French macarons and buttercream filling

French macarons is one of my favorite dessert. It seems easy to make, however I tried many times and only the first one was successful. This is the recipe we used during my externship at Google to make them.

Almond meal (flour)                               204 g
Powdered sugar                                      360 g
Egg whites (room temperature)               216 g
Sugar                                                       234 g
Vanilla extract                                          1/4 tsp

Method
1. Combine almond meal and powdered sugar, sift twice.
2. Whisk egg whites to the soft peak, gradually add sugar and vanilla. Whisk till stiff and glossy. Do not over whisk.
3. Add merengue to the almond mixture in three stages (1/3 each time), fold.
4. Pipe macaroons on a baking sheet tray lined with a parchment paper or silicon mat (no grease!)
5. Let rest 30-60 minutes
6. Bake at 325 F for 9-11 minutes


Buttercream filling

Egg whites                            82 g
Sugar                                    138 g
Cold cubed butter                 203 g
Flavoring of your choice.
Method:
1. Dissolve sugar into egg whites over a double boiler whipping whites to a soft peak.
2. Add butter and flavoring. First it will deflate and you will think that you ruined it. Continue whipping and the cream will come back together

P.S. The crazy amounts of all ingredients are due to the fact that I have to scale the original recipes down ten times...