Lime Macarons

Fancy French macarons are delicate and delicious. Now you can make them at home with this simple recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 cup almond flour
3 egg whites , at room temperature
green gel food colouring
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Lime buttercream

1 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter , at room temperature
2 tbsp lime juice

Instructions

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
Pass icing sugar and almond flour through a sieve into a medium bowl. Discard any coarse grinds. Set aside.
Beat egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium, until frothy, about 30 sec. Beat in food colouring for desired colour, about 1/8 tsp. Continue beating while adding granulated sugar in a thin, steady stream. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until stiff peaks form when beaters are lifted, about 1 min.
Fold half of almond mixture into egg whites until almost combined. Gently fold in remaining almond mixture until no streaks remain. (Mixture will look like thick cake batter.)
Fit a piping bag with a 1/2-in. round tip. Fill bag with batter. Pipe 1- to 11/4-in.-wide rounds onto prepared sheets 1 in. apart. If piped rounds have stiff peaks, smack the bottom of the sheets on counter a few times until tops are smooth, or smooth tops using a damp finger.
Let macarons rest in a cool place until the surface of the batter feels dry when touched, about 1 hr.
Preheat oven to 280F.
Bake in top and bottom thirds of oven, switching sheets halfway through, until macarons are firm and dry to the touch, 16 to 18 min. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Beat icing sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium-low until smooth, about 1 min. Add lime juice. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, 1 more min.
Spread or pipe a heaping tsp of buttercream on half the macarons. Sandwich with remaining macarons. Macarons will keep well, stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days, or freeze up to 2 weeks.