Macarons

I remember the first time I was introduced to macarons. Like what I suspect to be a large proportion of the population, it happened during an early season of Masterchef Australia, where a certain “dark lord of patisserie” walked into the room carrying a Styrofoam cone covered in bright circles. My confusion was quick to sink in, as the judges carried on  about “macaroons.” The aforementioned bright circles did not match the image in my mind of small, coconutty confections that our Filipino neighbours would often bake. I later discovered that the reason for this was because the judges (and in fact, many others out there) refer to French macarons as “macaroons.”

Anyways, I continued watching and noticed that the contestants seemed to have numerous freakouts, panic attacks and fits of crying as they all struggled with the challenge. I decided to read up on macarons and discovered that the contestants were not alone – copious amounts of food bloggers and recipe authors had waxed lyric about how difficult it was to master the art of the macaron. Of course, never in a million years did I expect to not only be attempting to bake them, but actually be recreating several successful batches.

I, for one, follow the “simpler” recipe of using French meringue; Zumbo uses Italian meringue, which is supposedly a more reliable method due to the fact the meringue is partly cooked before going into the oven (this, to me, just reads as extra steps, not to mention dishes). It looks simple enough. Whip up some egg whites, fold  in some almond meal and icing sugar, pipe and Voila. However, the success of the macarons depends on so many other factors. The exact measurements of the ingredients, the temperature of the oven, whether you rest the shells or not/for how long, how you fold the mixture; all things which can drastically affect the macarons when altered just a tiny bit. Because this post is mainly for a friend interested in how I make them (ahem, and a necessary push for me to actually blog again), I’m not going into the evolution of my macaron-baking and the numerous recipes I have used and the results they have produced. I will instead, just say that it is possible to successfully bake macarons at home. Yes, it takes a lot of practice (not that it’s impossible to fluke your first batch) and it is wise to read up on them first and learn from each attempt (I sure did), but it is possible.

What’s more is that many of the ridiculous “rules” that you may come across when reading macaron recipes are absolutely unnecessary. I don’t age my egg whites, I don’t fold the mixture a certain number of times, I don’t dry my almond meal prior to adding it to the mixture. I don’t cook the macarons at two different tempatures… you get the gist. However, I will admit to drying my macarons before putting them in the oven. Bravetart states that this isn’t necessary, but I prefer to dry them just to be safe. It’s no extra work, and I usually use this time to clean up anyway.

Speaking of Bravetart (or Stella), she is a champion. Like, actually. Just scroll through the comments on her macaron recipe and you’ll see that she has inspired many to start making macarons. She shuns the “rules” of making macarons and removes the fear many have. I have seen other blogs recommend her  (how I discovered her blog in the first place) and I will in turn, do the same. It’s really refreshing to see someone say SCREW DA RULZ instead of warning that your macarons are doomed if the egg whites haven’t been aged for days beforehand and the mixture folded exactly 43 and 1/3 times.

So read her posts, heed her advice and give macarons a go. Yes, macarons are difficult to make and take a lot of practice. But they are possible to bake at home and the satisfaction you get from baking a perfect batch never gets old.

Macarons (Adapted from Bravetart)

For the macaron shells 

• 115g almond meal 
• 230g pure icing sugar
• 144g egg whites 
• 72g caster sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Place the almond meal and icing sugar into a food processor and process for approximately one minute, until well combined and very fine.
2. Sift the mixture into a medium bowl, discarding any larger pieces that do not fit through the sieve. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites, sugar and salt on low speed for three minutes.
4. Raise the speed to medium and whip for another three minutes, and then another three minutes on high speed. The mixture should be stiff by now.
5. Turn the mixer off and add the vanilla and any food colouring, should you wish to colour the shells.
6. At the highest setting of the mixer, beat the mixture for one minute. By now the mixture should be extremely stiff and dry. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites and fold with a rubber spatula until a smooth, magma-like consistency is achieved, with the mixture flowing off the spatula in a thin ribbon. The wet and dry ingredients will, at first, appear impossible to combine but will begin to smoothe with more folds. It is very important not to overmix, but be rough with the mixture at first; you want to actually puncture the large air bubbles out of it.  
7. Place the mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 1cm round tip. Pipe in circles of a desired size onto a baking tray lined with baking paper (I usually aim for 20 cent coin-sized rounds, as the macarons do spread a little after piping).
8. Leave the macarons to rest in a cool, dry room for approximately half an hour. You will know when they are ready to be baked when they appear dry and lose their shine. When you touch the top of a shell, the mixture should not stick to your finger. ******YOU CAN SKIP THIS STEP if you're daring*******
9. Place the macarons in an oven preheated to 150 degrees Celcius and bake for approximately 18 minutes, or until the macarons are firm to the touch and the feet have settled.
10. Leave the macarons on the baking trays for five minutes, before removing them from the baking paper (using a metal spatula if necessary) and allowing them to cool on a metal rack. Once cooled, match the shells into pairs and pipe one half of the pairs with a frosting or ganache of your choosing and sandwich together with their other halves.

Notes and tips: 

- While I list 150 degrees as the oven temperature, be aware that everyone's oven is different and, particularly older models, don't necessarily match the temperature they are set at. The only way to figure out the perfect temperature for your oven is through practice.

- It helps to pre-trace the circles onto the underside of the baking paper to aid in piping.

- Despite what other websites say, you can use either pure icing sugar or icing sugar mixture in your macarons. I have had successful results using both (CSR brand!)

- Macarons are best eaten the day after; when they are freshly baked, they are often too crunchy. They will soften overnight due to the filling.

- You can use liquid food colouring in these, as long as you use it sparingly (many websites state that only powdered food colouring will do).

- Use a piping bag if you can (I did with the last batch, and it made things SO much easier). However, if you don't have one on hand, a large sandwich bag with the corner snipped off can work, too.

- It's obviously easier with a stand mixer, but we only recently got one and I don't trust it yet, so i still use our 200 year old hand mixer.

- BE CAREFUL WHEN FOLDING THE MIXTURE. I strongly believe this is the most important step when making macarons, and is exactly the difference between a good batch and a failed one. DO NOT OVER-MIX!!!! You should be able to tell when you’ve mixed it perfectly while piping; the mixture will settle itself into a circle and if there’s a peak at the top from the piping, it should disappear after a few seconds. If it’s really runny, it’s definitely over-mixed, and if it’s too stiff, under-mixed. However it is better to have done this than over-mixed, and the mixture should settle during the resting period.  * I’ve never under-mixed it though, so that’s just coming from the interwebz.

Ahhh there’s like a million more but that’s all I can remember right now! Happy baking, and may you soon be wearing the I-just-baked-a-successful-batch-of-macarons-ain’t-life-grand smile, too.