They are absolute b*** to make and to get right. Once you do, however, they are so soft and fluffy and wonderful; and versatile!
Blitz flour and sugar, then sieve. Beat egg whites until soft peaks, add sugar gradually to stiff peaks.
🎨 Now you have to colour, because afterwards you're in tricky macaronage.
🧁 Macaronage: Mix dry and wet ingredients and fold about 50 times (until you can draw a figure 8). Pipe out, then rest for 30'-90' at room temperature (depends on humidity). 40%-50% humidity is ideal.
🔥 Bake 16' at 150°C.
🧈 Fill with ganache or buttercream.
The base buttercream (40 gr soft butter, 60 gr powdered sugar, 6 gr flavour) is very sweet, so if you have the time, the Swiss meringe version (SMBC) is a bit lighter.
Mix whites and sugar over bain marie until sugar dissolved and temperature at 70°C, then whisk for about 10'. Add butter bit by bit.
It can take a truckload of aroma: I added 100 gr あん to this, and it still worked, or also 桜 powder, which was nice.