My Basic Macaron Recipe (Italian Meringue Method)
Making macarons is time consuming and a bit finicky, but really fun and not as hard as some websites would have you think. It's a bit of trial and error, a bit of learning what the right texture looks and feels like and a lot of learning about the hotspots and unevenness of your oven and cookie sheets. But the end result is like heaven.
 |
| Bourbon Ginger (Given that my taste-testers are officially at happy hour, I've been doing a lot of cocktail inspired macs lately) |
- Only use stainless steel bowls. It's very hard to make meringue in plastic or glass, and aluminium is reactive.
- Use room temperature egg whites.
- Do not let any oil or yolk get into your egg whites or on your mixer or bowl or anything that will touch your meringue while it's forming.
- Pay attention to texture! Once you've made a successful batch, you'll be able to repeat it by replicating the texture at each phase.
Macaron Myths: Other than what I mentioned above, none of the myths about macaron making seem valid. You can make macarons in the rain, without a kitchen scale, without a thermometer, using powdered sugar that has cornstrach added, with egg whites fresh from the hen or two weeks old etc. I've found that none of these things matter.
BraveTart has a great list of macaron myths.
Time:
Between the meringue and the piping, the waiting, the baking and the filling, this is one slow cookie. Give yourself a full day the first time you make these.
 |
| Irish Coffee |
The Equipment:
2 large stainless steel bowls
Quart-sized (or larger) saucepan
Mixing spoon/spatula or dough scraper
Electric mixer
**Or a whisk if you're feeling strong =)
Heavy cookie sheets
Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
Piping bag
** I use ziplocs with a corner cut
 |
| Passionfruit |
1 1/2 cup almond meal
1 1/8 cup powdered sugar
*Pure sugar or w/ 5% cornstarch is best, NOT with tapioca starch
1/4 cup room temperature egg whites
*Typically about 2 egg whites
The Meringue Ingredients:
3/4 cups granulated white sugar
1/6 cup water
1/4 cup room temperature egg whites
Salted Caramel (for filling):
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup warmed cream
14 tablespoons salted butter
Caramel Instructions: Mix water and sugar in a deep saucepan. Heat without stirring over medium until bubbling and golden brown. Stir in cream slowly - it will bubble up. Heat till 226 F. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter until smooth. Pour into heatproof container lined with parchment. Allow to cool.
The Macaron Method:
There are many great websites with photos/videos of this process. Some of my favorites are Not So Humble Pie, Zoe YumYums and this handy troubleshooting guide.
Almond paste:
1. In metal bowl #1: blend almond meal and powdered sugar
2. Add egg white and blend into a smooth, sandy paste. Set aside.
Italian meringue:
4. Begin to beat egg whites on low speed in metal bowl #2.
Meanwhile/At the same time:
5. Without stirring, heat granulated sugar and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat until bubbling.
6. When sugar begins to bubble, turn mixer to high, beat egg whites until they hold soft peaks.
7. Keep heating sugar until temperature reaches 118 C -121 C
**Note: This is about 2-4 minutes after it begins bubbling.
Lots of people use candy thermometers and/or timers. I estimate and have been fine.
8. When egg whites peak, AND sugar has been bubbling for 2-4 minutes:
Drizzle hot sugar syrup into egg whites with mixer on high.
9. Mix on high speed for 1-2 minutes, until all sugar is incorporated.
10. Reduce speed to low and mix until the outside of the metal bowl is body temperature (~5-7 minutes).
Carefully fold together the macronage:
11. Fold the almond paste and meringue gently together just until all streaks have disappeared.
12. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with each stroke to ensure complete mixture (about 20-40 strokes).
13. Consistency should be like cream-of-wheat blended with whipping cream.
The mixture should flow slowly off the end of your spoon/spatula in a thick ribbon
NotSoHumble Pie has some great photos of the proper macaron batter texture.
Don't overmix!
You can always go back and mix it more later, but there are no 'take-backs' on overmixing.
Pipe the macarons:
14. Place macaron batter into one or more pastry bags (I use sandwich-sized ziplocs with the corner cut).
15. Add color/flavor if desired.
Liquid vs. Powder?
Most recipes will advise you to use only powdered food colorings and little to no flavor at this point.
My recipe is drier than most and I tend to undermix my batter, so my recipe can handle some liquid.
In fact I find the recipe is ideal with the added liquid and especially the extra mixing required
to blend the color/flavor in.
Liquid flavor/color: Add up to 1-2 tablespoons of color and/or flavor per batch.
You'll have to experiment with amounts to get the flavor/look you want.
I like my colors light (~20 drops of food coloring per batch)
I like my flavors strong (1-2 teaspoons extract-type flavors,
1-2 tablespoons fruit puree, coffees, teas, wine reduction etc)
Powdered flavors/colors:
I've never used powdered colors, so I can't help there.
Again, I like my flavors strong, so I'll add quite a bit to each batch
(2-4 teaspoons of strong flavors such as dry spices,
2-4 tablespoons of weaker flavors like dried, ground fruit.)
Tip for multiple flavors in one batch:
I usually do 5-10 flavors/colors in a single macaron batch.
The easiest way to do this is to:
-Ladle the unflavored/uncolored batter into multiple ziplocs.
-Add different colors and flavors to each ziploc.
-Seal the bag and then mush it around just until the color/flavor is incorporated.
16. Squeeze macaron batter into 1-1.5" circles (for small macs) on parchment paper or silicone mat.
17.Tap the cookie sheet against a hard surface several times to release air bubbles. Let rest.
**Do a test macaron before piping the whole tray.
If the swirls and peaks don't fade into smooth rounded macaron surfaces after 5 minutes,
the batter needs more mixing. The surface of your macarons will NOT smooth out in the oven.
18. Let rest 15-20 minutes, until a 'skin' forms on the top of the macarons.
(test this: a knuckle rested against macarons wont come away sticky)
**Note: this step may be unnecessary. Next time I'm going to do a test run without it.
Bake:
19. Bake in 155 C oven for 10-15 minutes.
Double-pan for best results (stack a spare pan underneath your mac pan).
If you have a convection oven with a fan (like I do) you may want to
turn it off or block it somehow, or your macs will cook unevenly and be prone to cracking.
** Note: Every oven is different.
Typically the ideal macaron range is:
148-176C (300-350 F)
20. Remove from oven, let cool 5-10 minutes on pan, then pop free of parchment paper.
21. Fill with favorite buttercream or ganache filling.
A Day or Two or Twenty of Rest:
22. Set the cookies in the the fridge for at least 24 hours before eating. They will keep in the fridge for a week and in the freezer for six months.
** This maturation phase is important. Do not eat the macarons the same day!
The texture will be wrong and the buttercream flavors wont have had time to saturate the cookie.
23. Remove from fridge and wait 45 minutes before eating.
Macarons should be eaten at room temperature, not cold.
Happy Macaroning!
 |
| Strawberry Macarons |
No comments:
Post a Comment