. Whipping cream
30g .................................. Cocoa butter 

 Combine the icing sugar, Strawberry powder and almond flour in a bowl of a food processor. 

Grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.

 Beat the egg whites, egg white powder, and cream of tartar in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks, add the color and whisk to combine.

Sift 1/3 of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold to combine. 
Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches.

  Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
 Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806).

 Pipe 3.5 cm rounds onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).

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).

Set aside for 1 hour. After 1 hour the top of the macarons will be dry, and ready to bake.

Preheat oven to 150°C. Bake for 16 minutes (baking time can be varied, from 12-15 up to your oven) or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven and cool on trays. Slide a knife under each macaroon to release from paper. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week or until ready to assemble. 

Make White chocolate and Strawberry ganache
Put all the ingredients except the strawberry into a bowl, and place it over a bowl of hot water, stir until melt. Remove from the hot water, stir until fully combine, then add the strawberry and mix until combine.
Let it cool until firm enough to pipe 
Sandwich the macaron shells with the buttercream. Refrigerate for 1 hour to firm up the buttercream and serve.

Strawberry and cream macarons