Hello Kitty Macarons

Instructions

Shells

1. Line baking sheet with Hello Kitty template with parchment paper over it.
2. Sift together the almond flour and powdered sugar several times, discarding the large chunks of almonds that remain in the sifter.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to foam on medium high speed.
4. Add the cream of tartar and sugar very slowly while the eggs continue to beat. Beat the eggs until stiff peaks form.
5. Pour half of the flour/sugar mixture into the egg whites and gently fold until just incorporated. Add the remaining flour/sugar and fold until the batter is smooth and falls back on itself. It should have a "lava" like consistency.
6. Fill a piping bag fitted with the #4 tip with about ¼ cup of batter and set aside
7. Fill a second piping bag fitted with the #12 tip with remaining batter and pipe circles onto each hello kitty face.
8. Using the bag with the #4 tip, pipe the ears of Hello Kitty onto the already piped circles.
9. Tap pan on your counter 2-3 times to get the air bubbles out. This will also help flatten out the shells.
10. Let the shells rest 30 minutes, untouched.
11. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Reduce heat to 300 F degrees and bake the shells for 11-13 minutes or until they are firm to the touch. NOTE: Do not over bake. You do not want any brown edges.
12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the baking sheet.

Filling

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth.
2. Add the extract, heavy cream and salt and beat until flight and fluffy.

Assembly

1. Pair the shells together.
2. Using a toothpick, apply a small dab of frosting to the back of 2 red heart candy sprinkles and "glue" them to the corner of the right ear on one Hello Kitty shell from each pair. On the same shell, with the black edible food pen, draw eyes and whiskers on Hello Kitty. Use the yellow food pen to draw the nose.
3. Fill a piping bag fitting with a #12 tip with the frosting. Squeeze about 1-2 teaspoon of frosting on to the bottom of the undecorated shell. Place the decorated shell, flat side down on top of the frosting and GENTLY press until the frosting reaches the edges.
4. Repeat this process until all the shells are decorated and filled.
5. Store the macarons in an air tight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Remove from the refrigerator 20 minutes before serving.
6. Macarons will last 3-4 days chilled.