Welcome back to my blog, and welcome to 2021! I can with full confidence say that I have never been so glad to see a year end than when 2020 ended last week! It was without a doubt the most difficult year I have so far experienced, and it all started with the Covid-19 pandemic. Yes, we are still experiencing the pandemic, however, I believe the worst is over and that we now know what to expect. So to kick off a brand new and hopefully positive year, I decided to get blogging again! The first recipe I’d like to share is for the French classic, “Macarons”. Geez, did it take a few failed attempts for me to finally make some okay looking macarons! This is without a doubt one of the trickiest desserts to make and perfect, as there are so many ways it can go wrong.
After I failed the first time attempting macarons, I decided to first read and watch a lot of videos showing different techniques and ways to make macarons. Regardless of what recipe you use, all the ingredients remain the same, but there are two different methods that can be used. The type of meringue used when making macarons distinguishes the difference between the two techniques. The method I found to be the easiest is when a French meringue (cold meringue) is used. This includes whisking the egg whites until foamy and then gradually adding in the sugar, whisking until the egg whites form stiff peaks. The reason why this is also called a cold meringue is because no heat is used to make the meringue. The second, and slightly trickier method, uses an Italian meringue. An Italian meringue is made by cooking sugar on the stove to create a sugar syrup. When the sugar reaches 118˚C, the sugar syrup is carefully added to the foamy egg whites and beaten until thick and glossy. This method is slightly trickier, as it is important for the sugar to be the right temperature, but many people don’t own a sugar thermometer to do so. However, macarons made using Italian meringue rarely flop or fail, as this type of meringue is more stable than a French meringue.
So for today’s recipe, I used the French meringue method to create a beautifully, delicate, sweet, crispy and chewy macaron filled with tangy lemon curd.
French Macarons (30 servings)
Ingredients
- 90g almond flour
- 205g icing / confectioner’s sugar
- 2 egg whites, room temperature
- 50g caster sugar
- gel food colouring, optional
Method
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the almond flour and icing sugar. Briefly pulse the mixture 16 times to make sure the almond flour is nice and fine, which ensures a smooth and non-grainy macaron.
- Sift the mixture over a large bowl, and discard the grainy leftover residue of the almond flour mixture (it may look like a lot, however don’t add it back as the surface of the macaron will then be grainy and unpleasant).
- In a separate bowl, add the egg whites and beat with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer until foamy. Gradually and slowly add the caster sugar to the egg whites, and continue to beat until they form glossy, stiff peaks. Add gel food colouring if using and briefly beat until incorporated.
- Add half on the egg white mixture to the almond flour and icing sugar, and using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, gently fold them together. Add the rest of the egg whites and continue to fold the mixture until it ribbons off the spatula. DO NOT OVER MIX! A test to see if the mixture is ready to be used is when you can form a figure 8 with the mixture dripping off the spatula, and it slowly disappears into the rest of the mixture. This process is called “Macaronage” and can make or break how the macarons turn out.
- Place the mixture in a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle, and pipe 1.5cm circles on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Place the macarons a centimetre away from each other. After the macarons have been piped, tap the baking sheet on the bench to get rid of any trapped air bubbles. Additionally, you can take a toothpick and pop visible bubbles on the surface of the macarons.
- Let the macarons rest for 30min – 60min, until the surface of each macaron is completely dry. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. When the macarons are almost dry, preheat the oven to 150˚C.
- Bake the macarons in the middle of the oven for 15min. The first time I baked macarons I turned on my oven’s confection fan. However, the macarons ended up not rising. So just for safety do not turn on your oven’s confection fan to ensure perfectly risen macarons.
- When done, each macaron should have a nice smooth top and classic “feet” which is an iconic feature of a macaron. After the macarons are completely cooled, fill with a filling of your choice.
And there you go! After 4 tries I finally put up a batch of decent looking and yummy macarons. I still have lots of room for improvement and practise left until I can say I mastered the art of macarons, but practise does make perfect, and as I am still stuck in lockdown, I have a feeling I will be making many many more macarons!
Happy baking!
Courtney's Cravings 