So I am going to go on a rant here so just bear with me. About four years ago, right when I first started training at the San Francisco Ballet School, I ran across this incredible little candy store/bakery in SF called Miette. It is the cutest shop, I highly suggest paying it a visit if you are in the Bay Area. Anyways, they are known for their French macarons. Many people think of macarons as those heavy coconut treats, but the French version is very different. They are basically sandwich cookies with a little shell; crisp on the outside and chewy in the center.
These are my absolute favorite treat, hands down. You could say that I am obsessed. Since I love to bake (hence this blog) it was only natural that I try making these tasty cookies. The only thing is that these are known to be some of the most challenging cookies/pastries to make. It is very scientific and the cookies are just very finicky. Most of the time on my blog I post success stories and pretty pictures. I will continue to do so on this post right after I say this one thing. THESE MACARONS TOOK ME 4 TRIES. Yes, 4. The first couple of times the shells came out lumpy and not exactly delicate little treats. Then, a few days ago I decided to try once again. I have at least three recipe books with macaron recipes and I read through them all hoping to be enlightened with what I was doing wrong. I crossed my fingers and was once again let down. This time I ended up with flat little wafers…not at all what I was going for. Finally, after I thought I was going to give up and go buy a box of already made macarons, I saw on Facebook that it was National Macaron Day. I thought to myself, "I have to, and they have to work this time". Sooo, this time I read through blogs, watched multiple Youtube tutorials, and I felt as prepared as I could get. And guess what? They worked! I literally danced around my kitchen when I saw the shells popping up beautifully in the oven.
Before:
After:
As the pictures show, there was a huge difference between the disaster batch and the "yes it finally worked" batch.
For those of you who are not familiar with macarons, here is a little diagram explaining the different parts to this cookie.
Basically there are three parts to making the macarons. 1) almond meal and powdered sugar mixture 2) egg meringue 3) filling
I purchased almond meal at Trader Joe's before making the cookies but I know you can also grind your own. First thing you do is sift the confectioner's sugar and the almond meal together. I did this twice in order to get the smoothest possible texture in the cookies. You don't want chunky macaron shells!
After you have that mixture ready to go, you can move on to the eggs. After researching, I found out that you get better results if you use older eggs. Apparently it has something to do with the proteins in the less fresh eggs. Anyways, I had some old eggs and I left them out for a few hours before I used them. The key to the macaron shells is whipping the eggs until they become VERY firm. This is where I messed up the first time. When you combine the sugar, egg whites, and food coloring (with more direction than that) you should be able to tap the whisk and have the egg whites hold their shape and not fall.
Next up comes the folding..here is where it can all go wrong. Undermix and you will get cracked macarons. Overmix and they will flatten out, just like my failed attempt. You need to gently fold the egg whites into the almond mixture. This should be a very slow and gentle process. Just mix until the ingredients turn into a lava like mixture that flows. Then stop! Do not over mix!
The hard part is officially over and now you just have to pipe the cookies and bake!!
After piping, you are supposed to smack the cookie sheet down on the counter in order to release all of the air bubbles. Once you do this, let the cookies sit out for 20-30 minutes. This is when the "shell" forms. It is a vital step in the recipe, so don't rush this.
Once you have patiently waited, go ahead and slide these bad boys in the oven. I started making my raspberry buttercream while the shells baked. I chose this filling for it's pretty pink color that I knew would match the pink macaron shells. It was actually super easy. I just took some fresh raspberries and mushed them through a strainer in order to get the juice from them.
Then I just added that to a basic buttercream recipe and I was set! I pulled the shells out of the oven and admired my hard work!
When I saw that they had risen and formed "feet" I literally did a little happy dance. Woohoo! Success never tasted so good :) haha
I filled the shells with the buttercream and enjoyed!
-ali
