47 replies to this topic

[nicolekaplan]

This is the method of macarons making that i learned at Herme a few years back. It is the ultimate no fail method to making beautiful macs every time.

First you start with your dry ingrdients. Make sure to sift atleast once.


Next start an italian meringue, bring your sugar syrup to soft ball, and slowly add to your soft peak whites. Whip until lukewarm.








Then slowly fold the dry ingredients into your meringue in about 3 batches. You do not need to be super careful in fact you want to keep mixing until the batter takes on a kind of shine.




Next with a large round tip pipe your macarons on to a silpat and let air dry for 10-20 minutes until a crust forms on top of them





Then bake at 275 degrees until they puff up and when you grab the tops and giggle them a bit they are almost set but still offer a little movement. Let cool and then flip them over and brush the undersides with the syrup of your choice. Fill, stick together and enjoy.

[CanadianBakin']

Excellent demo! Thanks for taking the time. I haven't tried them with an Italian meringue yet but I'm excited to try. Is the recipe in recipegullet yet?

Edited by CanadianBakin', 28 December 2005 - 11:15 AM.

[tejon]

Wonderful demo! Thank you so much for taking the time to share the pictures and steps. Now I really want to try my hand at macarons!

[ulterior epicure]

U.E.

[JeanneCake]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for an excellent demo!

[jackal10]

Wow! They look just like the ones at Herme!

COuld you give the recipe/ingredient proportions please?

[nicolekaplan]

The Recipe

2 kilo teint per teint (1/2 and 1/2 almond flour ground with 10x)
1K sugar (for syrup)
750 g whites

you can substitute partial other nut flours, add some cocoa by eye, food coloring etc

[JeanneCake]

forgot to ask earlier - what's the yield for the formula? Can you reduce it by half (or increase it) and still have it work?

[jackal10]

Teint per Teint 10x ? Excuse my ignorance

Is that almond flour mixed half and half with cake (wheat) flour?

[CanadianBakin']

Teint per Teint 10x ? Excuse my ignorance

Is that almond flour mixed half and half with cake (wheat) flour?

icing or confectioner's sugar

[Patrick S]

Thanks, nicolekaplan! I tried macarons using Italian meringue once, and wasn't convinced that the extra steps were worth it. But yours look so good I'll have to give it at least one more try.

[nicolekaplan]

the yield will depend on the size macaron you make, but if they are for petit four it makes quite a few. you can easily reduce it with no problem, just make sure you are not whipping too few whites for your mixer

[Teri Everitt]

The Recipe

2 kilo teint per teint (1/2 and 1/2 almond flour ground with 10x)
1K sugar (for syrup)
750 g whites

you can substitute partial other nut flours, add some cocoa by eye, food coloring etc

Nicole,
how much water do you use to make the sugar syrup? We make our macarons at work with beaten egg whites rather than meringue and they are REALLY unreliable, so I'd like to give these ones a try.

[ksaw29]

Thank you so much for this. I live for demos! They help iron out all the little kinks in my work

[Patrick S]

The Recipe

2 kilo teint per teint (1/2 and 1/2 almond flour ground with 10x)
1K sugar (for syrup)
750 g whites

you can substitute partial other nut flours, add some cocoa by eye, food coloring etc

Nicole,
how much water do you use to make the sugar syrup? We make our macarons at work with beaten egg whites rather than meringue and they are REALLY unreliable, so I'd like to give these ones a try.

I think you only need enough to get the sugar wet. No matter how much water you start with, by the time you get to soft-ball stage, the solution will be ~85% sugar. If you add too much water, it will just take longer to get to the right temp.

I'm going to try a 1/8 batch tomorrow, which unless I've managed to botch the math is:

250g powder sugar
250g almond flour
250g sugar
187g egg whites

Any tips on whether the cocoa should replace almond, or sugar, or just be added to the recipe without changing any ingredient quantity?

[Ajl92]

Then bake at 275 degrees until they puff up and when you grab the tops and giggle them a bit they are almost set but still offer a little movement.  Let cool and then flip them over and brush the undersides with the syrup of your choice.  Fill, stick together and enjoy.

Do you really only bake these at 275?! One of the recipes I tried at 320 gave me such a dry product I can't imagine how crispy these would be after baking for probably a half hour at such a low temp.

[tan319]

Wonderful demo, Nicole!!!
Thanks so much for it, the recipe, and your time!

[nick yc]

excellent demo nicole...i liked how your hands turned into (eric's?) hairy ones halfway through it. hope you all at EMP are doing well. miss ya.

~nick

[nicolekaplan]

the sugar/water thing is only enough to wet and keep it from crystallizing, like a caramel.

the cocoa powder, we add extra, by eye it doesn't take much.

as for the temp, 275 in a convection and they cook about 7-9 minutes usually. i guess if you are making really large macs you might take it up as high as 325. the dryness really comes from letting them bake until the insides are really set instead of removing them when they still have a bit of wiggle. and of course brushing them with some syrup not only flavors but moistureizes them.

and as for the hairy hands they were robs. it's good to hear from you, everyone is well and surviving the holiday season.

[filipe]

I'm not familiar with some of the english vocabulary, so what temperature is the one we achieve with the soft-ball stage? 235-240 F right? like 118-120 C

[Wendy DeBord]

Thank-you Nicole!!!

I never brushed my with syrup after baking..........never knew/thought about it.........that's a great tip to know.

While we have you talking about macarons, could you restate how the French are achieving a perfectly square shaped macaron?

[Patrick S]

I'm not familiar with some of  the english vocabulary, so what temperature is the one we achieve with the soft-ball stage? 235-240 F right? like 118-120 C

Yes.

[NhumiSD]

I have a question regarding the sweetness, with so much added sugar into the meringue, plus brushing on the simple syrup. I know macaroons will tend to be sweet, but is this very sweet?

What sorts of filling have you used in macaroons. I tend to do fillings that woul balance out the sweetness of the macaroons.

-nhumi

[nicolekaplan]

for the square mac, i have seen templates used and freehand piping of the square shape. with the italian meringue you will find that the batter is a little bit on the stiff side and it is easy to pipe into shapes. we have made the macarangle as well as the mactagon. just always keep in mind there is a bit of spreading and flattening out before baking.

as for the sweetness of the syrup, that is up to you and what you use. for example for the chocolate macs we use a simple syrup infused with cocoa nibs so it adds a chocolatey flavor and not much extra sweetness. if you used a rose syrup you would probably not make it a 1:1 ratio.

as for fillings the sky is the limit, any kind of ganache, jam, caramel, buttercream, ice cream for macaron glace............

[Teri Everitt]

for the square mac,  i have seen templates used and freehand piping of the square shape.  with the italian meringue you will find that the batter is a little bit on the stiff side and it is easy to pipe into shapes.  we have made the macarangle as well as the mactagon.  just always keep in mind there is a bit of spreading and flattening out before baking.

as for the sweetness of the syrup, that is up to you and what you use.  for example for the chocolate macs we use a simple syrup infused with cocoa nibs so it adds a chocolatey flavor and not much extra sweetness.  if you used a rose syrup you would probably not make it a 1:1 ratio.

as for fillings the sky is the limit, any kind of ganache, jam, caramel, buttercream, ice cream for macaron glace............

I piped heart shaped ones for last Valentine's Day......what a pain.
Thanks for the demo Nicole.

[ulterior epicure]

the sugar/water thing is only enough to wet and keep it from crystallizing, like a caramel.

the cocoa powder, we add extra, by eye it doesn't take much.

as for the temp, 275 in a convection and they cook about 7-9 minutes usually.  i guess if you are making really large macs you might take it up as high as 325.  the dryness really comes from letting them bake until the insides are really set instead of removing them when they still have a bit of wiggle.  and of course brushing them with some syrup not only flavors but moistureizes them.

i'm a (very) unexperienced baker and am going to give a go at these.

1. i don't have access to a convection oven right now - just a standard conventional oven... any adjustments i should take note of.
2. also, what is "10x"? (1/2 mixed in with the almond flour?)
3. really am unsure as to the water - how will i know if the sugar is "wet enough?" and i'm to use powdered sugar? not regular granulated sugar?
4. any tips on syrups? can i just use store bought chocolate syrups? any way to make them myself?

thanks!
u.e.

[Patrick S]

the sugar/water thing is only enough to wet and keep it from crystallizing, like a caramel.

the cocoa powder, we add extra, by eye it doesn't take much.

as for the temp, 275 in a convection and they cook about 7-9 minutes usually.  i guess if you are making really large macs you might take it up as high as 325.  the dryness really comes from letting them bake until the insides are really set instead of removing them when they still have a bit of wiggle.  and of course brushing them with some syrup not only flavors but moistureizes them.

i'm a (very) unexperienced baker and am going to give a go at these.

1. i don't have access to a convection oven right now - just a standard conventional oven... any adjustments i should take note of.
2. also, what is "10x"? (1/2 mixed in with the almond flour?)
3. really am unsure as to the water - how will i know if the sugar is "wet enough?" and i'm to use powdered sugar? not regular granulated sugar?
4. any tips on syrups? can i just use store bought chocolate syrups? any way to make them myself?

thanks!
u.e.

1. I baked at 325, on an insulated baking sheet, and they took about 18 minutes. I took a batch out at 12 minutes, and they were too soft (they settled on the feet).

2. 10x is just powdered sugar.

3. Try adding 25% the weight in water to the sugar to make the syrup. Trust me, you're not going to mess this up, unless you add way too little water.

[ulterior epicure]

thanks for the clarifications... here we go...

u.e.

[alanamoana]

also, if it wasn't made clear, you're to use granulated sugar for your italian meringue syrup. enough water so that it is like quicksand. the water is going to evaporate when cooked to the correct temperature.

[ulterior epicure]

thanks for all the tips egulleters... i was going to make it today for a party of 50 that we're hosting, but, as it turns out, i couldn't find almond flour anywhere... i suppose i could have pulverized blanched almonds, but i just made a couple of cheesecakes and called it a day... will try to find almond flour this week.

u.e.