Santa Macarons

Step 1

Before you start, get all the ingredients ready. Prepare a large piping pastry bag, fitted with a large round tip. Set aside. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat. Measure out all the ingredients. Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together. Set it aside. Start pre-heating the oven to 300ºF.

Macaron Shells

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Step 1

Place a bowl over a pan with barely simmering water. Add the Domino® Golden Sugar and egg white powder to the bowl if using. If you’re not using egg white powder skip to step 3. 

Step 2

Whisk the sugar and egg white powder so it doesn’t clump up. Add the egg whites to the bowl and whisk until the sugar is completely melted and forms a meringue. It will take a couple of minutes. You can test by touching the mixture between your fingers, and if you feel any sugar granules just keep whisking the mixture over the water bath. Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the simmering water because you don’t want the whites to cook. 

Step 3

Transfer the syrup to the bowl of a stand mixer. Immediately start whipping the syrup on low for about 30 seconds, then increase the speed to medium. Whisk on medium-low speed for another two minutes. Raise to medium-high and finish whipping the meringue until it achieves stiff peaks. It takes about 13 to 15 minutes to whip the meringue. When you pull the whip up, the peak should be stiff and shooting straight up, with possibly a slight bend at the top, but not bending to the side.

Step 4

Pour the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into the stiff meringue. Add the food coloring, if using, and fold the ingredients together gently forming a letter J with the spatula. Once the dry ingredients have incorporated with the meringue, you can start squeezing the air out of the batter by pressing it down along the sides of the bowl as you fold. Stop folding once the batter is glossy and has a thick and flowing consistency. When you hold the spatula with batter on top of the bowl and the batter falls off the spatula slowly but effortlessly, the batter is ready. 

Step 5

Transfer the batter to the piping bag. Place the piping bag directly 90 degrees over the center of each macaron template. Apply gentle pressure and carefully pipe for about 3 to 5 seconds, and then quickly pull the bag up twisting slightly at the top.

Step 6

Once you’ve piped as many circles as you could, bang the trays against the counter or against the palm of your hand a few times each. Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles in the surface of the shells. Let the shells rest for as long as it takes to make them completely dry and not super soft to the touch.

Step 7

Text Bake one tray at a time for about 15 minutes until the macarons aren’t jiggly anymore. Try to move a macaron and if it moves, keep baking until firm. Remove from the oven and bake the other tray. Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling and decorating.

Royal Icing

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Step 1

Place the Domino® Powdered Sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Add the meringue powder and start mixing on low. Gradually add the water with the mixer on. Once the ingredients incorporate, raise the speed to medium high and whip for a few minutes, until glossy and fluffy. This makes a small batch so make sure your whisk can reach the bottom of the bowl to whip the icing properly, or it may not work out.

Step 2

Divide the icing between two bowls. Color one black, and the other yellow. You will need a bit less of the yellow than you will need black, but you will have plenty of both. Place the black icing in a piping bag fitted with a size 3 tip and place the yellow icing in a piping bag fitted with a size 2 tip. Don’t leave the icing uncovered because it will dry and form a crust. Keep the icing always covered.

Decorate

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Step 1

To decorate the shells, pipe a line of black royal icing right in the middle of the shell, to make Santa’s belt. Let the black icing dry for a few minutes. Then draw the buckle of Santa’s belt using the yellow icing, and drawing a square in the middle of the belt. You only have to do this on about half of the shells, because the other half will be the bottom shells.

Sugar Cookie Buttercream

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Step 1

Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF. Spread the flour on top of a parchment or silicone lined baking tray. Bake in the oven for about 5 minutes, stirring the flour in between. Once the flour feels hot, remove from the oven, and let it cool down before using in the frosting. This will make the flour safe to eat in the frosting.

Step 2

Place the butter, Domino® Golden and Powdered Sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Beat the mixture for about 4-5 minutes, to get it as creamy and smooth as possible. Add the flour, vanilla, almond extract and mix on low to incorporate. If needed add the extra milk or heavy cream. If the frosting is too runny, add more powdered sugar.

Step 3

Place the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe the buttercream on a bottom shell, and top with a decorated shell. Roll the sides of the macaron in the shredded coconut.