nafnaf
-
Posts
12 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by nafnaf
-
-
Weigh the tant pour tant just over the weight needed for the recipe...run it through a tami/drum sieve - it WILL be slow and tiring. Do this on to a large surface of parchment paper. Pour off the finished product onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Then dry overnight in VERY low oven - lowest setting. Weigh out again for the recipe.
And I thought using a commercial t/p/t mix would be easier! Does everybody have to go through this procedure? I thought the commercial almond flours were supposed to be dryer (having been pressed) without having to heat them all night in an oven!
Has any professional baker had good luck with an Amurrican almond flour without going through this time-consuming and complicated routine? A commercial almond flour ground in an expensive mill should produce a much more consistent product; dryer and more uniform. Or am I just dreaming?
The steps you mentioned would seem to be more suitable for a home-made flour mixture. Commercial mixtures are supposed to save work and provide consistency, right?
-
I use commercial almond flour pretty much exclusively.
Tim
Tim, do you have a Herme-type recipe using commercial almond flour ? The ones I have seen here are for whole almonds and sugar.
-
400 g beaten egg whites
1 g powdered egg white
A ratio of 1 to 400?
Why not just murmer the word "powdered" very quietly over straight egg whites, like whispering "vermouth" over the gin to make an extra-dry martini.
But I'm very grateful for Herme's recipe --- thank you! Some one else suggested a ratio of about 10% powdered, which sounds more effective. I'm not sure that one part in 400 of anything would make much difference, except for a soupcon of cyanic acid in bitter almond flavoring added to the flour. But his formula for combining new and "old" egg whites sounds exactly right.
-
Marcona almonds may be available only at gunpoint from a small Mafia-operated orchard in southern Naples.
Sorry, they are actually from Spain and available on the web. But I still prefer commercially ground almond flour.
-
560 g peeled Marcona almonds
960 g non starch confectioner's sugar
400 g beaten egg whites
1 g powdered egg white
1/3 of the whites should be fresh, 2/3 old.
Excellent! I'll try it. That egg-white proportion is valuable advice. Lay on, McDuff!
(Or was it MacDuff...)
Marcona almonds may be available only at gunpoint from a small Mafia-operated orchard in southern Naples, so California almonds will have to do. Besides, I prefer ready-made commercial almond flour to grinding my own. Herme grinds his own, but he has cheap labor to sift it (devoted young "stagiares" or interns).
Interestingly, one eGullet reader who actually worked for The Great Man remembers that he uses almond flour and 10x sugar tpt (in equal amounts), but his reprinted recipes call for much more sugar than almond flour, almost 2 to 1.
-
I think Herme actually recommends a mixture of fresh whites, old whites, and powder in his professional recipe.
Yes, I have seen Herme macaron recipes on eG and elsewhere but never the recipe that contains the actual proportion of fresh, old, and powder that Herme uses. It may be fairly important for his consistent successs in making 5000 a day, eliminating a good deal of trial and error. Does anybody actually know that proportion?
Your info is always valuable, Nightscotsman.
-
I added more dried egg whites and less fresh, that made a huge difference in my piping consistancy
Did the egg white powder you used have stabilizers added (like meringue powder) or was it just egg whites? Do you remember what brand you used? Henningsen only sells dried egg white in 50-pound bags, which yields (if you're adding about 10%, the rest being real egg whites) about 3 tank cars full of product. It would be good to know where you can buy smaller amounts.
-
I didn't preheat the batter. Rather, I warmed the egg whites to room temperature using a bain marie before whipping.
Hope this helps.
It does. Thank you.
Did you use fresh egg whites or did you keep them in the fridge for hours/days first? Whatever you did, it was exactly right.
Have you ever used Eggology liquid egg whites?
Are the full-sized macarons supposed to be as glossy as the gerbets? Mine are not. I wonder if Herme's are. I've seen pictures of full-sized ones made according to his recipe by other people but they were not smooth. Has anybody succeeded in making glossy full-size macarons? Maybe they ain't meant to be glossy.
-
They are gorgeous. They're full-sized macarons (not gerbets), right? Please, how can I find Lousisa's thread?
Some one mentioned pre-heating the batter slightly. Anyone know about that?
And --- If Herme sprays the inside of the macaron with syrup for some flavors, does he do it for the chocolate?
-
Merci a tous,
If the almonds are pressed in almond flour, doesn't that subtract from the flavor of the macaroon? Using the Herme recipe that interests so many (including me), how much flour? Would less sugar be necessary?
Has anyone actually used commercial egg whites for fancy-schmancy type baking? I have heard that dried egg white powder produces rubbery results, but maybe liquid egg whites in bulk are OK. Some have additives for stiffer mixing (so you don't have to leave it out for a few days.) I really have trouble believing that bakeries break hundreds of eggs.
Thangya, thangya verra much.
-
Has anyone successfully made gerbets or the larger size macarons/oons using liquid or dried egg white instead of fresh eggs? Heresy, I know, but if Laduree makes 5000 a day, do his chefs break 15,000 eggs? Maybe not.
Or used commercial almond flour?
Hey, je vous remercie beaucoup.
Macarons – The delicate French invention.
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
Me too. The mill of the Gods grinds slow but exceeding small. So let the Gods do it (they have more time and a better mill) and after them, the commercial flour manufacturers.
But while we prefer commercial almond flour, and the sifting we can live with, drying batches of it all night in an oven is right out ! There would be additional time and expense and insurance and some one would have to be there all night to watch the oven. Not for us. Pas ce soir, Josephine.
Any skilled pc's on eG who use it (and sift it) WITHOUT oven drying?
Interesting idea, though. All knowledge is useful. More grist for the mill...