When I was in Paris this autumn, I used my free time well. From shopping at
Merci to walks along the Seine, multiple crepes from
Le Comptoir, plus a self-guided macaron tour and a macaron cooking class.
I do believe the macaraon is just about the prettiest cookie out there. But at $1-2 a pop, (or more. Especially at "temples to the macaron" like Pierre Herme, where I spent about $8 on three -- creme brulee, passion fruit and peach) it's no wonder people want to try to make their own.
I've come clean about
my past struggles with baking macarons. I was bound and determined to learn the technique once and for all. So I signed up for the macaron class at
Promenades Gourmandes.
The class, which I highly recommend, is taught in
the kitchen of Parisian Paule Caillat by Chef Joël Morgeat.
I knew the basics. After all, I had learned the hard way that you cannot really tinker with the amount of sugar in the recipe, to double up on the baking sheets, etc. but over the course of the three-hour class, I picked up a few more techniques and tips, such as:
1. You don't need to age your egg whites when making macarons (or at least, Chef Joël doesn't).
2. How to test the temperature of the sugar syrup portion of an Italian meringue recipe WITHOUT A THERMOMETER (involves dipping your fingers in water, into the boiling hot liquid sugar and back into water -- only for the daring).
3. Pipe the cookies with your pastry bag totally straight (perhaps this is Piping 101 but it was totally news to me!).
4. Let macarons rest and develop a thin skin before baking.
5. Bake only one tray of cookies at a time. And adjust the baking temperature and time to suit the quirks of your oven.
6. Temper the sweetness of the shells by using a less-sweet filling (like bittersweet chocolate ganache or a combination of white almond paste, butter and flavoring).
I ended up taking about three dozen macarons home with me (ok, by the time I officially returned home to the U.S., it was about a dozen and a half. Macarons keep beautifully in the fridge for at least a week).
Fast forward two months, and I finally dragged out the recipe and my macaron supplies. I had purchased finely ground white almond meal at G. Detou in Paris, found white almond paste at Whole Foods and picked up pastry bags, tips and food coloring at Chef Central. I have to say, the recipe I brought back from Paris was vague on some of the details, so I crossed referenced with
this recipe and got to work.
And it did work! I ended up with four trays of cookies. From left to right:
1. I left the first batch in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. It was too hot and too long. The cookies were hard at first, but softened after a few days in the fridge.
2. I turned the oven down to 320 (per the Food Geek recipe) and baked for 12 minutes. The shells came out slightly flat and undercooked.
3. The third try was a charm - 320 degrees for 15 minutes.
4. I left the fourth batch in at the same temp and length of time, but you could see I was getting tired as my piping was kind of sloppy (macarons are not supposed to look like acorns).
All in all, I am happy with my progress. After my failures two years ago, this was validation that you can do it, with the proper ingredients and attention to detail. And this was only a trial run for the macarons I plan to make later this month as gifts for my coworkers. Let the
2010 12 Days of Macarons begin!
For more macaron adventures,
read on.
The batch was pretty much a failure. Oh sure, they formed a foot, were crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, but too little liquid made the batter stiff, meaning:
1. The shell tops held small peaks, despite my attempts to pipe evenly
2. The shells did not spread at all, meaning my macarons looked more like cylinders than disks
And the worse part is I know what part of the problem was! It was the darn meringue. I ignored my sugar water solution on the stove for a tad too long (it boiled down and began crystalizing again -- something I did not really notice until I pulled it off the burner). So I just threw in some more water without measuring. What I should have done was just started the sugar/water process over again.
Despite my technical gaffes, the batter recipe is a keeper -- the super sweet base was tempered by the sour lemon. And the other good news is that I've learned from my mistake, and now hope you do too!
Lemon Flavored Macarons with Lemon Filling
Ingredients
For the shells:6.5 oz. Almond flour, sifted
6.5 oz. Powdered sugar, sifted
Zest of one lemon
5.3 oz. Granulated sugar
1.75 oz. Water
4 egg whites, separated into 2 containers of 2*
For the filling:2 oz. Butter, softened
2 oz. White almond paste
Juice of half a lemon
Method
A few hours to days ahead of time, separate four eggs, dividing the egg whites into two separate containers of two; store on the counter covered with a paper towel or in the fridge covered in plastic.
Preheat oven to 320 degrees.**
In a large bowl, sift together almond flour and powdered sugar until well incorporated; add lemon zest and two of the egg whites and combine well (at this point, the batter should look like a thick, sandy paste).
In a small sauce pan, bring the granulated sugar and water to a simmer until it reaches the soft ball stage/240 degrees.*** Be careful not to let the solution boil down too much or the sugar will return to a crystallized state.
In a medium bowl, start whipping the remaining two egg whites until frothy/at a soft peak stage; when the sugar water reaches a soft ball stage, remove from heat, pour into the egg whites and continue to whip until the mixture resembles shiny, marshmallow fluff (if beating by hand, you can actually feel the mixture continue to thicken).
Fold the egg white fluff (aka Italian meringue) into the large bowl of almond sugar batter until well incorporated.
Scrape the batter into a pastry bag and pipe out onto a cookie tray lined with parchment, counting “1, 2, 3, pause” to get small, uniform rounds.
Let trays/parchment sit near an open window until a thin skin forms; place the cookie covered tray on top of an empty tray to create double insulation and bake one double-stacked tray at a time for 12-15 minutes.
Remove parchment from trays and cool on a rack.
To make the filling, cream together the almond paste with lemon juice until the paste loosens; add the butter and cream until well incorporated.
Scrape the filling into a pastry bag and pipe onto half of the shells; sandwich together with a similar-sized unfilled shell.
Pop the macarons in the fridge overnight to rest...and then enjoy!
Notes:
*I typically separate my eggs the night before baking and leave them in the fridge.
**All ovens are different. 320 degrees is the sweet spot for mine.
***If you don’t have a candy thermometer and are brave or have asbestos fingers, you can test the solution by dipping your fingers into a small bowl of water, grabbing a pinch of the liquid sugar solution and plunging your fingers back into the bowl of water. If a soft ball forms as you rub your fingers together under water, the sugar water is ready!
