New Years Almond Macaroons

1. Mix the almond flour and powdered sugar and sieve 2 – 3 times. Beat egg whites until stiff. When it starts to set, gradually pour in the sugar while whipping. When it is completely used, beat for another 5 minutes. The mass must be firm and shiny and the tips should stop when the paddle is pulled out.
2. Then gradually fold the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into the egg whites in several steps. The mass must be firmer than that of macarons and resemble rather soft marzipan.
3. Divide the dough into 3 portions for the different motifs. Color one green for the shamrocks and one pink for the piglets. Halve the portion for the mushrooms, one half of which should be about 1 tbsp more. Branch off another 1 teaspoon from this and color it black. Color the portion white with the additional tablespoon and the other half red.

Making shamrocks:

1. Pour the batter into a disposable piping bag and cut off the tip to make an 8mm opening. Sprinkle 4 equal dots onto a square tray lined with baking paper or foil. When they’re all done, dip a teaspoon in cold water and lightly press it into the center of the dots. So the middle closes and they become a little flatter. Pour about 1 tbsp of the white dough into a piping bag with a 1.5 mm opening and put a small white dab in the middle of the leaves. Pour the black colored dough into a small piping bag with a 1.5 mm opening and draw small black lines around the white center.

Production of piglets:

1. Pour 3 / 4 of the pink dough into a piping bag with an 8 mm opening. Put the rest in one with a 4 mm opening. First, use the larger opening to spray 4.5-5 cm circles, slightly raised in the middle, onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper or foil. When all are done, smooth the surfaces with a teaspoon dipped in cold water. Then use the bag with the smaller opening to spray open the snouts and ears. Use the white dough in the small piping bag with the tiny opening to mark the eyes and then use the black dough to set the pupils.

Making the mushrooms:

1. Place approximately 2.5 cm dots of the red and white dough on a baking tray lined with baking paper or foil. Make sure that both colors have the same number. Place the fly agaric dots on the red dots with the piping bag with the small opening. After baking and cooling, always spread one half very thinly with jam and glue one red and white together.
2. Preheat the oven to 150 ° circulating air. The baking time per tray is 10 – 13 minutes. The amount of ingredients resulted in 40 leaves, 32 piglets and 25 mushrooms (but here 50 halves).
3. Well then, a rapid slide into the new year ………… may it bring a lot of good ……..