macaron 3

•200g almond meal (approx 2 cups)


•200g powdered sugar (approx 1 3/4 cups)

•75g egg whites (approx 2 egg whites from large eggs)





•(another) 75g egg whites (approx 2 egg whites from large eggs)

•200g regular sugar (approx 1 cup)

•50g water (approx 1/5 of a cup)





•food coloring (optional)

•filling (ganache, buttercream, jam, frosting, etc. - whatever you like!)





•sturdy cookie (baking) sheet (one that won't warp in the oven)

•standing mixer (like a Kitchen Aid) with whisk attachment

•food processor

•pastry bag (or gallon-sized freezer bag with corner cut off)

•kitchen thermometer (not absolutely necessary, but highly recommended)

•a big bowl

•parchment paper- I use If You Care organic paper, which is inexpensively available on Amazon (see right), and which contains no chrome (a heavy metal) like in standard parchment paper

I do not recommend using silpats; due to the thicker silicone, the bottoms never cook through completely, and your macarons will stick.





(click to enlarge) 1. Put egg whites in your mixer & preheat your oven

Put one of your 75g egg white portions in your mixer, to allow it to warm up to room temperature. If your egg whites are already at room temperature, then you can skip this step (or, rather, just do it later)



If it takes some time for your oven to heat up, you might as well start preheating now: you'll want to set the temperature to 320F (or 160C).



2. Blend almond meal and powdered sugar

Put your 200g of almond meal and 200g of powdered sugar in a food processor. Blend until fully mixed and without any lumps (consider sifting if you can't get all the lumps out).





The "cooked sugar" (sucre cuit) will be bubbly and frothy, but will not caramelize, due to the presence of the water. 3. Start cooking sugar and water

Put the 200g of regular sugar and 50g of water in a small pan and begin heating it. When it dissolves and starts to bubble, start checking the temperature. The goal is to get to 245F (118C).



If you don't have a thermometer, cook until it is bubbly and frothy.





Whisk until you have stiff peaks...but don't overbeat! 4. Start whisking egg whites

The egg whites from step 1 should be at room temperature by now. Begin whisking them in your standing mixer until they achieve stiff peaks. As soon as you have reached the stiff peak stage, stop whisking! (Don't overbeat your egg whites)





Slowly drizzle the melted sugar in...

...and whip until you get a "bird's beak" 5. Pour in melted sugar into whipped egg whites

Lower your mixer to "low" and slowly pour in your melted sugar (at 245F/118C) in a thin stream while the eggs are being whipped. Once all the sugar is in, raise the speed to "high" and let it whip for another 2-3 minutes. The whipped egg whites will go from a pale, translucent white to a brilliantly shiny, glossy, bright white color and will develop a creamy texture (it will become a meringue). It is very, very much like marshmallow topping, if you're familiar with this ice cream sundae topping.



The meringue is done when you pull out the whisk and turn it sideways, and a "bird's beak" of meringue dangles off the tip of the whisk (see right).





I added red & yellow dyes since I wanted orange macarons for this batch. 6. Mix egg whites into almond/sugar mixture

Mix the other 75g of unbeaten egg whites into your almond meal/powdered sugar mixture. It will result in a fairly stiff batter.



This is the time to add any food coloring if you wanted to. Go heavy on the dye, since, after adding the meringue and baking, the macarons will be much lighter in color than the batter now.





Before...

...and after about 30 folds. 7. Gently fold in the meringue into the batter

In a step the French call macaronnage, gently fold in the meringue into the batter. Do not mix aggressively; you do not want to deflate the meringue you've made.



What I've found works best is to take a small portion of the meringue, and fold that into the batter first. This will help "liquefy" the batter somewhat, making it less stiff and less resistant to folding in with the rest of the meringue. Then, add the rest of your meringue to this softened batter, gently folding it in. I've found that about 20-30 folds incorporates the meringue into the batter.



The resulting batter should have the texture of lava--when you pull your spatula/spoon out of the batter, a ribbon of batter drips back into the bowl and slowly reincorporates into the batter.





Stand your bag in a tall glass, open it up, and fill it this way. Very easy!

Piped and "rested." 8. Pipe the batter onto your parchment paper

Into either a piping bag, or a large clean plastic bag with the corner cut off, fill with your batter about halfway. It's a good idea to put your bag into a tall glass, open it up, and fill it with a spoon or spatula.



Put parchment paper onto your cookie sheet, and pipe small circles of batter (maybe 1 1/2" in/4 cm diameter), leaving plenty of room between batter drops.



When done with a sheet, pick up the cookie sheet and drop it on your counter carefully but forcefully, to help the batter spread a little bit and for any air bubbles to pop. This is an optional step, but if done right, it will lead to better-shaped macaron shells.



Most recipes call for the pre-baked, piped macarons to "rest" for at least an hour before going in the oven. With the Italian meringue (au sucre cuit method), this isn't crucial, but it's absolutely fine to pipe and then wait for a while before baking--it's very stable.



9. Bake

Bake for 15 minutes in a 320F (188C) oven. If you have a convection oven, 15 minutes is good. If you don't have a convection oven, rotate your cookie sheet once halfway through to make sure the baking is even.



Pro tip! Put an empty baking sheet or two below the cookie sheet you're using, to deflect any direct heat from the bottom. Too much direct heat from the heat source at the bottom can cause the macarons to build up into mounds that crack (like mini volcanoes) instead of the flat, unbroken tops they should have.





Your macarons should be flat on top, with "feet"--the ruffly bottoms you see here.

The macarons should slide off the parchment paper easily and yield a flat bottom like you see here. 10. Finish off!

Pull your macarons out of the oven; they should be able to pull off your parchment paper without too much effort and with almost no residue. If your macarons are sticking to the paper or leaving behind quite a bit of the dough, then bake them a bit longer--they're underdone.



Allow them to cool, and pair similarly-sized macaron shells together.



Spread a bit of filling (the recipe for the caramelized white chocolate ganache I used is below the picture and video below). You can put ganache, jam, jelly, buttercream, icing, or anything you like, really, that will glue together the two halves and provide a complementary flavor to your sweet, almondy shells.



If you overcooked your macarons and they are hard (like a meringue cookie) instead of soft inside, don't worry! Use a filling with some moisture, like a wet ganache or jam, and wait a couple of days. The moisture from the filling will rehydrate your macarons and make them soft inside again. (Note that buttercream is not recommended in this case, since buttercream has very little moisture)





The finished macaron...with bite taken out. Video instructions!

Caramelized white chocolate ganache

This is easy to make and so delicious!



You'll need:



•high-quality white chocolate (at least 30% cocoa butter) - avoid "white baking chips" or anything that doesn't explicitly say "white chocolate"

•heavy (double) cream, equal in weight to 1/4 the weight of your white chocolate

•a dash of sea salt (if you want a salted caramel flavor)

Preheat your oven to 250F (120C). Chop up your white chocolate and spread it in a deep baking sheet (not completely flat, since the chocolate is going to liquefy and run!). Place in the oven.

Every 10 minutes, take the sheet out of the oven and mix with a silicone spatula. The liquid will continue to darken, and eventually take on a light-brown/caramel color. The color may be uneven and the texture similar to goat cheese - that's OK.

After about 5 cycles (about 50 minutes), heat the cream to boiling and add both it and the melted, caramelized white chocolate to a metal bowl.

Whisk aggressively for at least 5 minutes, until you have a creamy ganache. Cool in the refrigerator until it's room temperature (about 10-15 minutes) before attempting to use.

macaron

Ingredients170g icing sugar


160g ground almonds

120ml egg whites from about 4 medium eggs, separated into 2 equal batches

160g granulated sugar

½ tsp red food colouring (see tip)



FOR THE FILLING120g double cream

110g dark chocolate , finely chopped

25g unsalted butter , room temperature

75g raspberry jam


Prep 35 mins





Cook 14 mins

1.Place the icing sugar and ground almonds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse about 15 times until fully combined. Sieve this mixture into a large bowl, discarding any particles that stay in the sieve. Add the first batch of egg whites to the almond mixture, mix to form a thick paste and set aside.

2.Tip the second batch of egg whites into a spotlessly clean, heatproof bowl and have an electric whisk at the ready. Place 50ml water and the granulated sugar into a small saucepan on medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the syrup registers 110C, using a sugar thermometer, at which time start to beat the egg whites on high speed. Once the syrup is at 118C pour it slowly down the side of the mixer bowl, avoiding the moving whisk. Continue to whisk on high until the mixture has cooled slightly and you have a shiny peaked meringue mixture - the bowl should no longer be hot to the touch, but still warm. Add the colouring and whisk to combine.

3.Tip the meringue onto the almond mixture and gently fold together. It is important not to over-mix the batter - it should fall in a thick ribbon from the spatula (A). The ribbon should also fade back into the batter within about 30 secs - if it doesn't, fold a few more times.

4.Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3-4. Line 3 baking sheets with baking parchment. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Pipe rounds about 2.5cm in diameter onto the prepared baking sheets (B). Leave to rest for 30 mins out of the fridge, or until the macaroons have developed a skin.

5.Bake the macaroons for 14 mins (this needs to be precise so you could test a macaroon first). Immediately slide the parchment onto the work surface and cool for a few minutes before gently peeling the macaroons off the paper.

6.To make the filling, place the cream in a small saucepan and the chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring the cream just to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Leave to stand for a few mins, then stir to combine. Add the butter and stir until smooth, then leave to set until thickened. Place the chocolate mix into a clean piping bag with a smaller nozzle and pipe around the edge of half the macaroons (C). Fill the centre with jam and sandwich with another macaroon shell.



MINT CHOCOLATE MACAROONS

Use 1 tsp green colouring instead of red to make the macaroons. For the filling, make a double amount and add 1 tsp peppermint extract when adding the cream. Pipe or spoon onto half the macaroon shells and sandwich with another shell.

TIP

For best results, use water-based liquid food colouring and avoid any that are oil-based gels as they will change the texture of the macaroons. Most supermarket food colourings are water based, but check the ingredients before using to make sure. Once finished, the macaroons actually improve with an overnight rest in the fridge.

BLUEBERRY & CREAM MACAROONS

Use 1 tsp violet food colouring instead of red to make the macaroons. For the filling, whip 100ml double cream to stiff peaks and spoon or pipe onto half the macaroon shells, top with a couple of blueberries and sandwich with a second macaroon shell.

PER MACAROON

macaron

Ingredients




2 cups confectioner’s sugar (480g)

1 cup plus 3-1/2 tablespoons ground

almonds (280g)

7 egg whites

An appropriate filling

(or, try more than one filling with a

particular meringue flavor to see

what combinations you prefer—for

example, pistachio with pistachio

buttercream versus chocolate

ganache or white chocolate ganache)

A few drops of flavoured food coloring, such as raspberry

Fan favorites include Pistachio, Raspberry and Salted Butter Caramel. You may want to start out with Raspberry, as it’s easy to find a good flavoring/coloring as well as good artisan raspberry jam. We’re also including a recipe for a chocolate raspberry ganache below.



If you’re a whiz in the pastry kitchen, try these stunners: chocolate with gold leaf.



Preparation



Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Line two baking trays with parchment paper.

If using whole almonds, pulse in a food processor until very finely ground, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the confectioner’s sugar and process to a fine powder. Sift to remove any lumps.

Beat the egg whites in bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed, adding the food coloring as you go until you reach the desired shade. Then increase speed to high and continue to beat until the whites just hold stiff, glossy peaks.

Quickly and carefully add the almond-sugar powder. (Meringue will deflate.)

With a wooden spoon, mix from the center of the bowl outwards, turning the bowl as you go. You want to achieve a smooth, lightly colored mixture.

Spoon batter into a piping bag with a 1/4-inch round tip. If you don’t have a piping bag, use a plastic freezer bag, pressing out excess air. Snip off one corner to create a 1/4-inch opening. Pipe inch-wide macaroons onto the baking trays, about 1-1/2 inches apart. You should have peaked mounds of batter, about the size of a chocolate kiss.

Cook for eight to nine minutes, leaving the door of the oven slightly ajar.

Remove the macaroons from the oven. Pour a little water between the baking tray and the parchment paper; this makes the macaroons easier to lift off when they have cooled. Cool completely on racks, about 30 minutes.

Carefully peel macaroons from parchment; they are fragile. Sandwich a thin layer of fillings between two macaroons—ganache, marmalade, jam or whipped cream. The two bottoms face the filling.

At right, violet macaroons with blackcurrant

jam. You can make them, too.

If you can, leave the finished macaroons in the refrigerator for 24 hours. This allows the flavors and texture to develop and intensify.

Whipped cream macaroons must be stored in the refrigerator; others can be kept in airtight tins at room temperature for up to three days after production.

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