Then I actually tasted a macaron. That cost me 2.5 SGD a piece. And I said to myself, ok this is a challenge I need to take up. It can’t be that hard, right? The idea went round and round in my mind for many months and finally, when I couldn’t even grant myself the no-Kitchenaid excuse, I caved in and bought some almond meal. Before I knew it, egg whites were aging in the fridge and I was getting emotional support from some awesome people all over Facebook. There was no turning back.
There are tons of resources online for making macarons. Like experts would tell you, its not only about the recipe (although that definitely matters too), its more about the technique and the science behind it. My notes below combine the wisdom of all the sites and videos I referred. Hopefully you find it useful.
Chocolate Macarons Recipe
Adapted from David Lebovitz
Makes about 15-18 filled macarons
For Macaron Batter
1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces, 50gm)
3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
For Filling:
I used store-bought hazelnut spread to fill my chocolate macarons because I didn’t want to stress over making the filling too, but go ahead and Google up some macaron filling recipes, I am sure there are tons out there, some interesting flavour combinations too.
Tools and Equipment:
– Piping bag with 1/2″ or 2cm plain tip (I used a large ziplock bag and cut out a small corner). I was a piping virgin and this was my first attempt at it, although I must say that I have done a lot of henna designing and fabric painting back in the day.
– Egg separator (slightly optional, read notes below)
– Electric beater
– Silicon or wooden spatula
– Large, dry steel mixing bowl
– Baking sheet/parchment paper
A few notes on the ingredients:
– almost all websites I saw recommend aging the egg whites. If you live in a cold place, leave it out on your kitchen counter for a day or two. If you live in a warm place, let them age in the refrigerator, just remember to take them out and bring them to room temperature before proceeding. Some sites said microwaving the egg whites for 20 seconds in medium-high will do the trick but that idea freaked me out so I took the safe way out and aged them the old-fashioned way.
– use an egg separator to separate the yolks and whites. I know some people are experts at using their fingertips to do a juggling act with the egg to remove the whites from yolks, but this will add moisture to the egg whites and we don’t want that. Make sure that all equipment you use is completely dry and this includes the egg separator, the bowl you are transferring the whites to, and even your hands.
– although many seem to prefer blanching their almonds and powdering it to make their own almond meal, I would highly recommend beginners to buy almond meal. Buy the finest you can find or atleast slivers if you can’t find ground ones. That makes the process much easier and less prone to failure.
– although coloured macarons are definitely more fun, there are recommendations around what sort of food colour you should buy (powdered or gel colours vs oil-based or water-based ones, etc). I found the entire decision on what colour and what type too stressful so I took the easy way out and made chocolate macarons. I would recommend this highly for beginners.
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 300º F (150º C). This was the optimum temperature for my oven but I suspect the actuals were much higher. Don’t take it up beyond 180 C though.
2. Line a baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat and have a pastry bag with a plain tip about 1/2-inch, 2 cm ready. (Or take the ziplock route I took)
3. Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps. You can use your blender, food processor or mixie, just make sure that you don’t grind the almonds to a pulp. Its important that you process these three together and not just the almonds.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to foam. At this stage, add the granulated sugar and continue beating until very stiff and firm. When you invert the bowl, the egg whites to stay put. That’s how you know when to stop. It took me about 2-3 mins to get there.
5. Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in 5 batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula (ideally). Also add the vanilla essence at this stage. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding (it helps to set a limit, like no more than 50 strokes to incorporate the dry mixture into the egg whites) and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you’re alone).
6. Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.
7. Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then leave them alone for atleast an hour and up to a maximum of 3 hours. This is so that the top dries up and you get a smooth surface for the macarons but leaving them out too much will give you crunchy macarons and you don’t want that. This step is important and if you skip it, you get non-macarons like in the picture below. Bake for 15-18 mins and let cool completely before removing from baking sheet.
Above: I didn’t let the piped macarons rest before baking.
Below: I let them rest for an hour and they turned out perfect.
Some more notes and resources:
0. This is probably the best resource you will refer to, over at MisoHungry. She has a table on outcomes and possible reasons. When my macarons cracked on top the first time, I did a frantic Google search and found her site. She said two possible reasons for this – first is, the batter is too runny in which case I can do nothing except start again. Second is, the tops are not dried out enough. I crossed my fingers and let the macarons sit out before baking and that did the trick.
1. This video is super useful to observe the technique of folding the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites. It’s short and sweet too.
2. If you are interested in the science behind macarons, check this site out.
4. Confession: I had never piped anything before I baked these macarons. Actually, my very first attempt can be seen on these cupcakes and it looked so dreadful that I stopped after one cupcake
Go ahead, take the plunge. It will be worth it 🙂
uuuffff!!!! Am salivating! macaroonssssss!!!! making them at home??? the thought in itself is so scary…:(
Very professional and perfectly made macroons.
Ive never made macarons before but I want to try. Yours look great! I was reading through the recipe.. you have vanilla essence in the ingredients list but where does it come in to the method…?
Sorry about that! I've updated the post.
They look so good and I always get fascinated to see them. Your article is so helpful and I'm so glad and thankful to you…
Think I should have read this before making my macarons. Mine have just come out cracked, quite hollow and what is inside is very wet and sticky. So looks like I didn't leave them for long enough before baking them and prob didn't bake them for long enough. Oh well, better next time (fingers crossed) 🙂
Nags! These look absolutely perfect. Are you sure its your first attempt 😉 ? I've heard all kinds of horror stories abt first macarons! Well These look so perfect I am going to make them very soon.
I got a gift box of assorted macaroons for Xmas. Loved them. Have always dreaded making them. How do you do it? Yours look picture perfect..!
I've been putting making macroons away because I thought they were hard to accomplish. But your step by step instructions and the picture of the flopped ones made it easy!!
Thanks for the link love. I spent about 3 months, and 20 some odd batches learning how to make macarons for that chart! Keep up the great work!
Image itself impressed me a lot. I feel that, you are a different and innovative thinker. Now I am hungry………
Glad the macaron post helped, Sunit 🙂 Let me know if you have questions and I will try my best to help!
I am so grateful for this blog post you have no idea. In the same position as you were, haven't ever tried macaroons and couldn't find any good resources other than recipes myself. Big thank you from me! 😀
Yes, these were super sweet and I had a feeling they would be but i was wary of adjusting the sugar level, in case the macarons don't turn out well. try adjusting the sugar added to the egg whites to 3tbsp, if you are open to experimenting on your macarons! 🙂
Also, how sweet were they? The ones I made turned out extremely sweet and I was wondering if it's ok if I reduce the amount of sugar a little bit.
Delurking! I made macarons the other day and they cracked. I skipped drying them. Going to attempt them again. Your's turned out perfect. LOVE it!
This looks really good….And I have some awards waiting for you,in my blog..Please check that and collect that dear…
http://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-first-awards.html
Macarons are my favourites.
Well written and helpful.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful notes. I recently tried macarons, but they didn't turn out so well. Several of your tips will help me a lot. After recently trying macarons at Laduree in Paris, I realized they are worth trying to master.
Wow, lovely presentation and loved the way you explained the recipe. I am going to try this very soon. Good work Nags.
Hello Nags,
When do you use the hazelnut filling? I don't see any steps/instructions for that in your recipe.
I have been wanting to try this recipe, but some how I am intrigued from attempting…. Bookmarking this recipe!!! must be wondering who this padma is!!! well I was gone for 2 years… first pregnancy then baby…. now I am slowly getting control over, managing home, baby, blog n much more… do visit my blog
Padma's Kitchen
Once the macarons are cool, slather on the filling and sandwich between two macarons.
Good looking macaroons. Great pics as always. I keep thinking here how a glass of milk and few of your macaroons would me me happier in the cold of San Francisco.
The other day i saw a recipe for hazelnut spread aka nutella. Have your ever tried making it too?
H
Great effort dear.. I too have the same in my drafts.. 🙂
Nags, you are awesome! Thanks a million for demystifying this holy grail of a dessert. I can't wait to try it. Much respect to you for trying it out and sharing the tips & tricks with us.
That is definitely complicated, but the results are probably worth all the time, great job 🙂
Perfectly done! Thanks for all your tips..
http://krithiskitchen.blogspot.com
Wow Perfect Macrons,clicks are too gud…
wow…awesome… & i'm sure ur notes ll help me a lot… even i'm one among the lazy bakers…
http://hasnasdelights.blogspot.com/
Macaroons came perfect with happy feet…:)
just drooling over d pics…
They look absloutley super yumm. And i love that filling too.
great effort nags, and very nice and useful tips for those who try this for the first time.beautifully presented
Now you are tempting me to try my hands on baking macs… you must be surprised to hear that I have never baked macaroons!…. Love that first and last pics:)…
THose macarons looks stunning,cute and highly addictive, feel like having some..
Nags, Brilliant. I have not tasted a mac at all. A traditional baker, indeed I am. Excellent research, and lots of useful notes. I love this pic – esp the pink pookal add such a touch. Such a personal superb achievement! Happyyyy for you 🙂
Awesome Post Nags. All the resources found in one place. Yours. Happy that your first attempt came out so well. Me trying it out well… I'm still scared.
Wow this looks so gud …nice clicks..
If there is a recipe which tests your patience and will power to redo it again and again..Macs win hands down 🙂 Love the clicks and the macs are cute. Happy feet!
love this post! i've been wanting to make them but really thrown off by horror stories. you've got very clear instructions, wish me luck! thanks for sharing 🙂
looky yummy………..!
Swapna chechy, try them!
aww thanks Sharmilee 🙂 Thanks for always being so sweet 🙂 I didn't know you liked the banana bread recipe so much!
Looks so so perfectly done Nags….And nice informative post for first timers like us….But still havent got the courage to try it…The 2nd click is awesome, very professional too..infact my personal fav pic in this space next to banana bread 🙂
Wonderful,even I love macaroons and I have drooled when bloggers post any recipes,I too am scared thinking its complicated..! Looks wonderful and your clicks too are very special than ur usual style 🙂
Good luck Kimberly!