Ok, macarons are serious business. They are not easy to bake. I’ve never really failed at anything baking wise (with the exception of being a total retard and forgetting an entire ingredient… or two…) and my first attempt at macarons was an utter disaster and cannot be posted due to extreme embarrassment. This is my second attempt at macarons and they were definitely better than the first batch. I guess I should explain exactly what a macaron is too huh? They are not macaroons which are cookies with coconut and whatnot in them. Macarons originates from France, where pretty dainty food comes from. They are made with egg whites, almonds, powdered sugar, and regular sugar. They come in many different flavor combinations, it really is endless. In short, they are a very upscale oreo cookie.
How to make a successful macaron you ask?
- First and foremost, measure very carefully. The wrong proportions, even a little bit, can be disastrous. A kitchen scale is an invaluable tool here, so you better have one.
- Second, leave your egg whites sit out for a few days, this really does help the texture come together.
- Third, measure your egg whites on your kitchen scale as well! The whole “3 egg whites” just doesn’t cut it here, that was the epic fail moment of my first batch where I over measured the almonds, and ended up with three eggs with giant yolks and no whites.
- Fourth, size them properly (and try to make them all the same size), and don’t underbake. I ended up with a giant macaroon at the end where I had extra dough, the size difference caused it to under bake and when it was moved, it totally collapsed with a raw center.
- Fifth, if #4 happens, just eat it ok? It goes along with the rules of “eat it if it’s too ugly“.
I ended up using a modified recipe from Tartelette because she had exact measurements to the gram, and that’s exactly what I needed after the initial macaron catastrophe.
For the shells:
- 90 grams egg whites (about 3)
- 30 grams granulated sugar
- 200 grams powdered sugar
- 110 grams almonds
- 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I ran out of nutmeg, so I replaced it with more cinnamon)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Directions:
- For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature in a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry.
- Combine the almonds, powdered sugar and spices in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. (I found that my food processor wasn’t breaking up the almonds fine enough, so I let it go for about 3 minutes, the mixture should be powder-like.) Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.
- Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. Preheat the oven to 280F. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 20-22 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool.
I didn’t have a pastry bag, so I used a plain plastic bag and inserted it into a tall glass and filled it with the crust mixture. Then I cut a hole at one of the ends and it piped perfectly. Although I’m still going to purchase a pastry bag with some tips in the future!
I experimented with both the parchment paper and a baking mat because I read that a baking mat helped them rise better, I saw no difference in my macarons, but they were much easier to get off of the parchment paper and stuck a bit to the baking mat. So I would not recommend using a baking mat for this. The baking mat does provide pretty pictures tho! :)
The filling was a simple buttercream and I also used one of Tartelette’s recipes.
Vanilla Buttercream:
- 1/2 cup (100grams) sugar
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 vanilla bean, split open and seeded (you can substitute vanilla extract here if necessary)
Directions:
- Put the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream.
- Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the meringue on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick shiny meringue, about 5 minutes.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
- Add the seeds from the vanilla bean to the buttercream and fold with a spatula until fully incorporated. If not using right away, refrigerate for up to a week or freeze for up to 1 month.
I only used about half of the buttercream for this batch of macaron shells. Out of the 18 that I baked, 2 or 3 were destroyed, so I only had 7 macarons in the end. My next attempt, I will make the shells smaller and daintier!
