French Macarons

With Valentines Day approaching I wanted to make French Macarons. Not only do they taste fantastic, but they are a beautiful treat. I love a good excuse to make a great looking and tasting dessert. The basic recipe that I followed came from here. I changed it up a bit though, to create the flavors that I wanted. The macarons are raspberry with a lemon cardamom butter cream filling. The flavors went together excellently! To make some of the macarons pop more I added some hot pink sugar sprinkles. These are such a girlie treat! Below is my butter cream recipe. Next week I'll post a picture how-to for making macarons with a few tips that I have learned.

Here is my Lemon Cardamom butter cream recipe:
-1/2 stick butter (4-5 Tablespoons)
-1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest
-1 (scant) teaspoon cardamom
-3 Tablespoons milk
-3 cups powdered sugar
(yellow food coloring optional)
Mix all ingredients together with a high speed mixer. Add yellow food coloring to your desire.