It's National Lemon Juice Day!

Do you know what you can do with lemon juice? You can make an AMAZING Lemon Curd! Here is my Lemon Macaron with Lemon Curd recipe - a crowd favorite!

Lemon Macarons

Ingredients

• 130g superfine almond flour

• 130g powdered sugar

• 90-100g egg whites, room temperature

• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar - optional

• 1/8 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

• 90g granulated sugar

• gel food coloring - (I used Yellow)

Instructions

1. Sift almond flour and powdered sugar onto separate parchment paper and set aside.

2. Pour room temperature egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk and mix on a low/medium speed until the surface of the egg whites is covered in small bubbles. Add cream of tartar and salt, continue to mix until it reaches a frothy stage.

3. Slowly add granulated sugar into the eggs and mix on a medium speed in 1-2 tbsp increments.

4. Keep mixing until white and glossy. Add in gel food coloring and extract at this point.

5. Increase the mixing speed to a medium-high speed, until stiff, glossy peaks form.

6. Fold the dry ingredients into the meringue in two additions using a circular motion until a thick ribbon of batter runs off the spatula when it is lifted. Be careful not to over-mix the batter! It will take time and experience to get this just right.

7. Pour the batter into a large piping bag fitted with 1/2 inch piping tip onto the prepared baking sheets. I use silicon mats, placed on upside down baking sheets.

8. Bang the pans firmly on the counter a few times to release air bubbles. Pop any remaining air bubbles that come to the surface with a toothpick.

9. Let the macarons rest for 20-60 minutes to develop a skin. The macarons should look matte once the skin has formed.

10. As the macarons rest, preheat your oven to 300 F. Every oven is different and you may need to set your temp higher or lower.

11. Bake one tray of macarons at a time on the middle rack of your oven for 16-18 minutes, until the macarons do not wiggle when you test them.

12. Remove from the oven and let the macarons cool on the pan for about 15 minutes. Gently peel them off of the silicon mat and set aside.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice

• 1/8 tsp salt

• 1-2 tbsp milk, if needed

Instructions

1. Cream butter for 2 minutes.

2. Add powdered sugar, lemon juice and salt, combine completely.

3. Add milk if buttercream seems too thick.

4. Pipe onto macaron shells in circles, leaving space in middle.

5. Fill middle with lemon curd.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients

• 5 egg yolks

• 3/4 cup sugar

• Zest from one lemon

• 1/2 cup lemon juice

• 4 tbsp butter

• 1/8 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Combine egg yolks, sugar, zest, lemon juice and salt in a double boiler over medium heat.

2. Whisk 5-7 minutes until noticeably thicker.

3. Remove from heat and add butter.

4. Whisk until incorporated, strain and refrigerate.