Violet Cassis Macarons

To make the Macarons:

To make the Paste:

• Whisk almond flour and powdered sugar together. Sift ingredients, discarding large pieces of almond. Add in egg whites and food dye. It will be very thick. Cover in plaster wrap to prevent paste from drying out.

To make the Meringue:

• Combine egg whites and sugar in bowl of stand mixer. Fit mixer with whisk attachment and whip until it gets foamy. Lower speed to 'stir,' keeping the mixture aerated as you wait for the syrup.

To make the Syrup:

• Combine sugar and water in a small heavy bottomed saucepan. Set over medium heat, attaching a candy thermometer to watch temperature. Once mixture hits 244 degrees F, raise mixer speed up to high and carefully pour hot syrup into bowl bearing on high until stiff glossy peaks and temperature cools down, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add in violet extract.

To assemble the Batter:

• Weigh 50g out of meringue to fold into paste. Once incorporated, fold in remaining meringue.

  Do macaronage to create proper texture. The batter should be thick, but flowing. You should be able to do a figure-8 with batter.

  Using a round piping tip (link) pipe batter onto parchment lined pan. Use the macarons mat to get even circles and proper placement. Tap pan against count. Slide parchment paper off of pan and onto counter. Use toothpick to pop any bubbles that surface. Repeat process with remaining batter.

  Depending on humidity, it should take 30 minutes to get a proper skin to form on macaron batter.

  Center oven rack into middle and preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Place a large baking sheet onto rack. Once preheated, slide first batch of macarons onto onto large baking sheet pan. Place macaron sheet pan on top of heated sheet pan, baking 13 minutes. Depending on your oven, you’ll have to rotate pan several times—this prevents feet from becoming lopsided.

  Slide parchment off of pan and repeat process with remaining batter. Cool before adding frosting or curd.

To make the Cassis Buttercream:

• Combine sugar and water in a small heavy bottomed saucepan. Set over medium heat, clip candy thermometer onto pan.

  In the meantime whip egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in stand mixer. Whipping until frothy, until Syrup is ready, lower speed to keep egg whites aerated. Once syrup reaches 244 degrees F, raise mixer speed to high. Gradually pour syrup into mixing bowl. Whip until cooled down and glossy texture forms, about 8 to 10 minutes.

  With mixture speed on medium, add softened butter —a few bits at a time— until incorporated. At points the mixture may look separated m, but keep beating. Beat in vanilla and cassis purée.

  Buttercream can be made ahead of time, but needs to be softened to room temperature or re-whipped before assembling.

To make the Cassis Curd:

• Whisk yolks, sugar, and purée in a small heavy bottomed saucepan. Set over medium heat. Whisk constantly until thickened, about 7 to 10 minutes.

  Strain mixture then whisk in butter, a few pieces at a time. . Cover with plastic wrap and let it cool to room temperature before assembly. Curd can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator.

To assemble the Violet Cassis Macarons

• Pair shells with ones of matching size. Pipe a ring of buttercream into bottom side of one shell. Pipe curd into center of ring. Top with other macaron shell. Drizzle white chocolate on top. Garnish with candied violets