Raspberry Thumbprint Macaroons Food

RASPBERRY MACARONS

Steps:

• Pulse confectioners' sugar and flour in a food processor until combined. Sift mixture 2 times.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar; whisk until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low; add superfine sugar. Increase speed to high; whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. Sift flour mixture over whites; fold until smooth and shiny. Fold in puree and food coloring.
• Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip; pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, dragging tip to sides rather than forming peaks. Tap sheets on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until crisp and firm, about 10 minutes. After each batch, increase oven to 375 degrees, heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees.
• Let cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. (If sticking, spray water between parchment and hot sheet. The steam will help release macarons.)
• Sandwich 2 macarons with 1 teaspoon jam.

RASPBERRY THUMBPRINT MACAROONS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the egg whites, sugar, salt and vanilla in a large bowl until combined; fold in the coconut.
• Scoop heaping tablespoonfuls of the coconut mixture about 1 inch apart onto the baking sheet. Use your fingers to form into pyramids; bake 10 minutes. Make an indentation in each cookie using the back of a teaspoon; fill each with the raspberry jam, then continue baking until golden brown around the edges, 10 to 15 more minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

RASPBERRY LEMON THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets.
• In a small bowl, combine the jam and Chambord. Stir to combine.
• In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk to blend.
• In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 2 additions and beat just until moist clumps form. Gather the dough together into a ball.
• Pinch off the dough to form 1-inch balls. Place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing 1-inch apart. Use your floured index finger or 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to create depressions in the center of each ball. Fill each indentation with nearly 1/2 teaspoon of the jam mixture. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
• Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

RASPBERRY MACARONS

Steps:

• Whisk the egg whites in a large, clean bowl until soft peaks form. Whisk in the icing sugar in 3 or 4 batches, whisking well between each addition. Add a couple of drops of colouring with the final addition of sugar. Keep whisking until the mixture is light pink, with no streaks, and is thick and glossy, a bit like shaving foam.
• Using a large metal spoon, gently fold through the ground almonds. Cover 4 baking sheets with baking parchment and dab a little of the mixture in the corners of each sheet to secure paper. If you don't have enough baking sheets, make and cook half the quantity, then repeat. Use 2 spoons or a piping bag fitted with a wide nozzle to make 40 circles, each about 5cm wide. Leave to sit out for about 10 mins until a skin starts to form.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Place the baking sheets in the oven, leaving the oven door slightly ajar to allow steam to escape, then bake for 20-25 mins until just crisp, but not browned. Leave to cool.
• When ready to serve, gently ease off the paper with a palette knife. Carefully spread 1 tsp raspberry jam per biscuit over half of the biscuits and 1 tsp mascarpone per biscuit over the other halves, then gently sandwich together.

ALMOND-WALNUT THUMBPRINT MACAROONS

Steps:

• Put the almonds in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until mostly powdered with a few crunchy bits remaining, about 15 pulses. Transfer to a large bowl. Put the walnuts in the food processor and pulse until mostly powdered. Add the walnuts to the almonds.
• Add the sugar, cardamom, egg and egg whites to the bowl and, using one hand, mix to combine. Cover with a towel and let the mixture sit for at least 8 hours or overnight to dry out a bit.
• Heat the oven to 325 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Pour rose water or 1 cup of water in a small shallow bowl. Dampen your hands with the rose water and scoop up about a tablespoon of the dough at a time, pressing it into walnut-size balls. Place the macaroons on the baking sheets about 2 inches apart and flatten them slightly. Use your thumb to make a small indentation in the middle of each.
• Transfer the baking sheets to the oven and cook for 15 minutes, then remove and put either 1/4 teaspoon of the raspberry jam or a pistachio in each thumbprint. Rotate the pans and continue baking for 10 more minutes or until golden and firm. Cool to room temperature on the baking sheets and serve or freeze.

RASPBERRY AND ALMOND SHORTBREAD THUMBPRINTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until smooth. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Mix in flour until dough comes together. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Make a small hole in the center of each ball, using your thumb and finger, and fill the hole with preserves.
• Bake for 14 to 18 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar, 3/4 teaspoon almond extract, and milk until smooth. Drizzle lightly over warm cookies.

RASPBERRY THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 375°.
• Mix together cookie mix, butter, egg and flour until dough forms.
• Shape dough into balls using medium cookie scoop.
• Place 2-inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Using thumb or handle of wooden spoon, make indentation in center of each cookie.
• Spoon about 1/4 teaspoon jam into each indentation.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.
• Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
• Microwave baking chips on High 1 to 2 minutes or until chips are melted; stir until smooth. Spoon melted chips into small resealable plastic bag; cut small hole in corner of bag. Squeeze bag gently to drizzle melted chips over cookies.

RASPBERRY THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375.
• In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, egg and flour until soft dough forms.
• Form dough into 3/4 inch balls.
• Place on ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
• Using thumb or handle of wooden spoon, make an indentation in the center of each cookie.
• Spoon about 1/4 tsp of jam into each indentation.
• Bake 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown.
• Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes then remove from cookie sheet to wire rack and cool completely.
• In small microwave safe bowl, melt chips on high until well melted. Stir until smooth. May need to do this in segments of 2 or 3 minutes until well melted.
• Drizzle in little lines over the cooled cookies to decorate. Or, you can just add the chips to the dough before baking if you prefer.

MACARONS

Steps:

• Place the icing sugar and ground almonds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse about 15 times until fully combined. Sieve this mixture into a large bowl, discarding any particles that stay in the sieve. Add the first batch of egg whites to the almond mixture, mix to form a thick paste and set aside.
• Tip the second batch of egg whites into a spotlessly clean, heatproof bowl and have an electric whisk at the ready. Place 50ml water and the granulated sugar into a small saucepan on medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the syrup registers 110C, using a sugar thermometer, at which time start to beat the egg whites on high speed. Once the syrup is at 118C pour it slowly down the side of the mixer bowl, avoiding the moving whisk. Continue to whisk on high until the mixture has cooled slightly and you have a shiny peaked meringue mixture - the bowl should no longer be hot to the touch, but still warm. Add the colouring and whisk to combine.
• Tip the meringue onto the almond mixture and gently fold together. It is important not to over-mix the batter - it should fall in a thick ribbon from the spatula. The ribbon should also fade back into the batter within about 30 secs - if it doesn't, fold a few more times.
• Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3-4. Line three baking sheets with baking parchment. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle. Hold the bag vertically to the tray, with the nozzle about 1cm from it. Pipe rounds about 2.5cm in diameter onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave to rest for 30 mins, or until the macarons have developed a skin.
• Bake the macarons for 14 mins (this needs to be precise, so you could test a macaron first). Immediately slide the parchment onto the work surface and cool for a few minutes before gently peeling the macarons off the paper.
• To make the filling, place the cream in a small saucepan and the chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring the cream just to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Leave to stand for a few mins, then stir to combine. Add the butter and stir until smooth, then leave to set until thickened. Place the chocolate mix into a clean piping bag with a smaller nozzle and pipe around the edge of half the macarons. Fill the centre with jam and sandwich with another macaron shell.
• Once finished, the macarons will improve with an overnight rest in the fridge.