Cute Duckie Lemon Macarons Recipe (with Video)

Preparation
1. Put printed macaron template on baking trays.
2. Place silicone baking mats or parchment paper on top of templates.
3. Set up one large piping bag. You don't need a piping tip, you can just snip the end of the bag later.
For the French macaron shells
1. In a medium bowl, mix the sifted almond flour and powdered sugar. Instead of sifting, you can also put the ingredients in a food processor and blend for less than 10 seconds until you get a fine powder.
2. In a small bowl, add the granulated sugar.
3. Pour the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer. Set up a stopwatch to time how long to whip the meringue.
4. Mix on medium-low for 4 minutes. The egg whites should be very foamy.
5. Turn the mixer to medium speed. Add a third of the granulated sugar. After 30 seconds, add another third. After another 30 seconds, add the last of the granulated sugar. Keep mixing at medium speed until you have reached a total of 9:30 minutes.
6. The meringue should be balled up onto the whisk, very thick, glossy, and have stiff peaks. If not, keep mixing at 30-second intervals until it is.
7. Add all of the powdered sugar, almond flour, and a very small amount of purple food coloring. This will offset the yellowness of the almond flour.
8. Using a rubber spatula, fold until the batter ribbons off of the spatula.
9. To test if it is ready, allow the batter to flow off the spatula and into the batter. If the ribbons do not melt into the rest of the batter after 30 seconds, continue folding. Be careful not to over mix or the macarons will not bake well. When it passes this test, transfer it to your piping bag. Snip off a medium-large tip using scissors.
10. Using the duck macaron template as a guide, pipe macarons onto your silicone mats or parchment paper.
11. Make sure not to pipe all the way to the edges, since the batter will begin to settle and spread out just a bit. Tip: I like to pipe one pair of shells at a time, then go in with a toothpick cookie scribe to move the batter along to my liking and pop any air bubbles.
12. Remove the templates from underneath the macarons.
13. Allow the macarons to sit out at room temperature to dry for at least 1 hour. They will be ready to bake once the surface of the macaron is matte and dry to the touch. If it is a really humid day, it can sometimes take 2+ hours for them to dry.
14. While waiting, you can skip ahead and make the lemon curd at this time, since the curd will need to cool in the fridge to set.
15. Preheat the oven to 325F. Place an empty baking sheet upside-down on the middle rack.
16. Place the baking sheet with the macarons on top of the upside-down baking sheet.
17. Bake one tray at a time for 15-20 minutes, rotating halfway through.
18. If they begin to brown halfway through, you can drop the temperature to 300°F to avoid them darkening too much.
19. To test if they are done baking, gently push the side of one shell. If it wiggles on the sheet, they need to be baked longer.
20. Remove the macarons and place them on a wire rack. Bake any remaining macaron shells.
21. Allow macarons to fully cool before peeling them off the parchment paper or silicone mats, about 15 minutes.
For the lemon curd
1. In saucepan on low-medium heat, whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, egg, egg yolk, and granulated sugar until smooth.
2. Add in all of the cubed butter.
3. Continue to whisk while it cooks, until the curd coats the back of a spoon.
4. Transfer the curd to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
5. Cool in fridge. It will thicken once cooled.
For the cream cheese filling
1. In a mixing bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, heavy cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar until smooth using a whisk, hand mixer, or paddle attachment of a stand mixer.
2. Transfer filling to a piping bag.
Assembly
1. Match the macaron shells, lining up each pair on your work surface.
2. Dye white chocolate yellow using oil-based food coloring. Transfer the yellow chocolate to a small piping bag. Snip a small tip, then pipe on the ducks’ beaks.
3. Draw on the eyes and wing with a black edible marker.
4. Pipe a ring of cream cheese frosting on the bottom shell, then fill the middle with lemon curd.
5. Add the other shell on top.
6. Leave macarons in an airtight container in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours before eating.
7. This allows them to mature, making them softer, chewier, and more flavorful. Eat at room temperature.
Notes
1. Store the macarons in an airtight container.
2. After maturation in the fridge, I recommend storing these in the freezer for up to 1 month. This is because the moist cheesecake filling will make the macarons much softer if they stay in the fridge. So, if you want chewier macarons, keep them in the freezer if you’re not eating them immediately. If you want softer macarons, feel free to leave them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
3. Eat at room temperature.
4. This recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, etc.