Macaron Madness

                                                      Week 14-17 ( Save $14 to $17 )

Pronounced Mac-rons. Not Macaroons.  Roll the R off your tongue and the N is silent.

Macaron's: these little dainty colorful Parisian confectionary delights...Where did these little sandwich cookies originate from? It's unclear but it was the Italians who introduced a French pastry chef in early 1530's,  a plain single cookie made with ground almond, egg white and sugar . The macaron gained it's fame in late 1700 by two asylum nuns who were baking and selling these simple cookies in order to support themselves during the French Revolution.

The macaron was made famous by Pierre Desfontaines in 1900's (owner of Ladurée café).  He took the two cookies and filled them with ganache.  Today café Ladurée continues to be hot spot for macaron craze of Paris even after all these years!

Macarons are everywhere and they look simple enough... How hard could it be to make these gluten- free almond meringue sandwiched filled biscuits? I decided I would make a batch for an upcoming birthday and 3 weeks should give me more than enough time to perfect them.

There are so many recipes, videos, do's and don't, information overload. Apparently,  macarons are very finicky...what does that mean? It means a hundred things can go wrong and it either works or it does not work. It may take up to 12 attempts before one can finally make the "perfect macaron".

What is the "perfect macaron" ? It's defined as a smooth crispy cookie shell with chewy centre and feet at the bottom of the cookie.  Oh! and lets not forget about the silky center filling.

After 10 days, 30 eggs, 30 cups of confectionary sugar, 30 cups of almond flour, 2.5 cups of granulated sugar and 30 hours later... I finally made the perfect batch of macarons! What an expensive and time consuming experience! I define this time in my life as "Macaron Madness!"

With 4 simple ingredients, this is what I learnt in the process and YOU can make them in ONE attempt. Don't get upset or disappointed if they fail. Give it another go in the near future . Here are my tips and tricks through trial and error :

Read through the recipe a few times and follow the instructions ( I know its a lot of information but once you understand the process, everything will be a breeze! )

• Make sure all the utensils and bowls are clean and oil free.
• Use either a glass or metal bowls.  Avoid plastic mixing bowls.
• Eggs should be at room temperature (at least an hour, no need to "age" the eggs)
• Sift your ground almond flour and confectionary sugar twice.
• Use cream of tartar to stabilize the egg whites
• Use only a gelatin base food coloring form (wilton)
• Have your parchment template sheets drawn (circle size 1.5 inches)
• Use heavier baking sheets
• Optional:  food scale to weigh your ingredients.

Ingredients     yield 20

2 large egg whites at room temperature : do not get any of the yolk into the whites!
1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
2/3 cup almond flour (75grams): sifted
3/4 cup confectionary sugar (aka: icing sugar) (90 grams): sifted
1/8 tsp of cream of tartar
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
color food gel

** filling recipe to follow

1. Have your baking sheets lined with parchment templates or silicon sheets ready ( you may need 2  trays)

2. In a bowl, sift the almond flour and icing sugar twice and set aside.

Stiff beat egg whites

3. In a medium clean bowl, beat the egg whites on a low speed until foamy.  Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to medium.  Slowly add the granulated sugar a few spoons at a time. On high speed continue to beat the egg whites until a hard stiff peak forms. Stop beating at this stage!

4. Add your food coloring gel and vanilla extract.

5. With the combined almond flour and icing sugar mixture, fold into the whipped egg whites a 1/3 at time with your spatula.


Non Sinking # 8

**This is the most critical technique in mixing. You need to run the spatula from the batter bottom and up and around the sides in Number 8 folding motion. Turn the mixing bowl 1/4 at a time and repeat the fold 50 times. I suggest counting out loud with every fold. To test if the batter is right consistency and ready for piping: is the batter shiny and the consistency of a cake batter? Can you ribbon the number 8 and it holds on its own for about 10 second without sinking? if not, fold a couple more times and test again.  DO NOT over fold or else you will deflate too many air bubbles and the macarons will be flat, cracked, and tough discs with no feet.

practice makes perfect

6. Once the batter is ready, Fill your piping bag and many recipes suggest using no. 12  round tip.  Use the largest round tip you have. Dab your parchment paper corners down with a bit of batter to hold down your sheet. Hold your piping bag perpendicular over your parchment paper or silicone sheets and pipe your batter by dropping rather than piping. Hold your piping bag about 1/2 inch from your sheet. Pipe your circle rounds and to finish each macaron, flick your tip upwards and twist upwards with your wrist or in a reverse C. This will cut off your batter and you can start on your next piping.

 7. Once the piping is complete, bang the trays a few times or drop the pan to the counter.  This will remove the air bubbles from the top. Pop any air bubbles with a toothpick.

 8. Let the piped macarons rest for 20 to 30 minutes. On a humid day allow 1 hour.  Once there is a shiny skin formed on the top and not sticking to your finger when you lightly touch them by running your finger.

9. Preheat your oven 325. Make sure the baking rack is in the centre of your oven.

10. Bake one tray at a time for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the macarons to cool down before removing from the paper or mat. They will easily slide off, if not, you can either cool them in the fridge or freezer for a few seconds. If they still stick, put the tray back into the oven for a few minutes. Note: larger macarons need longer time.

buttercream icing

11. Now you are ready to fill your macarons once they are completely cooled (approx. 15 minutes).  Pair up similar sized macarons.  Pipe or fill approximately teaspoon of filling on flat side of the macaron. Twist the pair together until the filling just comes to the edge.


12.  Once the macarons are sandwiched together. In an airtight container, you must age the macarons for a 24 to 72 hours. Jammy fillings will be ready overnight. Buttercreams can take up to a week.
**I usually skip this aging step and start taste testing the macarons.

Filling ideas: be creative and adventurous

lemon or lime curds ( look for this recipe in one of my blogs)

Jelly filling: 1/2 cup butter at room temperature
sifted icing sugar  1 -1.5 cup
3 Tbsp of grape jelly (or your favorite jelly)
1/2 tsp lemon juice.

Mix the butter with the icing sugar. Add the jelly and lemon juice until smooth

Buttercream : 1 cup of icing sugar, 1/4 of butter, 1/4 tsp of vailla, 1/2 to 3/4 Tbsp of water

Cream cheese filling: 13 grams of cream cheese, 1/4 c  blueberry preserve, 1.5 cup of icing sugar, dash of vanilla, dash of salt.

YOU DONE IT! NOW GO TAKE TONS OF PICTURES!! THEY ARE SUCH AN  PHOTOGENTIC SUBJECT!!

The macaron shells will keep crisp in your fridge for months. You can actually freeze your filled macarons!  Defrost them in refrigerator overnight. Note: The shells will be weaker.. but still delicious.

Now go and curve your sugar craving with just a one or two of these perfect delights.



                                                                      ENJOY!