Tomorrow is Mardi Gras, French for Fat Tuesday. It is the day of preparation for the fasting for Ash Wednesday (which is Valentine’s day this year). The foods eaten are rich and full of fat and eggs and dairy – many of the things that are often not allowed during lent.
I thought macarons just might fit the bill for a Fat Tuesday treat! A macaron is a confection made with meringue. The cookies are sandwiched with jam or buttercream frosting. They are rich and sweet and delicious!
And these macarons sport the colors of Mardi Gras. Green represents faith, gold (or yellow) represents power and purple represents justice.
So bake up a batch and enjoy!
What you need:
Meringues
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Food coloring
Buttercream frosting
- 1/8 cup butter, softened
- 3/8 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Additions – you can add jam, lemon curd or other flavors to the frosting
How to Do it:
Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until it becomes frothy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and vanilla extract. Continue beating until the mixture forms stiff peaks.
Mix the almond flour and powdered sugar together well. Pour into the egg whites and gently fold in until mixed together.
Stir until the mixture forms ribbons when dropped from the spoon.
Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Add the food coloring and mix gently. Put the mixture into a pastry bag and pipe the meringue onto the parchment in small circles, about 1 to 1 ½ inches around.
Leave the circles to sit for 30 minutes to an hour, or until they are complete dried out.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes. Be careful not to cook too long or they will brown. Take them out as soon as they have risen about 1/8 to ¼ of an inch.
Allow to cool on a wire rack.
Filling –Buttercream frosting
Mix the butter, sugar, milk and vanilla until if forms a smooth mixture. Add the coloring of your choice. Additional flavors can be added as well. I added blackberry jam to the purple and lemon curd to the yellow (my favorite).
Place a spoon of frosting on the underside of half the macarons, then top them with the other half.
Chill for about 15 minutes to set the buttercream.
Store airtight.
Makes about 18 to 20 macarons.
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beautiful and perfect for fat Tuesday!
I think they turned it into Sugar Tuesday!! But they were tasty! Thanks for stopping by Patrick.
These are the perfect Mardi Gras cookies! Someday I will get over my fear of baking macaroons hehehe. XOXO
These were pretty simple! Give it a go, you’ll be surprised!
I have always wanted to try making macaroons and from recipes I have read they sounded difficult. These look great and I bet my hubby would like them too!
Thanks for sharing on omhgff last week!
They aren’t hard at all! I think the most difficult part was piping them!!
Beautiful!
I’ve never made macarons, I always thought the process was too complicated, but you actually make it sound easy. Love the colors.
Thank you for sharing the recipe and the instructions at The Really Crafty Link Party. Pinned!
It really wasn’t that hard. Give it a go!
Thank you so much for sharing your story and creating awareness!
Congratulations! Your post was my feature pick at #OverTheMoon this week. Each Hostess displays their own features so be sure to visit me on Sunday evening and to see your feature! I invite you to leave more links to be shared and commented upon. Please don’t forget to add your link numbers or post title so we can be sure to visit!
I’m honored!! Thank you Marilyn!
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These are beautiful, thanks for sharing.
Thanks. They were fun to make!
Your macaroons are so pretty! Beautiful colours, they look like jewels :)
Thak you for bringing them to Fiesta Friday! What a treat!
They were tasty and not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Thanks for stopping by.
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They look so pretty. Our Adrienne has chosen your post to be featured in the next Blogger’s Pit Stop.
Kathleen
Thank you so much!! I’m honored!! I’ll go grab the button!
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I love the colorful macaroons, especially how you did the buttercream filling to match! And since they are naturally gluten free I can enjoy them too!
They were more work than I usually put out, but they did come out fun!! Thanks for stopping by!
Looks good but I am no longer eating sugar. Maybe I could use a sugar substitute. Thanks so much for linking up at the Unlimited Link Party 66. Pinned!
Stevia is great for baking!! And it doesn’t do the bad things the other substitutes do – I started growing it. Add the dry leaves to tea and instant sweet! No sugar. Thanks for stopping by.
You grow it? That’s awesome. I’m buying the stevia that tastes like sugar, tried it in the raw and that type was too bitter.
I’ve been using stevia for awhile. The common name for the herb is sweet leaf. I steep it with some black tea -it’s great!! Thanks for stopping by.
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Visiting again to say thanks so much for linking up at the 25 and Done Link Party 9! 25 entries in 25 hours!! Shared on Fb, Pn, and Tw.
Thanks Dee – I look forward to your parties!
CONGRATS! Your post is FEATURED at the 25 and Done Link Party 10! 25 entries in 25 hours!! Entries shared on Fb, Pn, and Tw. Opens Feb-20 at 10pm. Closes Feb-21 at 11pm central time.
I am honored!! Thank you!
I’m honored!! Thank you.