Macarons – Baking

[Sivert]

Wow, well the last month has been absolutely crazy.

I did try the cornmeal macarons. I made a caramel-sea-salt-buttercream.

They were Ok - we ate them. But the cookie part was indeed very gritty. Unpleasant texture.

I think I either need to use some finer cornmeal or, more likely, some other flour.

Yes, she's allergic to all nuts. Pine nuts and Sesame are ok - but I think they are too oily for this.

[David Lebovitz]

You could try taking finely-pulverized pine nuts or peanuts and drying them in a very low oven to get as much of the moisture out as possible, then proceeding. Because their flavors are strong, you also might want to cut them with some corn or potato starch as well.

[Sivert]

Thanks. I'll try that.

btw, I was in SF last week - I had delicious Macarons at Slanted Door. One was lavender and (I think) strawberry. The other was Lychee and raspberry. Delicious. Very near to Pierre Herme.

[leoni]

Hi guys, I've read almost every macaron article online as well as in this forum, but after many attempts my closest to macaron success has resulted in this:

The main problem is that they are tilting. The recipe is the french style macarons, NOT the italian meringue using the hard/soft ball method. I used the recipe from syrup and tang for this one. I did a google search for "macarons tilt during baking" and I read that someone said it was because of undermixing. I thought about it and it made a bit of sense that if after piping the batter the macaron mix did not ooze into a dome it probably was undermixed. So I began mixing the batter more (and this time I may have used medium peaks instead of stiff peaks for the egg whites) and all the attempts resulted in cracking macarons (all of these were used with egg whites ages for atleast 24 hours and they formed into a dome shape). The cracks I'm referring to are more like fissures, a single crack and the "foot," which is supposed to push from the bottom, actually oozes out from the fissure. You can kind of see this happening in the bottom left macarons on my pan.

If anyone has any suggestions I would HIGHLY appreciate it! Thanks so much!

[prasantrin]

What kind of oven are you using? Are you using a convection? It kind of looks like they're being blown over (caveat: I've never made macarons).

[leoni]

What kind of oven are you using?  Are you using a convection?  It kind of looks like they're being blown over (caveat:  I've never made macarons).

←

conventional oven

65g almond meal (bobs red mill)

80g confectioner's (walmart brand, I know, I'll use better qualty when I nail it)

40g superfine granulated sugar

50g egg white (no powdered but aged atleast 24 hours)

[Kerry Beal]

Try without confectioners sugar - I wonder if the cornstarch in it is the cause of your problem?

[leoni]

Try without confectioners sugar - I wonder if the cornstarch in it is the cause of your problem?

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So should I try unadulterated or just replace confectioner's with regular granulated/castor sugar?

I've been thinking about it alot lately. Aging eggwhites and whipping eggwhites to stiffer peaks make the domes stronger, to prevent cracking across the domes, but my cracks lately in my latest attempt were holes from the side... perhaps it has something to do with the heating process.

Either I need to add bakingsheets DIRECTLY (I've been putting the baking sheets a rack below) below the macaron sheet, or take them all away all together....

[Kerry Beal]

Try without confectioners sugar - I wonder if the cornstarch in it is the cause of your problem?

←

So should I try unadulterated or just replace confectioner's with regular granulated/castor sugar?

I've been thinking about it alot lately. Aging eggwhites and whipping eggwhites to stiffer peaks make the domes stronger, to prevent cracking across the domes, but my cracks lately in my latest attempt were holes from the side... perhaps it has something to do with the heating process.

Either I need to add bakingsheets DIRECTLY (I've been putting the baking sheets a rack below) below the macaron sheet, or take them all away all together....

←

Try replacing with regular sugar - all the recipes I've had success with make the tante pour tante with fine sugar and almond flour ground together. The viscosity of the mixture is 'like magma' when you've added enough of the whites in the final mix.

[lamington]

The cracks I'm referring to are more like fissures, a single crack and the "foot," which is supposed to push from the bottom, actually oozes out from the fissure. You can kind of see this happening in the bottom left macarons on my pan.

If anyone has any suggestions I would HIGHLY appreciate it! Thanks so much!

←

In my experience, the usual cause for this phenomenon is high heat below, weak heat above. The batter breaks through the shell because it isn't hard enough at the time when the expansion of the batter occurs.

[laurasaur]

Wow thanks to this thread I finally conquered my fear of macaroons! I followed the David Lebowitz recipe, left them out for 30 minutes, used egg whites that had been in the fridge for 3 days and then brought to room temp, and these babies are what I turned out with.

Chocolate Macarons on my website

I freaked out that they were stuck to the tray but after 10 minutes they just peeled right off. I am very happy, and they are so yum, I just need to make the mix a bit thinner next time I think.

[patris]

I'm making macarons for a baby shower this weekend and planning to fill them with black raspberry jam. I have very little experience with macarons, and I'm wondering what effect, if any, the water content of a jam filling has on the shells - do I need to do something to 'seal' the bottoms before I fill, or can I just let them go commando? The shower is Sunday, and I was planning to fill the macarons Saturday night and pop them in the fridge. Is this ok, or will they go mushy or something?

Any help from those with more experience would be soooo appreciated.

[Kerry Beal]

I'm making macarons for a baby shower this weekend and planning to fill them with black raspberry jam. I have very little experience with macarons, and I'm wondering what effect, if any, the water content of a jam filling has on the shells - do I need to do something to 'seal' the bottoms before I fill, or can I just let them go commando? The shower is Sunday, and I was planning to fill the macarons Saturday night and pop them in the fridge. Is this ok, or will they go mushy or something?

Any help from those with more experience would be soooo appreciated.

Not that I've got a whole lot more experience - but I do notice that some recipes call for brushing the shells with syrup - so I suspect that jam would be fine.

[cookin4acravin]

I am making macarons later this week I was wondering why when I beat my egg whites with the dried ones they never mix in. I always end up with clumps of dampened egg white powder that doesn't mix into the whipped egg whites. Does the speed you whip your egg whites matter in making macarons? Also is drying with a blow dryer like a poster before going to make my piped macarons spread everywhere? Lastly is the macaronage in this video

the proper way to make macarons? I was thinking it is only "beatable" that hard in certain recipes that make a thicker/firmer batter. BTW I'm using the french macaron method via http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/2009/03/pistachio-and-grapefruit-macarons-and.html Edited October 25, 2009 by cookin4acravin (log)

[QbanCrackr]

So i finally had my first attempt at macarons....after doing some reading, i've got my own...self-diagnosis you could say as to my 2-3 problems that i see right now

First off, i dont think i beat the batter enough, as you see the trails didn't settle from the piping process. On top of that, should I rotate my pans mid-bake to get a uniform finish? as you see in these pics some of them the bottoms didn't cook correctly so they ripped off when i tried to separate them. Some others the bottom is very soft, it'd most likely crack when i sandwiched them together.

I'm putting some pictures, feel free to critique and criticize my work, its the only way for me to get better

this is my recipe

210g powdered sugar

100g almond flour**

100g egg whites

50g granulated sugar

**I used almond flour i bought at whole foods, i sifted it so itd be finer, but i found myself losing quite a bit of material between the fine flour and the larger pieces of almond that weren't ground. are those ok to use? i'm worried they'll affect the smooth look i'm looking to achieve on the macaron

thanks in advance

-d

[runwestierun]

I am wondering if anyone has tried making macarons with duck eggs? I bake with them regularly because they make my baked goods fluffier. Duck egg white has more albumin/gram than chicken egg white. My ducks only lay in the spring but if it's a good idea I bet I could find some eggs at Whole Foods.

Have you heard of anyone trying this?

[Shelby]

If I'm grinding my own almonds to make the flour, do I need do dry it for a bit in the oven?

[Mjx]

I'm not sure that I've ever seen unfilled macarons, at least not in the US. But now you can fill the the shells with all sorts of amazing things!

[Simonne]

RE : Storing Macaron in Fridge

My Macaron becomes sticky after taking them out from fridge. Any suggestion how can i solve this "sticky". If the humidity in the fridge is an issue,would putting a silica gel in the container with macaron helps?

Pls help me and thank you

[Matthew.Taylor]

OK, First, MERRY CHRISTMAS Everyone!

 

Second. one of the gifts I got this year was Pierre Herme's book on Macarons. These delightful little buggers continue to elude me, and hopefully this boo can help me find a good recipe (My one attempt at making them tasted good, but clearly needed improvements) So I thought i'd make this thread. Feel free to discuss your own attempts at these occasionally insufferable things.

[Anna N]

22 minutes ago, Matthew.Taylor said:

OK, First, MERRY CHRISTMAS Everyone!

 

Second. one of the gifts I got this year was Pierre Herme's book on Macarons. These delightful little buggers continue to elude me, and hopefully this boo can help me find a good recipe (My one attempt at making them tasted good, but clearly needed improvements) So I thought i'd make this thread. Feel free to discuss your own attempts at these occasionally insufferable things.

But I think we already have threads on macarons. Here’s one.

[Pastrypastmidnight]

On 12/25/2018 at 9:04 AM, Matthew.Taylor said:

OK, First, MERRY CHRISTMAS Everyone!

 

Second. one of the gifts I got this year was Pierre Herme's book on Macarons. These delightful little buggers continue to elude me, and hopefully this boo can help me find a good recipe (My one attempt at making them tasted good, but clearly needed improvements) So I thought i'd make this thread. Feel free to discuss your own attempts at these occasionally insufferable things.

I’ve found the Ladurée recipe to be the easiest to master. It’s a French meringue, but it has more sugar so it’s harder to overbeat and break. 

 

275g almond meal

250g confectioners sugar

210g egg whites

210g caster sugar

 

In my home oven 290-305F for about 17 minutes seems to be a good temp. 

 

Good luck with your macaron journey!

[pjm333]

Been using this recipe for years, I have always used frozen egg whites/cold and silpats make a better macaroon I think. Have used cornmeal as a substitute ( process cornmeal in robot coup) for almond flour with great results and I prefer powder color over wet. This recipe makes 7 sheet pans 9 across 7 down.

 

300 degrees convection oven

325 degrees conventional oven

 

1012 grams 10X SIFTED  /Confectionery sugar

1012 grams Almond Flour / blanched

375 grams egg whites

375 grams egg whites

1012 grams sugar granulated

color

 

  Beat 375 grams of egg whites to stiff peak, cook granulated sugar with some water to 240 degrees and add to whites, beat till thick and glossy and cools down add color. Mix 10X & almond flour and add 375 grams whites and mix till blended in mixer. Add 1/3 of meringue to almond flour mixture and mix in mixer until blended, fold in remaining whites.

 Fold mixture until proper consistency is reached, pipe out and let dry 15 minutes or until macaroon is dry. If there is a peak on top of macaroon you need to mix/fold mixture more. 

 

Bake 11 to 12 minutes convection oven 12 to 14 minutes conventional oven

                           

[keychris]

39 minutes ago, pjm333 said:

 silpats make a better macaroon I think.

 

It's funny how things are for different people, I use pretty much the exact same recipe as you've got there but get much better results on baking paper! Edit: compared to my baking on silpats, not your beautiful macarons in that picture

Edited December 27, 2018 by keychris (log)

[pjm333]

Keychris - I just think they dry better on a silpat but if parchment paper works better thats great to.