Lavender and Lemon Macarons

Macarons:

Line three baking sheets with flat parchment paper (NOT wax paper).

Ensure that your bowl and whisk are perfectly clean and free of any grease, fat or soap. In a large bowl, or stand mixer, whip the room temperature egg whites until shiny peaks form, adding baker’s sugar gradually as you are whipping them. Lastly, add in purple food coloring and whip until throughly incorporated. Add more purple than you think you will need – it fades easily when exposed to light. Set aside.

Into a large bowl, sift ground almonds, powdered sugar and ground lavender together. If there are large pieces, discard them or grind until they can fit through the sifter. Make a well in the mixture and add in the colored egg whites folding them in until incorporated.

After egg whites and almonds are combined, smooth out the mixture until there are no air bubbles. When the mixture falls off of your spatula and creates ribbons you will know you are ready.

Spoon the mixture into a large piping bag, or a Ziploc with a small corner cut out to act as a mock piping tip. Pipe the mixture out onto the lined baking sheets in a 1 ½ inch circle. You can make them larger or smaller depending on your needs, baking time will then vary.

After the macarons have been piped on the sheets, let them rest and set for 30 minutes. This resting period will help them form their cute little “feet” and become slightly hard to the touch.
As they set, preheat your oven to 320 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bake macarons in the center rack of your oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Test them after 8 minutes. As soon as they no longer wiggle and are slightly firm to your touch, take them out of the oven and let them cool on the sheet until room temperature.

For the custard:

Cream the room temperature butter and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, simmer milk with lemon extract and zest just until hot.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together egg, sugar and custard powder. Slowly, in a thin stream, incorporate hot milk and lemon mixture into the egg/sugar mixture. Make sure you stir continuously. Once combined, return the mixture to the saucepan, and whisk constantly over medium heat until thickened. Once it starts to thicken, take the pan off heat and place it in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap to keep it from forming a skin over the top.

When the mixture has cooled, whisk the creamed butter into the custard. Transfer to clean piping bag.

To Fill:
Flip over half of the macarons. Pipe some of the lemon custard onto the bottom of these macarons. Then add another macaron (top side out) to make a sandwich cookie. Continue until all macarons are made.

Store in fridge in an air tight container, separating the layers of she finished macarons with a sheet of parchment paper.

Serve with tea, and devour!