Shelf life of macarons?

[RuthWells]

I'm baking a raft of macarons this weekend for an event next Thursday. Is my best bet to wait to fill them until the day before the event? I imagine the unfilled shells will have a shelf life similar to meringues, right?

[JeanneCake]

I would fill them the day before, you can brush a little syrup on the flat sides before filling if you like.

I know there are distributors selling them - already assembled - frozen. Even the unfilled shells are shipped frozen. So far, I haven't made them myself yet but I'm considering it as a Passover item....

[RuthWells]

I would fill them the day before, you can brush a little syrup on the flat sides before filling if you like.

I know there are distributors selling them - already assembled - frozen.  Even the unfilled shells are shipped frozen.  So far, I haven't made them myself yet but I'm considering it as a Passover item....

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Great to know, thanks! I think I'll bake the shells ahead and store at cool room temp.

[Catherine Iino]

Bump. I'm in Paris and would like to bring some macarons home (to the U.S.) to my daughter. How long will they keep, do you think?

[piracer]

i would say no more then a few days?

But on a side note, depending on the filling of course, macarons taste better a day or so older, especially those filled with butter cream. In fact, i think i read somewhere that Pierre Herme 'ages' his macarons for 3 days before displaying them in his shops. Seems like a bit much but i did noticed when i made macarons they tasted better the next day, this was using a buttercream though. When i made a jam filling i dont think you need to wait as long, all really depends on moisture content.

[Jon Tseng]

Bump. I'm in Paris and would like to bring some macarons home (to the U.S.) to my daughter. How long will they keep, do you think?

Buy them as late as you can but they're good for a few days. Not like, say, a crisp tart shell which loses its crunch.

Yes, as piracer suggests Pierre Herme leaves his macs a few days before selling thing. Although this probably doesn't help you if you're buying them from the shop!

In my experience a box of macs, like an opened bottle of Tokaji, keeps in the fridge longer than you think.

[Catherine Iino]

Thanks. The macarons are all over, of course, and irresistible. So much to eat, so little time.

[Catherine Iino]

Just to report back, I brought home macarons from Pierre Herme and Gerard Mulot. They were holding up pretty well after four days, although they lost a bit of the contrast between the crunchy exterior and the soft filling. The cassis ones, however, were brilliant purple when I bought them but faded severely to a not particularly appetizing gray.

One of the best things I ate in Paris was a pastry from the Mulot shop, which was basically a relatively large macaron, split and filled with a light pastry cream and fresh raspberries. Wow.

Might just have to learn to make macarons.

[piracer]

you should, here's the recipe that's given me the best result and what i've found is the easiest to work with:

http://annies-eats.com/2011/04/29/vanilla-bean-macarons-with-raspberry-filling/

I just use the basic recipe so minus the vanilla beans. Filling is really up to you.

[Catherine Iino]

That looks very doable--thanks! May I ask, do you make them only when the humidity is relatively low? In my non-air-conditioned kitchen, I gave up on meringues during the summer (in Connecticut); I assume macarons would present the same problems.

[piracer]

I've actually made them in Singapore which is in the tropics if your not sure where that is. I did however add 20g extra sugar into making the meringue as I've been told more sugar = a stronger meringue and it did work. I later managed to cut back on 30g of the icing sugar to balance out the sweetness.

Overall i would say try not to fold too much - over folding seems to be the real problem. If your macarons come out and they don't rise and are flat, its probably due to over folding. On the other hand if when you pipe them out and they don't fall back on themselves (as in they retain too much of a shape), then you haven't folded enough.

I won't lie, it takes a couple of tries, but its totally worth it!