Lemon Poppyseed Macarons

To make the buttercream (from now on referred to as SMB), gently stir the egg whites and sugar in a metal mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water. Remove once the sugar has dissolved (it’ll be kind of tepid and if you rub the mixture between your fingers you won’t feel any granules of sugar) Using a whisk attachment (or just a whisk), whip the meringue on medium-high speed until doubled in volume. It should be around stiff peak stage, or if you can’t tell, then it won’t slide around when you tilt the bowl. Switch to the paddle beater instead of the wire whisk. One by one, add chunks of the butter (1-inch/tablespoon chunks) and beat until incorporated. If your icing is kind of pukey looking, take about 1/2 a cup of it, heat in the microwave for about 20 seconds until liquidy, and then stream it back into the icing while beating the rest of it. Your butter was probably too cold going in. HOWEVER, if your mixture is too liquidy, put it in the fridge for about half an hour to cool down the butter and try beating it again. Add the lemon extract and poppyseeds and beat on low until incorporated. Transfer to a piping bag and store in fridge. To make the lemon curd, stir egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice over a pot of simmering water until thickened. It’ll coat the back of your spoon. Add the butter, tablespoon by tablespoon, and mix until incorporated. Let stand for about 10 minutes for the curd to thicken, then transfer to a jar or cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate once cooled. Preheat oven to 350F For the macaron shells, process almonds with icing sugar until you get a fine powder. Sift into a bowl (you may need to process it multiple times to get all the lumps out) and mix 60g of the egg whites with it until you get a paste. Set aside. Whip the remaining 60g egg whites with 35g of sugar until almost stiff peak stage. Meanwhile, heat 150g sugar with 50g water until 230F, then slowly stream the sugar syrup into the meringue with the beater running. Whip the meringue until stiff peak or until the meringue stays inside the beater when you pull it out. Add a dollop of the meringue into the almond paste and mix to loosen it up. Then incorporate the remaining meringue, folding until you get a lava-like texture that flows in thick ribbons that’ll sink back into the batter within 20-30 seconds. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 12 round tip, pipe 1 1/2 inch circles on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Rap