Caïpirinha Macaron

For 10 portions
30 min preparation
12 à 22 min baking
20 min setting

Ingredients

Macarons: 
7 egg whites
50g (1.75oz) Caster sugar 
1 tea spoon of lemon juice 
450g (16oz) Icing sugar
250g (8.8oz) Almond powder
Zest of a lime 
A pinch of salt

Cointreau cream filling:
300g (10.5oz) Butter cream. See S.Glacier recipes book p.156
1 tea spoon of lemon juice
1 table spoon of Cointreau liquor
2 table spoons of caster sugar
5 drops of green colour.

Preparation

1-In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites untill stiff with the caster sugar, salt and the lemon juice. Pour the icing sugar and the almond powder sifted together with the zest of lime finely grinded on the egg whites.
2-Mix with a spatula untill the mixture has a soft and shiny texture.
3-Fill into a piping bag.
4-On a backing paper sheet or a silicon sheet placed on an oven tray, pipe some balls of about 7cm (2.75inch) diameter for individual portion or pipe balls of 3 to 4 cm (1.20inch)diameter for petit-fours size. Tap lightly the oven tray and let set at room temperature for about 20mn.
Bake in oven at 150°C (300°F) for 12 min for the smaller size macarons and 20 to 22 min for the bigger ones.
5-Pour a little bit of water on the hot oven tray while putting it up for doing the macarons easier to taking off. Then let it cooling down. If they have been piped before on a silicon baking sheet, just let them getting cold without any handling before remove.
6-Freeze half of the amount of macarons for 15mn and then place them into the green coloured caster sugar.
7-In a mixing ball, whisk rapidly the butter cream with the lime juice and then with the Cointreau
8-Garnish the macarons with the piping bag and stick them one to the other. One with the green cristalized sugar and not the other one.

To learn more about Stéphane Glacier: www.stephaneglacier.com