Espresso and Lime

Cocoa Macaron Shells
1 Weigh out 250 grams of almond flour and place it into a food processor. Grind by using the pulse setting until it has become a very fine texture
2 Place a mesh sifter over a large bowl and transfer the almond flour into the sifter
3 Add 355 grams of confectioners sugar and 45 grams of black cocoa powder into the sifter with the almond flour and sift everything together carefully
4 Discard what will not pass through the sifter
5 Add 220 grams of room temperature egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle in 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar into the egg whites and whisk by hand to incorporate
6 Once the egg whites and cream of tartar have been fully incorporated, turn the stand mixer on to medium low and mix until the egg whites become frothy and start lightening in color
7 Very slowly begin adding 80 grams of granulated sugar into the egg whites while the mixer is continuously whisking
8 Once the sugar has been added, turn the mixer up to medium high and allow the egg whites to become thick and shiny
9 Turn off the mixer and check the status of your egg whites. If they have formed stiff peaks, you are ready to move on. If the peaks are still soft, turn the mixer back on and mix on high for 30 seconds or so until the peaks are fully whipped and will hold shiny stiff peaks
10 Add the egg whites into the sifted dry ingredients and gently begin combining them. Be careful not to put too much pressure down. This can deflate the egg whites too soon and can force some of the very fine dry ingredients to be pushed out of the bowl from under the egg whites
11 Once everything is fully combined, begin mixing in a figure eight pattern: straight through the middle, around to the left, straight through the middle, around to the right. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl a few times to ensure that all of the dry ingredients are being brought up into the mixture
12 You do not want to over mix this batter, so once you feel that everything is smooth, scoop some batter up and pull it away from the bowl. The batter should smoothly flow off of your spatula in a continuous ribbon. If it flows off a little bit at a time with breaks in between, mix a few more times until you get a slow, but continuous flow of batter
13 Transfer the batter into a piping bag with a medium size round piping tip
14 Pipe small circles onto a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart
15 Once you are done piping, grab the baking sheet firmly and smack the bottom of the sheet onto your counter top a few times to bring any air bubbles to the surface
16 Using a toothpick, gently pop any air bubbles and smooth out any holes in each shell
17 Set the baking sheets aside to rest at room temperature for about an hour.
18 Once the shells begin to feel dry to the touch, preheat your oven to 300 degrees
19 Once the shells are no longer tacky and a dry skin has formed over the top, bake for 17 minutes, rotating the pan about half way through
20 Keep an eye on your oven temperature and if gets above 305 degrees, lower the temp a bit
21 Around the 16 minute mark, gently touch the tops of the shells. If they feel loose and move separately from their bottoms, leave them in for another minute or so. If they feel firm and do not wiggle, remove them from the oven
22 Set the baking sheet on a cutting board to begin cooling the shells. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer the silicone mat or parchment paper onto a cooling rack for an additional 10 minutes
Peanut Butter Buttercream Filling
1 Place 1/2 cup of room temperature butter and 2/3 cup of peanut butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream together until smooth and light in color
2 Add in 2 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar and mix slowly until combined. If the mixture is too dry, add heavy cream, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture takes on the texture that you want
3 Transfer the peanut butter buttercream into a pastry bag and pipe in between two macaron shells
4 Place the completed macarons into the refrigerator in an air tight container for 24 hours before serving