The Best French Macarons
I’m not here to bore you with how these macarons changed my life and yada yada yada. I am just obsessed with macarons and they’re so expensive, I wanted to make them for myself. This was one of the first recipes I created as I couldn’t make the recipes online work. Through pastry school I learned a few other tips and tricks. But here it is!
Background:
There are three different ways to make macarons, French, Swiss, and Italian styles. Both the Swiss and Italian styles require the heating of sugar and streaming it into the whipped egg whites but I find that the French style is easiest. Macarons are known to be quite finicky but that is due to the strength of the protein structure of the egg whites and the amount of liquid added to the shell base.
Vanilla maaron shells with a raspberry cream filling and dried raspberries on the perimeter.
Tips:
When making macarons in humid weather or to ensure the macarons turn out, it is important to have the strongest egg white structure. This can be achieved by adding some dried egg whites (can be bought on amazon) to the mixture when whipping the whites. You can also dry your egg whites. This can be done by separating the eggs and covering the whites with cling wrap and poking holes. Let the whites sit in the fridge for a 48 hours days before making as this causes some of the water contents to evaporate.
Macarons are hard to make because the air content is very important when whipping the egg whites. If you want to flavor the shell, you have to use gel or dried ingredients. For example, you gel or powdered dye instead of liquid. Also using vanilla bean paste or vanilla bean seeds instead of vanilla extract.
Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together once in a large bowl in order to remove dried ingredients that have been hydrated. You will sift again when it comes to adding these ingredients with the whipped egg whites
The technique of folding in the dry ingredients into the stiff egg whites is call macaronage, and this stage is best done with a stiffer, long handle spatula. When folding in the powdered sugar and almond flour, I recommend watching some type of video in order to visually gauge exactly what ribboning is for macaron mixtures.
Macaron Shell Base Ingredients:
70g granulated sugar
70g egg whites
84g powdered sugar
92g sifted fine almond flour
¼ tsp cream of tartar
½ tbsp (1 ½ tsp) dried egg whites (optional)
½ tsp vanilla bean paste
Instructions:
Sift together powdered sugar and almond flour into one bowl.
In a stand mixer, place egg whites in and whip on medium speed until foamy. Then add in dried egg whites and cream of tartar. Continue to beat.
When soft peaks are reached, add roughly 1/3 of granulated sugar at a time and continue to beat on medium high until stiff peaks are reached. Once the sugar is incorporated, add another third of the granulated sugar. Repeat until the last third is added. At this point, add in vanilla bean paste and beat until incorporated and the egg whites reach a stiff peak. This is done when you can hold the bowl over your head and the egg whites will not move.
Remove from stand mixer and sift in 1/2 of powdered sugar, almond flour, and roughly fold with a stiff spatula. Sift and fold in other half. Fold almost roughly against side of bowl until ribbons form. This means that the mixture falls off the spatula in ribbons. When the batter falls off the spatula into the bowl, the batter should go back to looking smooth after 5-8 seconds.
Put all the shell in a piping bag and pipe onto a SILC mat or parchment paper in 1 inch diameter circles. If using parchment paper, place a little of the batter under the corners of the parchment paper. Keep the circles about an inch apart. Once pan in filled bang on the table to get rid of any air bubbles. If you have remaining shell mixture, store in a piping bag so that no air can reach the mixture. Use when first batch is done
6. Preheat oven to 300 Fahrenheit and let the shells sit out until dry and you can run your finger over the surface and it feels like a skin has formed (they are smooth and dry to the touch - around 20 minutes). At this point place into oven. Bake for 10 minutes and check. The “feet” that macarons are known for should form and bottoms of the shells should just be a very light golden color. When you wiggle the top of the macaron, the shell should not move. Take out of oven and place onto a drying rack as soon as possible.
7. Make matches of macarons with similar sized bottoms and fill one side with fillings. Put the two sides together and place macarons in the fridge. Keep in fridge and encourage for up to 2 weeks.
8. Optional: you can chop up dried nuts or powdered fruit and add to the sides of the macarons.
9. Fill your shells with a filling of your choice.
If you post my recipe, please give me credit. Thank you for your support!
