French Macarons
One of my goals for this year, 2020, was to improve my cooking and baking skills (hence I came back to blogging food with better recipes). Among my list of "to-accomplish" was making Macarons.
A little about French Macarons: they were introduced in France in the French court during the Renaissance period for Queen Catherine de Medici by her Italian chef. Macarons at the time did not have a filling center like we know them today. Macarons were two shells that were infused together right when they were baked. (Now that I make them now I wonder how that Italian chef was able to whip to stiff peaks and bake to perfection, must have been a genius!) Later on the high-end patisserie Laudree introduced the French Macaron we know today as two smooth shells sandwiched between a ganache filling.
I don't think Macarons made it to the Lebanese sweets market like the other french pastries we enjoy in Lebanon. I was first introduced to Macarons on my high school trip to France in 2013 and I liked them but I wasn't too interested in them like I am now after I tried them again last year at Laudree NYC.
I call this the beginner recipe to French Macarons because I am not a Macaron expert. I still need a lot of experience and recipe testing to make my skills perfect. But these beginner Macarons check all the boxes for what a Macaron is supposed to look and taste like. My point of writing this blog is to inspire someone else who is attempting to make Macarons for the first time and to track my progress. So once they are perfect, I can appreciate the milestone I have achieved.
Also below I write down the tips I wish someone else wrote for a beginner just starting their Macaron experience at home... And what does Lava even look like!
How I learned:
Trying. Try again. Read a ton of other articles. Saw a ton of videos. Fail! (My first ones were burnt round discs) Take a class.
After almost giving up on Macarons, I went on my adventurous google search and just looked up "pastry classes near me" (at 1:00 a.m.) and there appears a cooking school near my hometown. And guess what? They had a Macaron class the next day at 7:00 p.m. OF COURSE I was late to sign-up but the teacher had extra materials for one more student. It was just meant to be. And that's how my Macaron skills got better.
There are 3 methods to making Macarons: French, Italian, and Swiss. I'm currently trying the French method which is the easiest. Most bakeries do the Italian for a glossy surface.
The Base Recipe I got from my class:
50 grams Almond Flour, sifted
50 grams Powdered Sugar, sifted
Salt (optional)
40 grams Egg Whites, room temperature
36 grams Granulated Sugar
Cream of tartar (optional)
But these make 10-12 Macarons only and I don't enjoy going through the process to make a small amount so I multiply the recipe by 3 or 4. Plus Salt and Cream of Tartar are really not necessary.
The amounts I use:
150 grams Almond Flour
150 grams Powdered Sugar
120 grams Egg Whites
108 grams Granulated Sugar
Gel food coloring if you can a colored Macaron
Chocolate Macarons: 3 grams of cocoa powder added with the Almond Flour and 2 drops of brown food coloring with the Meringue.
Measuring:
Measure all the ingredients using a kitchen scale. This is the nature of making Macarons. Everything has to be measured to the exact amounts in the recipe to achieve a perfect meringue and Macaron shell.
Directions:
1. Start with separating your egg whites from the egg yolk. You can crack the egg in a bowl and remove the yolk carefully with a spoon or you can crack the egg and carefully move the egg yolk from one half shell to the other half of the shell and the egg whites will slip out.
** It's important to not have a single drop of egg yolk with the egg white. Wnd remove the white wobbly stuff.
2. Place the egg whites in a bowl of a stand mixer. And let it come to room temperature for 1 hour.
** You can save the egg yolk to make crème patisserie for a fruit tart (recipe on the blog)
Sifting the dry ingredients (almond flour and powdered sugar):
This is the only time your Almond Flour and Powdered sugar will be mixed together. It's important to sift the almond flour and powdered sugar well to remove any clumps or hardened sugar. The rule is to sift 3 times.
1. Mix your powdered sugar and almond flour in a bowl with a whisk or spoon (there are suggestions to use a food processor but that has not helped and it's extra clean up)
If you have clumps then smooth them with a spoon, discard the little pebbles that form at the end of sifting.
2. Have another bowl ready and using a sieve, spoon the almond flour and powdered sugar into the sieve and sift. Do the process 3 times to make sure the mixture is soft with out lumps.
3. Set aside.
Making the Meringue (Whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks):
This is a "Stiff Peak" or Meringue. Stiff Peaks are formed when you whip egg whites vigorously for some time until the egg white turns from liquid to cream (something like a hard whip cream.) During that time you are including air particles into the egg whites which makes that fluff and double in size. The process can take any where from 5-10 min. based on stand mixer speed and weather.
(You can also use a hand mixer for the Meringue. But these are the only two options.)
On a standard stand mixer (mine is Kitchen Aid) turn the dial to 4 to start the "froth."
The "froth" is when the egg whites is at the beginning of whipping and it starts to make bubbles. To achieve "froth" it can take 4 minutes at the 4 dial on a Kitchen Aid Stand mixer.
1. When the egg whites are froth. Slowly add the granulated sugar in a process call "let it rain," very slowly like rain coming down while the stand mixer is still whisking.
2. Turn the dial up to 8 and let the egg whites whip. The process may not take you 5-8 min. Just make sure that when you pull the whisk out you can see the form in the picture.
3. When the egg whites are in stiff peak, add 2 drops of food coloring. And let it stir for a few seconds or remove bowl and stir egg whites and food coloring with a spatula until incorporated.
** it's important not to go beyond that stage in whipping the egg whites. Because they will be over whipped which will deflate the egg whites turning it back into liquid. If this happens throw it away and start again.
Folding the Meringue and dry ingredients:
In this process you are trying to mix at the almond flour and powdered sugar with the Meringue. Add the dry ingredients into the Meringue by thirds.
1. Spoon 1/3 of dry ingredients into the Meringue and fold.
You fold it by scrapping the sides of the bowl in a circle then bringing the ingredients to the center folding it until the dry ingredients are incorporated then add the other 1/3, repeat, and the final third, repeat.
Creating the figure 8:
After folding in the dry ingredient the Meringue will be stiff. You have to keep folding it with a spatula until you achieve the figure 8 and the Meringue runs off the spatula. When you try to draw out an 8, the Meringue is supposed to run smoothly and continuous. if it keeps breaking, keep folding.
Now that the Meringue is done. Get a plastic pipping bag with a Wilton tip 12. And twist the top. Place the pipping bag into a cup for easy filling.
Fill your pipping bag with the Meringue half way and twist the top half of your bag.
Pipping onto a baking sheet:
Print out a Macaron template. The Perfect Macaron size if a 1 inch diameter, which I use for my Macaron shells.
You must you a cookie baking sheets to make the Macaron shells. Place a parchment paper the size of the baking sheet and slip the template under the parchment paper.
Pipe the shell by placing the tip onto the middle of the "see-through" circle and squeeze the pipping bag until you get the Meringue just inside the circle lines.
When done, remove the template from under the parchment paper.
You may need more than one baking sheet based on the size of your baking sheet.
Pipe all the Meringue.
Taping the tray:
1. Place a dish towel on a surface and hold the parchment paper down with your finger while holding the tray. Gently tap the tray so the air bubbles come out.
2. Get a tooth pick and pop any hiding bubbles you see on the surface. Most shells will have 2-3 bubbles, some might not.
This step is important so the shells don't crack in the oven.
Drying time:
Let the Macaron Shells sit for 1-2 hours to dry. You know the Macaron shells are dry when you gently brush your finger on the top of it and it's not sticky. You finger should be clean.
The drying time is based on the environment of room they are drying in.
For example, my Macaron took 1.5 hours to dry. I placed them on the dinning table and the room was 62 Fahrenheit. The higher the temp. the less drying time.
Baking the shells:
1. Turn your oven on 20 mins. at 320 Fahrenheit before baking. (Your oven is always 20 Fahrenheit cooler than you dial it, and Macaron shells need to be baked at a certain temperature)
2. Place the rack in the middle. If you want to bake two sheets together place two racks approximately in the middle.
3. Place the baking sheets in the oven and turn the baking temperature down to 300 Fahrenheit.
4. Bake for 17-20 minutes. I bake mine in my home oven for 17 mins. however if I try to move the Macaron off the baking sheet and it's sticks to the parchment paper I'll put it back into the oven for those 3 minutes.
5. Let the Macarons shells cool in the baking sheet on a cooling rack.
6. When Macarons shells are cooled, remove from parchment by twisting it gently or pulling away the parchment paper from the shell.
7. Place the Macaron shells gently on a tray or air tight container if you are not filling immediately.
Filling:
The flavor of the Macaron comes from the filling. You can be as creative with the filling combination as you want. However the best fillings are made from: ganache, jam, buttercream, curds, and chocolate.
Chocolate Espresso Ganache:
1 cup Heavy Cream (do not use any other liquid, it will not hold a form)
1/2 tsp espresso powder
2 baking chocolate bars, chopped
Directions:
1. Chop the chocolate baking bars into small pieces and place into a heat proof bowl. (Alternatively you can use chocolate chips for baking.)
2. Heat Heavy Cream in a saucepan for a few minutes on low (it's neither simmering not boiling). Add espresso powder and mix.
3. Once the cream is heated, pour onto the chocolate in the bowl and mix with a fork or whisk until you get a glossy texture.
4. Let it sit for 30 min. until the ganache form is thickened for pipping.
5. You can use a pipping bag or spoon the ganache onto the macaron shells.
6. Fill one shell and cover the ganache with another shell. Let it sit.
Storing the Macarons:
1. Place the Macarons onto its side in an air tight container. Do not place the Macarons on top of each other.
2. Place in the filled Macarons in the fridge for 12 hours.
Now you can enjoy your Macarons, you achieved something and you deserve it!
My tips for beginner Macarons:
1. Macarons are a delicate cookie, they are not the end of the world. So if it doesn't work in the first time it will work with experience.
2. Everything in making a Macaron has to be measured and you must follow the directions and numbers.
3. Sifting the almond flour and powdered sugar is very important. Don't skip it.
4. A failed Meringue is a failed Macaron. Egg whites have to be room temperature.
5. Don't under whip the Meringue, if it's still liquid keep whisking until you get stiff peaks. You can stop the stand mixer to check if you got stiff peaks. And then continue.
6. Whipping the Meringue takes more than 5 minutes as most recipes claim.
7. Do not let the Meringue sit for too long before folding the dry ingredients it will deflate.
8. Use the proper folding method and continue mixing until you get a figure 8. (Most recipes say mix until it looks like Lava, I have never seen Lava nor plan to see any, haha.)
9. Do not pipe a macaron shell larger than 1 inch as a beginner, it will take longer to bake and might cause trouble. 1 inch is a perfect size. Stay within the template lines and the Meringue will spread once tapped.
10. Tap the tray gently. You don't have to throw it onto the floor.
11. The shell is hard when baked, but will soften once you put the filling inside.
12. Macarons taste best the next day.
13. The Laudree Macarons are not made at the patisserie the same as the ones in the book. I recommend Secrets of Macarons by Jose Marechal. It's very informative.
14. Only use gel food coloring, liquid will deflate your Meringue.
I will continue to edit this blog with the information I learn the the fillings I try.
