Copycat Jolly Holiday Raspberry Rose Macarons

Macarons

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F and have ready a large (18”) pastry bag, fitted with a plain tip. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a 1 1/2” object (cookie cutter if you have one - since I didn't, I found that the lid to a prescription bottle was the right size and used that) to trace out two guide-circles about 1/2-inch apart on the parchment paper, then trace a large (about a 3-inch circle) toward the bottom of the two smaller circles, connecting them into a Mickey head shape. Continue to make Mickey shapes at least 1" apart on the parchment paper until it is filled, then flip the parchment paper over, ink side down, on your baking sheet.
2. Sift together the almond flour and powdered sugar in a large bowl and set aside. Most all of it should go through the sifter, but even the slightly larger chunks that remain on top can be thrown in on top of the sifted ingredients.
3. In a large bowl, combine the egg whites, granulated sugar, and salt. Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes, then increase your speed to medium-high for another 3 minutes, before increasing all the way to full speed for a final 3 minutes. This is much easier using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment (I set my KitchenAid speed to 4, then 7, then 8, using my kitchen timer to remind myself to increase the speed every three minutes) but can be done using a hand mixer if that is what you have access to.
4. At this point, turn the mixer off and add the food coloring and vanilla extract. Whip it for a final minute or two to fully incorporate the color and flavoring, until the meringue is nice and dry and stiff with a large clump of meringue in the center of your whisk when you lift it up. If your meringue isn't stiff enough to form a large clump of meringue on your whisk, keep whisking on high speed for another minute or two until it does.
5. Now dump the sifted almonds & powdered sugar into the meringue all at once and fold/stir them in with a rubber spatula. As you fold the almonds and sugar into the meringue, it will start to deflate a bit, which is what you want. You might even need to rub or smear some of the batter against the side of the bowl to knock some of the air out of it. Count your strokes if this is your first time making macarons and you will see that after about 25 turns the macaron batter will still be a bit lumpy and stiff. After another 15 strokes (so now you are up to 40) you will notice that the meringue and almond/sugar mixture has combined quite a bit and is just about right. You want a "lava-like" consistency where the batter will "flow" back in on itself slowly when you lift a spoonful of batter out and then drop it back in on top of the batter. After about 20 seconds or so, it should mostly melt back into the majority of the batter. If the batter doesn't incorporate back into itself, it's undermixed and you want to give it a few more stirs, then try again. If you overmix the batter, it will be TOO runny and you won't be able to pipe it into circles because it will ooze continuously. Once you get to about 40 strokes, go one stroke at a time (even though you may end up around 60 strokes - it all kind of depends on your folding/stirring technique, which don't matter as much as reaching the right consistency). Eventually you will get a feel for just the right consistency and you won't need to count strokes. But remember, don't worry too much about getting it just right. Even if you are a few strokes off the perfect consistency, your macarons will bake up and taste wonderful, even if they aren't perfect! Essentially, the batter should be thick enough to mound up on itself, but fluid enough to melt back down after 20 seconds or so.
6. Transfer the macaron batter to a piping bag (or a gallon-size Ziploc bag with one corner snipped off) and pipe the batter into 1 1/2" circles onto the parchment paper, using the pre-traced circles as your guides and starting on the inside of each circle and working to the edge, stopping just shy of the borders of the circle, since the batter will continue to spread just a bit.
7. Rap the baking sheet with the piped macarons against the counter 3 or 4 times, turning it 90 degrees each time, to knock out any large air bubbles that might cause the macarons to crack while baking. Let them sit on the counter at room temperature for 30 minutes to develop a "skin".
8. Preheat oven to 300°F. Bake the macarons for 18 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool. You should be able to peel the parchment paper away from the macarons without them sticking.
9. Once the macarons are completely cool, assemble them by dolloping a bit of raspberry rose cream on the back on one macaron shell and arranging a few raspberries in the cream. Then top with another macaron shell and serve. Because the cream has a tendency to soak into the macaron after a few hours (unlike buttercream) you don't want to assemble these macarons too far in advance.

Raspberry rose cream

1. In a medium saucepan, combine raspberries, sugar, salt, and 1 tablespoon of water. Heat over medium-high heat for 7-9 minutes, until the berries release their juice and are bubbling.
2. Pour the raspberry mixture into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and press the raspberries up against the sides of the strainer to release as much juice as possible. Return the juice to the pan along with 1 tablespoon of the seeds that remain in the strainer.
3. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of water and stir. Slowly pour the cornstarch slurry into the raspberry juice while stirring and cooking over medium-high heat. Cook for 1 minute, stirring until the jam begins to thicken a bit. Remove from heat and stir in the rose water. Pour into a clean bowl and allow it to cool completely, then refrigerate until well-chilled.
4. In a medium bowl, beat the cream on high speed with a hand mixer until medium peaks begin to form. Do not overmix. Add the powdered sugar, and mix again, just until incorporated.
5. In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese and mix until smooth. Add the raspberry rose jam and mix until combined, then refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the macarons.