#baking macarons

By Lisa Maliga, copyright 2018

There’s no such thing as foolproof macarons! However, there are ways to ensure that you bake the best batches you can by keeping this handy baking checklist nearby. Feel free to share this with other macaron bakers. And revise it to your needs. It’s all about getting the tastiest and prettiest batches of macarons!

This excerpt is from my book Baking Macarons: The Swiss Meringue Method.

BAKING CHECKLIST

♥ Note outside and inside temperature and humidity just before you begin baking.

♥ Have a notepad and pen handy so you can take notes.

♥ In addition to taking notes, photograph/film the process. Or have someone photograph/film you so you can concentrate on baking.

♥ Is your almond flour sifted [at least 3 times] or ground in the food processor?

♥ Have you premixed your almond flour and confectioners’ sugar? Have you sifted it together once?

♥ Are your egg whites weighed?

♥ Is your confectioners’ [icing] sugar sifted and measured?

♥ Are your mixing bowls clean and dry?

♥ Are your parchment paper or silicone mats clean, dry and ready for piping?

♥ Have you added your tip to the piping bag?

♥ Are the oven racks in the correct position?

♥ Will you make your filling after your macaron shells or is it already made?

♥ Is your cooling rack set out?

♥ Are your drying/filling trays lined with wax paper?

Use this as a guide to help monitor the baking process:

First batch # shells sat for # minutes. Baked for # minutes.

Second batch # shells baked for # minutes.

Third batch # shells baked for # minutes.

With each batch, note the type of cookie sheet, whether you use only one or if you double them. Also, note the position of the oven rack

Indicate if you’re using parchment or silicone mats.

Observe the temperature of your oven periodically.

Note when you rotated the baking sheet.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

So my friend Maria wanted to learn to make macarons – like me she had tried on and off. Honestly, it takes one good macaron class, the right recipe and learn one teach one and off you go to success. What’s your macaron making tip?

Like many French recipes, the macaron is few ingredients and lots of technique. Hints to my success in no particular order (my macarons are by no means perfected – but still appreciated my all who partake):

Use a French recipe – my first one was not from a French person. The god of macarons in

Took me a bit to find a photo of Hermé with this smirk let alone a smile

France is Pierre Hermé and his recipes are readily available on the internet. This is a great post from Dessert First using not only the recipe but hints from SF Cooking School.

Always, but always, “age” your eggs. I separate my eggs from my yolks a week before and then let them stand at room temp two days prior to baking. This breaks the albumen and allows for a better meringue when you need it most.

Mise en place is essential – there are steps in macaron making that will not wait for measuring, cooking….see how macaron can be zen. The mise is part of the zen – the prep part. #gallery-0-8 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-8 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-8 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-8 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Macaron shells

Maria and macarons c’est finis – Happy baker!

Macaron w Maria

Macaron Shells

Chocolate & Berry Jam

Lemon, mocha, chocolate pistachio and berry cream

Essential tool

Hermé’s recipe is based on an Italian meringue that is egg whites whipped to soft peaks with simple syrup (sugar and water) boiled to 118F. This my friends is an entire post of it’s own and also readily available on the internet. Try making macarons with “uncooked” meringue and let me know how it works for you – cause I never got it to work.

Use gel or powder coloring – that liquid food coloring from the grocery story added to egg whites does not work. And always use more color than you think you’ll need – remember you are going to add a massive amount of WHITE egg whites and it will dilute your color – dramatically.

Hermé macaron

Piping macaron shells does not require a template of circles but it does require practice and it’s fun. So practice away – unless you are working in the Hermé kitchen doing these 8 hours a day – expect a few rejects. And any true friend who won’t help you try a new filling on a reject is not a true friend who should be grateful you are making macarons and sharing with them at all.

Oven temp makes a difference – like it does for any recipe – this more than others cause they’re macarons! And they’re made of egg whites and sugar and they cook quickly and burn easily. If you can smell them – they’re probably over cooked.

Use a digital scale – Measure everything – this like many pastry recipes is not an eye ball it kind of thang.

Let the lava flow – when you combine the meringue with the almond flour and sugar – when mixed properly and enough – it should have the consistency of a lava flow – not faster or slower. This will be the test as to how your shell piping will go. Too loose = soup. Too hard = won’t get through the piping bag. Stop mixing when you get to lava…..I do this by hand not in an electric mixer.

Let the “skin” form – I have done it both ways – without letting the macaron shells “rest” before baking and with a rest. I find the classic macaron “foot” is guaranteed if everything else is followed. Yes there are people on the internet who say it doesn’t matter – I respectfully disagree.

Macaron shells freeze! Yes make a bunch, freeze and fill as needed. Show up with a hostess gift that will wow them!

Patience grasshopper – macaron making takes time and patience. It can be very zen if you don’t rush and don’t get frustrated.

This is a great weekend project. Or one day on the weekend. I make a bunch of shells freeze them and then make a couple batches of small fillings as I need for a friends party, dinner or make someone feel special.

What’s your macaron tip or learning?

If you are fond with regard to eating sweets and you do not know how to gather alterum, then this doodad is surely going to pecuniary aid you paralyzed. Roasting cakes, cupcakes and pastries is not an easy process. You need to get wise to a lot of important fittings if you want to get ultimate results of your baking. <\p>

Baking macaron is a difficult thing as well. A lot of things hiatus to be handled carefully when you are deciding to sport for baking macarons for your friends and clannish. Few of the things that have to be in existence kept to mind while baking macarons are as follows:<\p>

Complete knowledge of the recipe The basic thing to be known is the balsam. You must wot a polished knowledge of the complete ingredients, their disposal that have up be the case mixed in the recipe and the entire methodology on how to bake it. It is suggested to write the entire corrective whereby a parchment of paper or from your personal diary. To get the appropriate results, you lubricate to read the forenamed pattern as is suggested in keeping with the chef lemon-yellow the book from where you have heard about it. Up-to-date spectacle case of macarons, cookies are the kingship superior ingredients to be fabricated. Eggs, sugar, granulated angel and amande douce spread are unrelated metameric ingredients that are need up to be mixed in the required proportions.<\p>

Use of equipments You need to have a food processor, kitchen scales (in contemplation of measurement as for floor and other such ingredients), hand mixer, stainless steel bowls, spatula, chocolate eclair udder and round tip, copy carbon paper, broil sheets and intermixture bowl for mix the ingredients of macarons. These are the basic ingredients which you will definitely requisition to blaze your recipe of macarons.<\p>

Measurement on ingredients In advance of intermingling the ingredients, make sure that all regarding your ingredients are equally measured and are in the fixed proportions. Different tools are used on measure the ingredients. Configuration constant that the granulated trisaccharide which you are mixing good understanding your recipe is measured accurately, because a little change in the measurement changes the taste as to the unexceptional recipe. That is brain twister baking is a actually wretched the latest thing which needs to be handled with a notability care.<\p>

I have been baking for as long as I can remember. Helping out mom and grandma in the kitchen during the holidays, rolling out pie dough, peeling apples (after spending all day collecting them from the tree in grandma's yard), watching mom as she showed me how to make the family Povitica (a Croatian dessert bread which will definitely make it onto the blog one day). The way I was first introduced to macarons was actually by none other than Blair Waldorf (my favorite character on the hit TV show Gossip Girl) a few years back. So you can imagine the second I made it back to France - after having seen Blair soak in a bubble bath while eating these decadent looking sweets - the small Ladurée artisan shop in the airport was an absolute must! Here is where it gets tricky. I bought a box with twenty macarons varying in different flavors. My initial thought after biting in to one of them? Why did I just spend €50 on these air filled bland tasting desserts? It was enough to put me off them until just a couple months ago. Ladurée is supposed to be the “it” Macaron Bakery in France, but with my experience I’m not in a hurry to go back. As a general rule: If I wouldn’t eat it, then I’m not going to serve it. That doesn't mean that I wouldn’t serve up a delicious cheesecake just because I wouldn’t eat it. I mean that if my baking comes out flawed in the flavor department, I’m not going to put it on the shelf, and there is nothing worse than an air filled, dry macaron. Three months ago we were back in Europe for a few weeks where we stayed in Venice for one week off and on (at the beginning, middle and end of our cruises). In the Cannaregio district (even more specifically the Jewish Ghetto) we came across Pasticeceria Dalmas, a mouth watering bakery that had a small section of macarons lining the window. Susie ended up buying the Passion Fruit Macaron and loved it so much she insisted we all try it - and I’ll tell you now I’m so glad I did. It was sweet and tart with a chewy consistency and we couldn’t get enough (truth be told we went back many times for those Passion Fruit Macarons, buying out the whole window once). We even took a bus that was an hour round trip to get to Venice and back to the hotel we were staying in on our last night in Italy. Thus my love for macarons was restored! Now that we have established WHY macarons, we can get on to the HOW I go about baking them with my own tips, tricks and knowledge! I am a complete amature when it comes to this, having only been at it for four days, but I feel like I've already got it down to a sience! If you think I've left anything out of have questions feel free to ask me - the link is located at the top of my blog!

ALMOND FLOUR

You need to invest in finely ground almond flour / powder. I cannot tell you enough how infuriating it is to have measured out the perfect amount, only to have to toss quite a bit out because it isn’t as finely ground as needed to be sifted. I’ve tried putting these “too large chunks” into a food processor but everytime it comes out thick like butter (no matter how gentle I am). I’m sure it will take more trial and error to find the perfect brand of almond flour without having to make my own (not to mention I don’t have an almond grinder), but at the moment I just take my time sifting. I don’t get irritated and skip this step because I find it important. You also don’t have to use just almond flour. I substituted it for hazelnut flour to make a hazelnut cookie with a nutella center, my very first macaron baking experience ever (I blanched, skinned, toasted and grinded the hazelnuts myself which was a chore, especially realising after I got home that my bag was filled with almonds mixed into the hazelnuts). I also used 2 oz of almond flour and 2 oz of ground up graham cracker when I decided to put together a smores macaron from scratch.

EGG WHITES

I have read so many different theories about egg whites it's enough to make anyone's head spin. There are people that age their egg whites for two weeks, a week, two days, two hours, not at all. Some in the fridge, some out of the fridge, some covered and some left open. I personally don't age my egg whites at all, nor do I have them at room temperature. I grab 3-4 eggs straight out of the fridge that we get fresh from my moms friends chickens (usually you will only need 2-3 eggs - since you need 3 oz. - but our organic eggs are much smaller than store bought eggs) get my scale out and crack the eggs in my hand to separate the yolk from the whites. DO NOT think you need to throw away the egg yolks! You can use them to make a custard if you want a custard filling for your macarons. I am going to be giving that a try sometime in the near future. At the moment I scramble the yolks, zap them quickly in the microwave and then give them to the dogs as a yummy treat.

FILLING

You can use virtually anything as your filling: buttercreams, ganaches, jam, curd, cream cheese, cheesecake, caramel, creams. It’s all about making sure it sets or find a way to keep the filling from running out.

STEPS AFTER PIPING YOUR MACARON

The first thing I do before the macarons have a chance to form the film is I bang the tray they are on, on the counter 3-6 times to release air bubbles. Then I let them sit from 20 minutes to 40 minutes, just depending on what I'm doing. I live in a place with little to no humidity which is perfect then baking macarons. If you live in a place with high humidity, it will take longer for the film to set. I would advise turning on the fan to help speed your process along. A macaron with a film should be dry to a very light touch with none of the batter coming away on your finger (you will actually see a film set over your macarons as you become more comfortable with baking them).

BAKING YOUR MACARON

So actually baking macarons is still tricky to me. I have set the oven to 275°F and to 300°F, I’ve cooked them from 10 minutes to 20 minutes. I’ve tried convection, bottom rack vs top rack, it’s all still a mystery to me. So for the time being I am going with 275°F and telling you to watch your macarons baking process. I usually use this time to clean up the kitchen, or at least get it ready to be cleaned (i.e. putting away materials, running the hot water to wash dishes). My first batch takes half as long as every batch I put in afterwards. Weird right? So usually it only takes me 10 minutes. I really keep my eye on it though because it can cook so far that the first batch turns a nice light brown - which would be fine if I was making a chocolate or hazelnut macaron, not so much for a mango or lemon macaron. To know if your macaron is done I couch the edge of a macaron. It should be set, not wobbling all over the place. The last thing you want is to take your macarons out before they’re ready. You should have perfect feet formed as well. Bottom line is: we all have different ovens. It would be one thing if we could use a professional oven but I for one don’t have access to one. You’re going to have to mess around with it. Lower temp for a little longer is always better. There is nothing wrong with cooking them at 300°F or even higher. You need to find the temp and time that work best for you and your oven.

GEL & POWDERED VS. LIQUID FOOD COLORING

Here is a big one! Do not use liquid food coloring in the cookie mixture of the macaron. I see some recipes do use it but they have to be extremely careful to not add more than 3 drops and they have to add it at the perfect time. With Gel (my number one choice) you can add it into the egg whites in the very beginning and you can add as much as you want without having to worry about it ruining the mix (within reason of course). Also make sure you’re using a Gel Food Coloring that is designed for baking. Don’t go out and buy the tubes of Gel Coloring that are actually made for decorating.

PIPING BAGS

So I went all out and bought reusable piping bags and after two days of constantly cleaning them out and praying for them to fully dry, I was over it. Sure it costs a little money to get disposable ones, but not if you think ahead. There is always a %40 off coupon at Michaels, so grabbing a package of 16” 50 count for $9.99 (down to $6 with the coupon) or 12” 100 count for $14.99 (down to $9 with the coupon) you really are getting what you paid for. There is something so extremely satisfying about throwing away a piping bag once I’m done with it that money is the last thing on my mind. A TIP! Once I cut the piping bag and put in the decorating tip (I use a size 10 Round) I put a bobby pin at the base just above the mouth of the tip to stop the filling from leaking out before I’m ready. To fill it I put the ready to go piping bag in a cup, turning down the top to make for an easy filling. Then to make sure I don’t waste any of it, I lay out the filled piping bag, take my small cutting board, and push all of the filling towards the bottom of the bag. I will make sure to post a demonstration with photos during a macaron tutorial and I’ll link back to here.

KITCHEN SCALE

Personally I think you need to have a kitchen scale if you want to get the perfect measurements for most baking needs, even more so with how temperamental macarons can be. I have an Escali® Arti 15 lb. Multipurpose Digital Food Scale that I picked up at Paddington Station in Ashland (their upstairs is like heaven to me, I could spend hours up there).

STAINLESS STEEL & GLASS VS. PLASTIC BOWLS

You’ll notice I point out using either stainless steel or glass bowls while baking. Unlike plastic bowls the stainless steel and glass both have non-porous surfaces which means it doesn’t absorb food and germs - not to mention the toxins in plastic. Honestly this is a personal preference to me, I don’t believe it will make much of a difference if you decide to go the plastic route, just wanted to let you know why I choose to focus on stainless steel and glass.

WHISKING MY DRY BLENDS