Cakes & Controversies: Things that taste like yellow (Lemon Curd and Macarons)....

It's winter, so here are two things that taste like yellow to brighten up your life, Lemon Curd and Lemon Macarons. You do not have to make the lemon curd yourself, but you should because (1) it is not hard and (2) the curd uses only egg yolks, the macarons use only egg whites-- minimize the waste!

Oh a quick note: I have interspersed commentary on the things I did that didn't work throughout the recipes. [You can pick out this commentary because it looks like this.]

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This whole lemon frenzy started with a sudden obsessive need to make lemon curd (unheard of, I know). I tried one recipe which did not work out for me, but ultimately used Alton Brown's recipe. And by used, what I mean is followed loosely from memory because I left my laptop upstairs. So, because I didn't follow to recipe very well, I'm going to tell you how I did it because it actually worked. That said, I won't be offended if you do Alton's instead.

Lemon Curd

5 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

4 lemons, zested and juiced (the normal sized lemons, not the small ones)

1 stick butter, cut into pieces and chilled

Improvise a double boiler using a saucepan and a heat resistant bowl (here's how). Bring the water to a simmer.
Meanwhile, cut the butter into pieces and put it back in the refrigerator.
Roll the lemons to free up the juices. Zest the lemons into a medium-sized bowl. Cut the lemon into halves or quarters, then juice into the bowl over a strainer (to catch the pulp and seeds).
Add the egg yolks and sugar and whisk until smooth.
Put the bowl over the pot of simmering water and cook about 8 minutes or until thick and pale yellow. Whisk the mixture every minute or so. [I was whisking pretty much constantly and ended up having to cook it for way longer-- so the key is apparently to leave it alone to congeal, but stir enough to cook evenly]. It should ultimately "coat the back of a spoon," which frankly I don't really understand very well because apparently I am not a wizard. If you are also not a wizard, just let it thicken and play it by ear. If you get impatient and do not let it thicken, the curd WILL NOT set. Ever.
Once the mixture has thickened, whisk in the butter, only adding another piece when the one before has melted.
Cool slightly, then transfer to a sterilized jar (I boiled mine for a minute or two).
Cover with saran wrap, then close the lid. Refrigerate overnight or until it is a soft buttery consistency.

Alton says this will keep for 2 weeks. I obviously don't know yet. I'll let you know. Or let me know. My theory on jam is that it is good unless it smells funny and/or is growing mold.

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After enjoying this delightful lemon curd spread on toast, I had to start brainstorming other things to do with said curd. I settled on macarons. This is a big deal-- last time I tried to make macarons, it was springtime...in St. Louis. Macarons, being meringues, are notoriously fussy and sensitive to moisture (like the kind that is in the air during humid St. Louis springtime). I made about three attempts, and was scared off the whole damn thing for more than six months.

These Lemon Macarons did not turn out too pretty, but they ARE delicious. The traditional method recommends that you age your egg whites to allow some of the moisture to evaporate. This recipe has the advantage of NOT requiring you to plan that far in advance by adding cream of tartar to stabilize the egg whites. If you are unfamiliar, here is a helpful doodle depicting the anatomy of a macaron:

This is what macarons are supposed to look like (photo credit): Here are my trollish macarons:

Hopefully my next batch (and yours) will look more like the guys on the left. As before, I have indicated [using this type] where I have ideas to make less hideous macarons, with particular emphasis on the above three defects. Without further ado:

Lemon Macarons

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup almond meal

zest of one lemon

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 large egg whites, room temperature

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

5 Tbsp. granulated sugar

5 drops yellow food coloring

Lemon curd (make it above or buy it from the store if you hate your loved ones)

Read through all the steps and look at the pictures below. You should always do that, but it is super duper important where macarons are concerned. They are VERY touchy.
Cut a piece of parchment to fit a cookie sheet. On one side, draw 1" circles in pencil, using a template. Flip the paper over so the pencil marks are face down on the cookie sheet. [I used a 2" cookie cutter because I was lazy. This was a serious error in judgment. A 1" circle is much easier to pipe properly, see Step 8.]
Whisk together powdered sugar, almond meal, lemon zest, cinnamon. To minimize lumpiness, you can throw this in the food processor. In fact, you should. I elected not to, as I don't have a food processor at home and don't want to get used to it. But do it if you have one.
Mix together food coloring and granulated sugar. [This assumes you will be using a hand mixer for your egg whites. If you have a stand mixer, you can do this step AFTER you start the egg whites].
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until the egg whites begin to rise and hold their shape (see picture below). Foamy is not enough.
With the beaters running, slowly pour in the now-yellow granulated sugar (Step 4). Beat another two minutes or so, until the egg whites form stiff peaks (see the picture below).
Fold in the powdered sugar mixture into the egg whites. The batter will be pretty stiff.
Scrape the batter into a piping bag with a medium-sized circular tip. If you do not have a piping bag, use a big freezer bag. If you also do not have a piping tip, consider getting one, but for now, just cut off a small piece of the corner of your bag. Be careful though, because if you cut off too much corner, your batter will come out too fast and you will make a giant horrible mess.
Pipe the batter onto the parchment paper, using the circles you drew on as a guide. Point your piping bag at the center of a 1" circle. Slowly squeeze the bag so that the batter gradually spreads out to the edges. Using a damp finger, press down the little peak at the center. You should have pretty, smooth dome shapes. [Because I was lazy and used 2" circles, I ended up using kind of a swirly motion to fill the space. This is a terrible idea, because it will give you the horrible uneven tops that I told you about earlier.]
Leave the batter to set for half an hour. This is important or you won't get the feet on the shells. [I'm not sure why I got the ugly hobbit feet, but I think it is the way I piped the batter.]
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F.
Once the half hour has elapsed, stack another cookie sheet under the one with the parchment on it. Then put the macarons in the oven.
Bake 10-15 minutes, rotating halfway through so they cook unevenly. Do not let the macaron shells brown.
Remove from oven. Carefully lift the corner of the parchment, then run a very small amount of water under it. The steam will loosen the shells.
Once slightly cooled, take shells off the parchment with a spatula and let cool on a wire rack.
Spread lemon curd on half the macaron shells, then top with the other half. [Try concentrating the lemon curd in the middle, which should hopefully allow for the spreading of the filling once you put the top shell in place. If all goes according to plan, your macarons will be neat, not sloppy like mine.]