I still remeber clearly, the first time I bit into a proper macaron, about 8 years ago, at Ladurée in Paris. I was amazed by the elegant, classy spread of pastries and other sweets sitting in that luxurious gold framed cabinet and the macarons caught my eyes immediately.
I had always thought of it as an overly sweet candy full of calories. But, these Oh my God! the not too sweet, yet flavorful, fragile smooth exterior with the soft chewy center….the experience kind of registered in my brain forever!
I wasn’t into baking back then, had only made a few cakes here and there, but I tried to replicate the macaron when I returned home. I couldn’t find almond meal (wasn’t common in Sri Lanka back then, not sure about now)so I used peanut flour and came quite close but I wasn’t happy. Long story short, this became one of the many bakes I enjoyed making later after I migrated to Australia, where finding ingredients wasn’t a problem and I was way ahead of my baking game by then.
So I had several failed attempts like everyone else. But every time, I learnt something new and moved forward. Also I learnt making macarons in bakery school, but they were my least favorite so far. Because the recipe is fool-proof, it uses a different technique, which resulted in a hard, grainy macaron, but they were quite stable of course (bakery style). So I stick to this recipe which is fiddly, tricky yet produced a much delicate and elegant macaron shell, which is very closer to the one I had in Paris years ago.
I will explain the most crucial steps. If you get these steps right, you’ll get the macarons right the first time!
Getting the dry ingredients right is very important. Grind the icing sugar and almond flour mixture in a food processor and sieve it twice. If you think the particles are not fine enough, process again and sieve once more, until they are very fine to the touch. There shouldn’t be any grainy bits or lumps.
Next is getting the meringue ready. For best results use a day(or more) old egg whites. Separate the egg whites, place in a container, close the lid and refrigerate for at least a day. This will remove some of the moisture.
Bring the egg whites to room temperature and beat them to soft peaks before adding sugar.
You can add a pinch of cream of tartar or a drop of vinegar to stabilize the meringue (I have not)
Use super fine castor sugar for best results.
Add sugar bit by bit while beating the egg white on high speed. When the meringue is thick and glossy, add the gel coloring and the essence. Beat a few seconds to incorporate. Taste the meringue to check on flavor and adjust.
Meringue should be shiny and very stiff. (same consistency you get to make a pavlova)
The most important step out of all is the mixing of flour mixture and the meringue. Add half the dry mix and fold a few times. No need to mix all the way. Add the other half in one go. Now start mixing using a spatula. Fold and cut through the middle and repeat, until flour is incorporated. Now you have a thick batter. Keep mixing until you reach the ribbon consistency. That means, you should be able to draw a figure 8 without breaking and the figure should disappear slowly into the batter. At this stage STOP mixing!
One more stoke could ruin your batter
If you don’t have a fancy macaron mat, use a stencil like shown in the picture. Place it underneath the parchment and remove it once you have piped and reuse it!
I like parchment paper over silicon mat, as it dries out macarons really nicely
Transfer the batter in to a piping bag fitted with a round tip (13 mm).
Hold the bag perpendicular to the tray and pipe a dollop. It shouldn’t cover the whole circle. Because the batter is going to spread a bit and we are going to tap the tray later. So pipe a smaller circle than you actually want it to be.
Once done piping, bang/tap/drop the tray on the table several times. This will release any over sized air bubbles trapped inside the batter. Trust me there is a lot. If you didn’t do this then you will see cracks everywhere and big blisters on the surface, when baked.
If you are like me, take a tooth pick and pop any visible air bubbles on the surface. This is optional đŸ™‚
Now that you are done piping and tapping, leave the macarones in a cool area to dry out. This may take anywhere between 30 – 60 minutes or more in very humid atmospheres. You can use an exhaust fan or a normal fan to speed the process up!
They should be dry to the touch. You should be able to touch the surface without batter sticking to your finger. It is almost like a skin has formed on top. This skin is what gives the nice feet!
Bake the macarones in a (150 C) 300 F oven for 17 – 19 minutes. But check them at 15 minutes, every oven is different. They should peel off easily once fully done, without anything sticking to the paper.
Once baked, let the shells cool completely. If you are not filling them, on the same day, you can pack them in an air tight container and store in the refrigerator or at room temperature in cooler weathers (18 C – 19 C) Humidity/moisture is their main enemy.
I’m using a simple butter cream and some homemade pineapple jam to fill these. You can use cream cheese or pineapple flavored butter cream instead. Even store bought jam works too. So be creative with the filling.
This is how I chose to do it!. Apply a light butter cream later on both shells to prevent shells going soggy. And pipe a ring of butter cream on one side. Fill the center with pineapple jam. Place the other shell on top and press to sandwich.
As bizarre as it may sound, the macarones need to mature a day or two for maximum enjoyment. Place the sandwiched cookies in an air-tight container and refrigerate. This will help firm up the cookie and the filling and also give it’s characteristic texture to the macaron. But nothing is stopping you if you just want to pop them in your mouth right there!
That is it! You have made a batch of macarones. There are many recipes and blog posts and videos on the internet, about getting the perfect macarone, and they all are great!. If you can find time, I suggest, that you check as many as you can. Every person has their little secret and you can learn more by watching a video/tutorial. This is just my two cents!
No matter what flavor you want, the basic steps are the same. So try basic vanilla ones if it is your first time. Work on getting the technique right. Once you are there, then play with different flavors and colors. It will be really fun.
Following are some matcha macarones I made some time back, using this same recipe, method and techniques. I only added 2 tablespoons of matcha powder to the flour mixture and sandwiched the cookies with lemon cream cheese.
Ingredients
- 3 (90 g) egg whites ( day old) at room temperature
- 70 g super fine castor sugar
- 100 g almond meal
- 170 g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp pineapple extract or more to taste
- few drops of yellow coloring ( Jell paste works best)
- Pineapple jam ( 2/3 cups)
- Buttercream frosting ( 1 stick butter + 2- 21/2 cups icing sugar + 1 tbsp milk)
Instructions
- Separate eggs and refrigerate the egg whites, in a closed container, at least a day prior to making this recipe
- Prepare trays lined with parchment paper and get a stencil ready if you like
- Bring the egg whites to room temperature ( let them sit for 30 minutes on the counter)
- Grind and sieve the almond meal and icing sugar to obtain a finer texture. See picture and explanation above in the post
- Whisk egg whites (using stand mixer) to soft peaks stage
- Start adding sugar a tea spoon at a time and continue to whist on high speed
- Do this until all sugar is gone and the meringue reach stiff peaks
- The meringue should be very stiff and shiny
- Add the flavor and color at this stage and whisk to incorporate
- Add half of the dry mix to the meringue and mix just to start combining
- Then add the rest and mix to incorporate using a spatula
- Read the instructions on the post for more details
- Keep mixing until the desired batter consistency is achieved (check the post for details and photo)
- Transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a 13 mm round tip
- Pipe circles onto the prepared parchment paper
- Leave space around
- Once piped, tap the tray several times on the bench
- And leave the macarones to air dry for 30 minutes or more
- The top should be dry to the touch
- Preheat oven to 300 F or 150 C
- Bake the macarones one tray at a time for 15 -19 minutes
- Always keep an eye and check them at 15 minute mark ( the size of the macarone will affect the time)
- Once done take the trays out and let cool for a few minutes
- If macarones are releasing without any effort, then they are ready, otherwise they need another 2 minutes or so.
- Once done let them cool completely before handling/filling
- Fill the macarone with butter cream and pineapple jam. Check post for more information
