Lemon Macarons

1. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Personally, I always get better results when using a silicone baking mat. 
2. Sift together the powdered sugar and almond flour, then set aside.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer), whisk the egg whites to make the French meringue. When they are quite foamy and no longer yellow, start gradually streaming in the granulated sugar. Whip the meringue until stiff peaks form.
4. Add the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into the meringue in two additions, and gently fold until well combined. Then, add in the fresh lemon juice and gel yellow food coloring and start the macaronage process. Continue to stir the mixture, and you will notice it start to become looser and more ribbony. To see if your batter is ready, do the figure-eight test; if you can make an ‘8’ with the batter without it breaking, it is ready to pipe.
5. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe small circles (I did 1.75 inch rounds) onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between each macaron. Once you have piped all the macarons, tap the baking sheet firmly against the counter several times to remove any air bubbles.
6. Let the macarons dry at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour (the amount of time will vary depending on the humidity). Once you can touch the top of a macaron without leaving a fingerprint, they are ready to bake.
7. As the macarons are drying out, preheat the oven to 300°F. 
8. Bake the macarons in the preheated oven for 16 minutes, rotating once halfway through. Then, remove them from the oven and let them cool completely on the baking sheet.

Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream 

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer), beat together the unsalted butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Then, add in the powdered sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and pinch of salt, and continue mixing until well combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl well with a rubber spatula to incorporate all the ingredients evenly.
2. If the buttercream is soft, you can refrigerate it to firm it up before filling the macarons. 

Assembling the Lemon Macarons

1. Transfer the buttercream to a pastry bag, and transfer the lemon curd to a separate pastry bag. 
2. Once the macarons have cooled completely, pipe a ring of buttercream onto one macaron, then pipe one tablespoon of lemon curd into the center before gently sandwiching another macaron on top. Repeat this process for all the macarons. 
3. For best results, let the macarons chill in the fridge overnight before serving.