Valentine's Day is just a few day away,

and one of my favorite things about this holiday

are all the desserts.

So I thought it'd be fun to come together

with a few of my favorite food channels here on YouTube

and bring you this playlist of Valentine's Day treats.

And for my part, I'm going to show you how to make

a fool-proof French macaron.

So I'm often asked,

"What is the difference between a macaroon

"and a French macaron?"

Well, a macaroon is made with coconut,

and sweetened condensed milk,

and sometimes you see them dipped in chocolate.

In fact, we have a really great recipe on Kin Community

that will show you how to make a traditional macaroon.

A French macaron, or a French "macaruhn",

as they're called, are something a lot different.

In fact, these cookies are the hardest cookies to make.

I have to be honest.

However, I have come up with a fool-proof recipe

that if you follow my six tips,

you cannot go wrong.

You too can master the French macaron.

Here's how you do it.

So the first step is...

Is you're going to combine some almond meal

and some powdered sugar.

Now here comes tip number one.

You want to take this mixture and run it

through a sieve with a spoon.

The reason being is you want to make sure that

that mixture is as finely ground and powdery as possible.

That is going to give you that smooth,

beautiful top to your macaron,

and make your cookies really light.

If you don't do this tip,

you're going to end up with a macaron

that's going to have little bumps on the top of it

and not look as pretty.

So definitely take the time to do this step.

You will find after you do this,

you're going to be left with some

kind of whole pieces of almonds.

That's okay.

Those you can just put in a bowl to snack on,

because they're too big to actually work for the cookie.

So the next step is we're going to beat our egg whites.

Now here is tip number two.

You want to make sure that your egg whites

are at room temperature.

That is really critical for creating

a really nice, fluffy, stiff-peaked egg white.

Now, if you set out on this recipe

and you forgot to take the eggs out of the fridge

to get to room temperature,

you can create a room temperature egg

by submerging them in warm water.

Let them sit for about five minutes,

and you will have room temperature eggs.

You're going to combine your egg whites

with a little bit of salt

and some cream of tartar.

You are then slowly going to add your granulated sugar.

Then it's time to add your food coloring.

So because we're making these for Valentine's Day,

and we're making a raspberry buttercream filling,

I like to add a little red food coloring.

So here's tip number three.

The food coloring does have a tendency to fade

as your macaroon bakes.

So you want to take it maybe one or two drops

past the desired color just to assure

that you're going to get the right color

when your macaroons are actually baked and cooled.

Now it's time to add the flower and sugar mixture

to your egg white mixture.

And this is where it can all go wrong.

Because if you over mix, you're going to end up

with a macaron that's flat

and doesn't have the little ridges around it,

and that is really the mark of a true macaron.

You want to get the ridges.

The ridges are called feet.

And if you get a macaron that has feet on it,

you have really succeeded.

If you under mix, then you're going to end up

with a macaron that cracks on the top of it,

and that's also not good.

So you want to go somewhere in between,

and you will know when you reach the right consistency

when your batter doesn't have any more ridges in it.

Like you don't really see the bumps of the almond,

and it's still kind of viscous enough

that it almost feels like molten lava.

So you pull your spoon up,

and you can see it sort of still dripping down.

That's when you want to stop.

You don't want to take it any further than that.

So that is really tip number four.

The mixing.

Do not over mix, or do not under mix.

You want to be somewhere in between

and that's when you'll get the ridges

or the feet on the macaron.

This part does take some practice.

I will be honest.

It probably took me a few tries

before I got to the point where I got my feet.

That's the thing with a macaron.

They're beautiful.

They're lovely, but they are finicky,

and it's just going to take a little bit of practice.

You're then going to transfer your batter

into a pastry bag that's fitted with a tip

that's about a 1/2 an inch in diameter.

You then want to make sure you have two cookie sheets

ready to go that are lined with parchment paper.

I will say this.

You really want to go get the parchment paper.

It's definitely better than trying to pipe these out

on a cookie sheet that's been greased

or sprayed with cooking spray.

You don't want to add any fat to these macarons,

or your meringue will not work.

So definitely go for the parchment paper.

You're going to pipe out one inch mounds.

And then here is tip number five.

And this is a really good tip that you don't want to miss.

You want to take those trays and bang them

on your countertop just to release all the air.

What I'll usually do is bang it on one side,

flip the tray around, bang it on the other,

and you'll start to see little air bubbles pop.

That's what you want.

Now for tip number six.

And tip number six is another critical tip

that it can all go wrong if you do not do this step.

You want to make sure that your macarons

sit out for at least 20 to 30 minutes.

I know, you've come this far

and you want to throw them in the oven.

But you really don't want to do that,

because if you do, those macarons are going to spread out,

and they're going to get flat,

and you're not going to get the little ridges

or the little feet if you do that.

If you let them sit out for 30 minutes,

and they dry and start to get a little bit tacky,

that is then going to help those macarons rise up

instead of spread out.

When they rise up, they will get those little ridges

and those little feet, and you will have

the true marking of a true macaron.

One other thing I will say before you bake these.

I know that there are people that say

put both trays in and then swap them out midway,

and then that way they'll bake evenly.

I really don't think that's a good idea.

Remember, these cookies are finicky,

and they don't like to be moved around.

They kind of want the oven all to themself,

and I give them that privilege.

Remember, it's better to leave the tray to sit out anyway.

So while you're baking one tray,

the other tray can sit out.

Let it bake for 20 minutes

and then swap them when they're done.

Doing it this way, you'll end up with better-formed cookies

that have even heat throughout

and will actually produce just a better, prettier cookie.

While your cookies are baking,

you can then get on with making the filling.

The raspberry buttercream.

I love this filling, because it's a little bit tart,

and I think with a cookie like this that's very sweet,

it's a nice relief to add something

that's tart in the center.

It just adds for a nice counterbalance.

In your mixer, you're going to start to beat up

about a half a stick of butter.

You're going to let that go

just until it's really whipped up,

almost five to seven minutes.

You'll want it to be a nice pale, fluffy white almost.

Once your butter has reached a very pale yellow color,

you are then slowly going to add your sugar.

Whip that all up just until well-incorporated,

and then you can set it aside.

Now, to create the raspberry flavoring,

we're going to take some fresh raspberries,

put them back in your sieve,

and take a nice large bowl and place that under it.

You're then going to work the raspberries through the sieve,

pressing them up against the sides to extract their juice.

Once you have about three tablespoons of raspberry juice,

you can stop, but don't throw away those raspberries.

They make for a great addition in your morning smoothie.

So you can just pop those in the fridge.

Then you're going to add the raspberry juice

to the butter mixture,

and whip it all up and you will see

you will have a beautiful raspberry buttercream.

You are then going to take that mixture,

put it in pastry bag fitted with a smaller tip,

about a quarter of an inch in diameter,

and then at this point, you're going to fill your shells.

So, you're going to take all of those macaron shells

that you made, flip them over on their backs,

and then pipe out about a 1/2 mound of filling.

You're then going to put the other shell on top,

and you will see you will have a

beautiful French macaron cookie.

So there you have it.

A fool-proof recipe for French macarons

if you follow my six tips.

So give it a try.

Let me know how it goes.

I want to make sure you guys

get the same results that I did.

I'm here to help if something goes wrong.

So leave me a comment and let me know.

And also, remember to check out

the other videos in this playlist.

There's some other wonderful desserts

that are perfect for Valentine's Day

for sharing with somebody that you love.

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!

(upbeat music)