Cara Cara Orange Macaroons – sorry for the over-exposed photo.
Mmmm….made another batch of the macaroons today (original recipe here), but added the very finely chopped grated zest of two Cara Cara oranges to the cookie batter and the juice of one of the oranges to the buttercream (after mixing in the butter). They were FABULOUS. I whisked the zest into the almond meal-powdered sugar mixture before it was added to the egg whites. Adding the juice to the buttercream caused it to separate a bit at first, but I just kicked to high speed for a minute or so to incorporate it and it was fine. I undercooked the macaroons just a TINY bit, but they were still OK, just a little softer and not quite as crunchy/chewy on the outside. I like these MUCH better than the original vanilla/almond version. Hubby still prefers the original, but I’m just a big fan of ANY kind of citrus dessert, so I may be biased. Not sure which will be next: Chai or Chocolate. Stay tuned.