FRENCH MACARONS

Welcome to the world of French Macarons. They first captured my attention when I was in our local French pastry shop. They are little colorful cookies with amazing different kinds of filling. Not only do they look great, like little piece of jewelry, but their flavor is amazing. They are basically sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, confectioners sugar, granulated sugar, almond flour, and food coloring. They are commonly filled with ganache, buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two cookies.

The shells are crisp and the filling is soft. There are so many flavors of Macarons, pistachio is usually pale green, raspberry is usually bright pink, caramel is light brown, lemon is pale yellow, that’s just to name a few. The possibilities are endless.

They are such delicate little cookies that are so addictive. I have a funny story about them. When we were in Paris a few years ago. On the way back, I packed a few boxes of them in my suitcase for souvenirs. Little that I know, when I got home and unpacked everything, I opened up the boxes and all of them clumped up into one gigantic ball. So sorry, friends and family, I failed you. Lesson learned, NEVER pack macarons in your suitcase! ha ha ha 🙂

And here’s the before and after picture. See what I mean by gigantic ball?

Making macarons is probably the most delicate thing that I have ever done as far as baking goes and may I say this again, I’m not a baker. So, if I can, so can you. It took me a few tries, I’m not gonna lie, and my co-workers know well because in the past week I brought them to work a few times. That was the result of me practicing making these little cookies.

First of all, I was determined to beat these little tough cookies, so I bought Les Petits Macarons book from on-line. I read it through and through to make sure I understand what I’m getting myself into. It doesn’t seem too bad. It’s just that the techniques are very specific, but after a few tries, I think I kind of get it.

I also bought the macaron kit from on-line. The kit includes some food coloring gels, a piping bag, piping tips, a thermometer, a pastry brush, a dough scraper, Silpat macaron mat and a USB drives with macaron recipes. To me, the useful things are the food coloring gels, piping tips and bag, and Silpat macaron mat.

Let’s make some French Macarons!

Place almond flour, confectioners sugar and salt in a food processor. You can see that I’m using the scale to measure the ingredients to ensure the most precision.

Pulse a few times until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl between pulses with a spatula.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can skip this part and just mix everything in a bowl.

Sift the almond flour mixture with a fine-mesh strainer in to a bowl (or waxed paper).

Next, make the meringue. With a hand whisk, whisk together the powdered egg white (which I also found on-line) and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Powdered egg white is a pasteurized product created by freeze-drying egg whites to extract the water. It will help strengthens the protein bonds that form when you beating the meringue.

Whisk in the aged egg whites and cream of tartar until the mixture is all combined. What is aged egg whites? 2-5 days before making macarons, separate 4 egg whites, place them in a container and cover the top with plastic wrap. Poke holes in the wrap so that air can reach the whites and evaporate some of their water content. Remove them from the fridge 2 hours before making macarons. This will contribute to the success of making the meringue.

Set the bowl and whisk attachment on the mixer.

Whisk on medium speed until the meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks, about 11 minutes.

Once the meringue reaches stiff peaks, stop the mixer.

To test it, take the whisk off and lift it up, you can see the peaks is stiff and looks like marshmallow fluff.

Add half of almond flour mixture into the meringue.

With a spatula, quickly fold the sifted almond flour mixture into the meringue.

Bring the spatula down the middle of the batter. Scrape it up toward the left side of the bowl (9’clock), forming the letter “J”. Rotate the bowl by 90 degrees and repeat the steps above. This part is called “macaronner”, a fancy word for ” incorporating the ingredients”.

Add the rest of the flour. Continue folding.

If you want to use food coloring, stop folding when the batter appears to be 90% incorporated, scrape the sides of the bowl, and fold in the desired coloring. I used 4 drops of yellow gel color to give the shells a pale yellow color.

Use the spatula to lift some of the mixture up. When it’s ready, it should fall right back into the bowl, with no stiffness, in one continuous drip. All together, I folded mine about 30 times.

To pipe, spoon the batter in a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip. My trick is to put the bag in a tall wide glass and fold back the top and fill the bag halfway. Cover the rest of the batter in plastic wrap.

Pipe the batter on the silicone mat or parchment-lined baking sheet into quarter-size mounds. 1 1/2 inches apart from one another. Holding the tip of the bag at a 90-degree angle 1/4-inch above the baking sheet. Firmly squeeze it until the batter fills the circle on the piping guide and is about 1/4-inch high. Do not move the bag and twist your wrist in a clockwise direction, without lifting it up. Once the batter stops flowing, stop squeezing the bag. Lift and move on to the next circle. I’m not very good at piping yet, some of mine have the “tails” or “peaks” on the shell.

Next, firmly slam the baking sheet down to remove access air and hopefully some of the “tails” will settle out. If not, just use your finger to gently tap them down. Don’t be afraid to really slam them. You need to get rid of the access air.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Leave the baking sheet on the counter about 20 minutes before you bake them.

Bake for 9 minutes. After my first try, I learned that my oven is not even, it causes the “baseball cap” effect or sloped shell.

Look at them, don’t they look like baseball caps? ha ha ha

The remedy was to rotate the baking sheets twice, first one after 3 minutes, and second after 6 minutes into baking. It is a good idea to use a thermometer to test your oven to make sure it is true temperature.

Voila! I did it! You can see below that after a few tries, they look better. The “skin” which is the top crust of the macarons look smoother because I got better in piping and they have the “foot”, a textured ring around the base of the shell which forms as moisture in the macaron turns to steam and rises while baking. Now these are pretty good looking macarons.

Macaron shells are very delicate and subject to overheating, so after removing the baking sheets from the oven, immediately slide the silicone mat or parchment paper onto a cooling rack or your kitchen counter.

Let them cool completely before attempting to remove them, because they are inclined to crack when warm.

Fill them with your desired filling, using a piping bag or simply use a butter knife. Pipe or spread the filling on one shell.

Top with another shell and twist the sandwiched macaron slightly to secure the filling.

Today, I am using 3 fillings; lemon curd, Nutella and store bought salted caramel. YUMMMMMM… If you like lemon curd, here is the link that will take you to my homemade Lemon Curd recipe. It’s a good way to use those egg yolks from separating the whites to make the macaron shells.

Here’s Nutella filling.

Can’t wait to try!

And the caramel. Mmmmm…..

Look how pretty they are. I’m super excited to eat them and bring them to my friends at work (again :-)) tomorrow.

They can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 3 days. Bring them to room temperature before eating them.

You can also freeze them, they freeze well if they are filled with ganache or buttercream. It’s not recommended to freeze macarons filled with pastry cream or fruit-based fillings, they will become too soggy when thawing out.

I hope you give these macarons a try. It’s pretty advance if you are a new baker like me but it’s totally worth it. It’s truly the labor of love. 🙂

And if you’re in love with French food like I do, here are other few recipe I posted on letscooksomefood.

Croque Madame, Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic, Nutella and Banana Crepes, Ham and Cheese Crepes, Scrambled Eggs and Ham Crepes, Chocolate Almond Croissants, French Apple Tart, Beef Bourguignon, and French Onion Soup

FRENCH MACARONS

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

18 mins

Total time

38 mins

 

Author: Mink (adapted from Les Petits Macarons book)

Recipe type: Macaron

Cuisine: French

Serves: 20 sanwiched macarons

Ingredients

• 1¼ packed cups (165 grams) almond flour
• ¾ packed cup (165 grams) confectioners' sugar
• pinch of fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoons (5 grams) powdered egg white
• ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
• ½ cup (115 grams) aged egg whites (from 4 eggs)
• ½ teaspoon (3 grams) cream of tartar
• 4 drops (gel) or 6 drops (liquid) food coloring (optional)

Instructions

1. Place almond flour, confectioners sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl between pulses with a spatula. If you don't have a food processor, you can skip this part and just mix everything in a bowl.
2. Sift the almond flour mixture with a fine-mesh strainer in to a bowl (or waxed paper).
3. Next, make the meringue. With a hand whisk, whisk together the powdered egg white and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.
4. Whisk in the aged egg whites and cream of tartar until the mixture is all combined.
5. Set the bowl and whisk attachment on the mixer and whisk on medium speed until the meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks, about 11 minutes.
6. Once the meringue reaches stiff peaks, stop the mixer. To test it, take the whisk off and lift it up, the peaks should be stiff and looks like marshmallow fluff.
7. Add half of the almond flour mixture into the mixing bowl. With a spatula, quickly fold the sifted almond flour mixture into the meringue. Bring the spatula down the middle of the batter. Scrape it up toward the left side of the bowl (9'clock), forming the letter "J". Rotate the bowl by 90 degrees and repeat the steps above. Add the rest of the flour. Continue folding.
8. If you want to use food coloring, stop folding when the batter appears to be 90% incorporated, scrape the sides of the bowl, and fold in the desired coloring. I used 4 drops of yellow gel color to give the shells a pale yellow color.
9. Use the spatula to lift some of the mixture up. When it's ready, it should fall right back into the bowl, with no stiffness, in one continuous drip. All together, I folded mine about 30 times.
10. To pipe, spoon the batter in a pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip.
11. Pipe the batter on the silicone mat or parchment-lined baking sheet into quarter-size mounds. 1½ inches apart from one another. Holding the tip of the bag at a 90-degree angle ¼-inch above the baking sheet. Firmly squeeze it until the batter fills the circle on the piping guide and is about ¼-inch high. Do not move the bag and twist your wrist in a clockwise direction, without lifting it up. Once the batter stops flowing, stop squeezing the bag. Lift and move on to the next circle.
12. Next, firmly slam the baking sheet down to remove access air and hopefully some of the "tails" will settle out. If not, just use your finger to gently tap them down. Don't be afraid to really slam them. You need to get rid of the access air.
13. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
14. Leave the baking sheet on the counter about 20 minutes before you bake them.
15. Bake for 9 minutes. Macaron shells are very delicate and subject to overheating, so after removing the baking sheets from the oven, immediately slide the silicone mat or parchment paper onto a cooling rack or your kitchen counter. Let them cool completely before attempting to remove them, because they are inclined to crack when warm.
16. Fill them with your desired filling, using a piping bag or simply use a butter knife. Pipe or spread the filling on one shell, top with another shell and twist the sandwiched macaron slightly to secure the filling. That's it. Enjoy the French Macarons!

Notes

After a few tries, I found that using scale to measure the ingredients gave the best result, precision is the key in making good macarons.
They can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 3 days. Bring them to room temperature before eating them.

You can also freeze them, they freeze well if they are filled with ganache or buttercream. It’s not recommended to freeze macarons filled with pastry cream or fruit-based fillings, they will become too soggy when thawing out.

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