Raspberry French Macaron Cake

For the macarons:

• Wipe down the mixing bowl and whisk attachment with vinegar to remove any built up residue. This will ensure that the egg whites whisk up properly.
• Prep and measure all of the ingredients using a kitchen scale.
• Prep a piping bag with a round tip. I use Wilton tip 12.
• Line 2 baking sheets with silpat.
• Combine measured almond meal & powdered sugar together in a bowl. Sift one time to remove any lumps, discarding of them, then mix together to break up clumps.
• Make a well in the center of the dry mix and pour the 41 grams of measured egg whites into the center of the dry mixture. Fold together until blended then add a dash of pink gel food coloring and mix well until fully incorporated. The finished mix will be paste-like. Set aside.
• For the sugar syrup:
• To make the sugar syrup, heat granulated sugar and water in a pot on medium heat with a candy thermometer attached to the side. **Be careful to make sure the thermometer is not touching the bottom of the pot**.
• Once the thermometer’s temperature reaches approximately 200 degrees F, place the 45 grams of measured egg whites in the stand mixer and whisk on medium speed, to soft peaks.
• Add a drop of lemon juice or dash of cream of tartar to stabilize, THEN continue whisking.
• If the egg whites are at soft peaks before the syrup reaches 248 F, turn the mixer down to low speed to keep the egg whites moving.
• Watch the sugar syrup closely!
• As soon as the sugar syrup reaches 248 degrees F, remove from heat.
• Quickly increase mixer speed to medium and begin slowly pouring the sugar syrup down the side of your mixing bowl into the meringue until thoroughly combined.
• THEN increase the mixing speed to high and whisk sugar and meringue together until glossy and stiff peaks form and the meringue has cooled. (The meringue should keep its form.)
• Gently transfer finished meringue into the almond/powdered sugar mixture in thirds, making sure that it’s fully incorporated before adding the additional 3rd of meringue.
• Continue to fold the batter in a circular motion, going around the edges of the bowl, then once through the center. Repeat these steps until smooth and thick ribbons of batter run off the spatula.
• **Be careful not to over-mix**
• You want the batter to be slightly thick, but not so thin that it does not hold the ribbon shape. Err on the side of caution.
• Transfer batter to the prepped piping bag(s).
• Pipe 3 5 inch rounds about 4 inches apart on the silpat lined baking sheet (s).
• Be sure to hold the piping bag about 1/2 inch directly above the baking sheet when piping the rounds. For this size of macaron. You can either use a 5 inch circle template to pipe the rounds of batter, or the count method. Counting to about 15 seconds for each 5″ round.
• Reserve the second baking sheet for smaller macarons to use the leftover batter.
• *Tap the macarons on the counter three times to release air bubbles.
• *Pop any air bubbles that might’ve come to the surface, using a scribe or even a toothpick!
• Before placing the macs in the oven, allow them to rest until a proper skin has formed on the outside of the shell. This can take anywhere from 20-30 minutes. For the large shells I recommend 25-30 minutes total, depending on humidity. Test by touching the center of the piped macs with a clean finger. They should be dry to touch with no batter coming off on fingers.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
• Once dry to touch, place the macarons in the middle rack of the oven.
• Feet will form halfway through the baking process.
• Bake for 15-18 minutes.
• You can open the oven after the first 15 minutes to test the shells. Wiggle gently from side to side to see if they need more time. A fully baked macaron should be sturdy when tested.
• Once fully baked, remove from oven and allow 20 minutes to cool before attempting to remove the shells from the silpat.
• Once macarons are completely cool, gently remove from parchment paper/silpat.
• Repeat same steps to bake the remaining macaron batter. You can fill up the second baking sheet with smaller macaron shells or make extra 5″ shells for a second cake.
• Once completely cooled, they’re ready to assemble

For the Vanilla Raspberry Frosting:

• Wash the mixing bowl, then mix shortening/butter, powdered sugar, fresh berries, vanilla seeds and vanilla in a stand mixer until incorporated.
• Transfer filling to piping bag with tip of choice set aside until ready to decorate.

Macaron Cake Assembly:

• Pipe the frosting in individual stars around the outside outer edge of the first 5″ macaron shell, placing one raspberry after each piped star of frosting to form a circle. Pipe a large dollop of frosting into the center of the macaron shell.
• Gently place second macaron shell right on top.
• Pipe second layer with stars of vanilla frosting, again starting at the outside of the macaron to form a circle with raspberries between each piped dollops of frosting.
• pipe large dollop of frosting into the center of the second shell.
• Gently place third macaron shell on top.
• Pipe a few stars of frosting into the center of the 3rd shell, garnish with raspberries, one small macaron, and edible gold for garnish. 
• Optional: Pipe a few lines of royal icing in opposite directions on to the top macaron shell for a decorative finish.
• Cover and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
• Carefully slice with a sharp knife when still chilled and serve on small canapé plates.
• Enjoy!