Halloween Macarons

Directions

1. Fill a saucepan with about an inch of water and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a vigorous simmer.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together egg whites and 3 tablespoons (about 1.5 oz) of granulated sugar. Set the bowl over the simmering water and whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves, roughly 1 minute.
3. Attach the bowl to the stand mixer and use the whip attachment to beat on high speed, slowly adding the remaining granulated sugar, until medium peaks form.
4. Add the pumpkin-orange gel food coloring and continue beating until stiff peaks form and the color is evenly distributed.
5. As the meringue whips, sift together almond flour, confectioners' sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice, then sift a second time.
6. Sprinkle the sifted dry ingredients over the stiff meringue and beat on medium speed with the whip attachment for 5 seconds.
7. Take the bowl off the mixer and finish folding by hand with a spatula. Scrape along the bottom, flip the batter over itself, and rotate the bowl a quarter turn each time. Continue until the batter flows like slow lava—test by letting it drip from the spatula in a figure 8 without breaking.
8. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Fit a piping bag with a plain round tip and fill it halfway with the macaron batter.
9. Pipe 1.5-inch circles of batter onto the prepared sheets. Turn on your oven range hood fan and place the sheets underneath. Tap each sheet firmly against the counter twice, rotate 180 degrees, and tap twice more. Let the sheets rest for 30 to 60 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 300°F.
11. After the resting period, bake the macaron shells for 20 minutes, rotating the pans 180 degrees and swapping their rack positions halfway through.
12. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
13. Using a black food coloring pen, draw jack-o'-lantern faces on half of the cooled macaron shells.
14. Prepare the filling: beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla, then beat until creamy and fluffy.
15. Transfer the filling to a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe it onto the plain macaron shells. Place a jack-o'-lantern face shell on top of each.
16. Refrigerate until serving. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.