Macarons: Troubleshooting & Tips

DianaM · February 5, 2013

Origami is one way to go, I guess. :smile: I would try to return them to the store, and if that does not work, then contact the manufacturer. If that does not work either, you can always sell them on ebay or craigslist.

pquinene · February 5, 2013

So, the King Arthur brand was working for you then??? I tempted fate and lost today, using a new parchment too. I've been using Reynold's rolled parchment. I'll try King Arthur's if that is what you have been using. Please let me know. Thanks!

cmflick · February 6, 2013

Your macaron problem looks exactly like mine! I was using King Arthur Flour parchment and it did work for me. If you shop from King Arthur before Feb. 7, the half sheets of parchment are on sale 10% off and with free shipping. I would get some, but I just invested in more silpats. I decided that I like baking macarons on the silpats better.

pquinene · February 6, 2013

Thanks! I'm going to test my silpats today or tomorrow.

pquinene · February 6, 2013

FYI: I am in the midst of baking some Guam cookies today on the new parchment I bought. Using the exact recipe, the Guam cookies also had a tough time coming off of the new parchment I bought. I threw out a whole tray of macs yesterday because they stuck to that new paper! Be careful if you use your new (bad) parchment; they may not work that well for other baked goodies.

cmflick · February 6, 2013

Good to know about other things not working on the new (bad) parchment. I've been using mine primarily to set already baked things on, like lining up the macaron shells for filling, since I discovered the problems. Now that you mention it, though, I made a sacher torte in December and the parchment paper stuck to the bottom. I never had that happen before, but I wasn't into parchment differences at the time, so I didn't make the connection with the new (bad) parchment.

Can you tell if your parchment is quilon or silicone treated? I'm curious as to whether this is a quilon problem or just something about the quality of the parchment. I don't think that I'll buy any more batches of flat parchment sheets unless I can get samples to try out!

RWood · February 8, 2013

Just from my experience, I have better luck with silpats. This picture was from today at work (where I don't have any problems). They tops are a little bumpy, but it's from the almond meal. The robo-coups at work are past their prime, so they can't get it as fine as I would like. As long as I get good feet and decent shapes, I can deal wit bumpy .

I think my problems at home are mainly my oven. I do everything exactly the same, but they just don't like my home oven. I made 3 full size sheet pans today, and not one flop in the convection oven at work.

pquinene · February 8, 2013

I just ordered me 3 more half-sheet silpats because the macs bake up more evenly:

pquinene · February 8, 2013

The label does not specify. After baking macs with silicone mats and parchment yesterday, I'm a convert to the mats. For all the work and manipulations, I'd like them to at least look as pretty as can be!

Below are macs baked on Reynold's rolled parchment. They are not too badly misshapen, but the later pans of macs were not as circular. For the tray on the right, I placed a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil on the top rack to shield the macs from the heating element:

Edited February 8, 2013 by pquinene (log)

pquinene · March 1, 2013

I've been working on a basic meringue recipe for almond macaron batter over the last several weeks. One more trial to go, but I did end up filling some macs last night:

Edited March 1, 2013 by pquinene (log)

minas6907 · March 8, 2013

Hey Friends. I was wondering if anyone was able to pm me the basic recipe from Pierre Hereme's book 'Macarons.'I've seen plenty of pictures that of macarons that people have made using his formula, and they all look great! But I would sort of perfer to try his base recipe first (which I am very interested in, since all I have ever done macaron wise is the french meringue type) before I spend $30 on his book. I guess I'm semi afraid I'll be purchasing a colorful recipe book, I want to make sure the formula within really does work for me. Anyways, if anyone can help, thanks a bunch!

Kerry Beal · March 9, 2013

Here is the online Pierre Herme recipe that I've used - it's essentially the same as the book - http://theboywhobakes.co.uk/2009/08/pierre-hermes-salted-caramel-macarons/

minas6907 · March 9, 2013

Cool, thanks Kerry, I appreciate it!

gap · March 9, 2013

FWIW, that is a pretty consistent recipe across a number of famous pastry chefs - I've done classes with an MOF who uses it, been told Lenotre uses it, know two top Australian pastry chefs who use it and (obviously) Pierre Herme uses it. No-one I've spoken with seems to know who originated it, but Lenotre school seems to be a pretty good guess.

spacefrog · April 26, 2013

most recipes said to bang the cookie sheet before put it into the oven because if there is bubbles on the mixture macaroons might crack. sometimes I bang it a couple times and there are still small bubbles that won't burst. I came up with using a tooth pick to bust the bubbles. it works really well.

midwestbakingprincess · July 3, 2013

I need troubleshooting advice to the T. I followed Martha Stewart's Parisian Macarons Recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/319525/parisian-macaroons and followed it step by step. My first batch didn't rise, and my Kitchenaid is broken so I used a hand mixer... I also noticed the inside of the shell is brown like a sugar cookie gets from the bottom of the pan? It also didn't rise and I followed everything. Was I missing something or what? I want to be able to make these as beautiful as all of you wonderful people make them (from what Ive been reading!!) Please help!!

-Inexperienced Wannabe

**Mjx** · July 3, 2013

First thoughts are: 'What sort of pan are you using?', 'Would you consider switching to a recipe that uses weights, instead of volumes (like the one that Kerry Beal posted upthread, 5 posts back)?', and 'Do you have an accurate thrmometer in your oven?'

Macarons can be exacting, and if your measurements aren't consistent from one batch to the next, it can be really difficult to pinpoint where a problem is.

Rana · July 20, 2013

Hello every body!!

Please have a look at the attached photo to see the difference between my macaron and the one from a cafe. Mine was hollow and unpleasantly crunchy, unlike the one on the right which was very creamy.

Can someone please explain to me how to get the layer "right right under the thin shell" to be creamy like the one in the photo?

This is the recipe I used:

90 grams (3 ounces) of egg whites (equal to whites of 3 large eggs), at room temperature
125 grams (4 ½ ounces) of ground almonds or almond flour
125 grams (4 ½ ounces) of icing sugar
25 grams (1 ounce) unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
125 grams (4 ½ ounces) of caster sugar (superfine sugar) divided into two equal portions

Thanks in advance for any help

Edited July 20, 2013 by Rana (log)

**Mjx** · July 20, 2013

What did you bake them on, and at what temperature and for how long?

Rana · July 20, 2013

I checked several websites on the troubleshooting but none referred to that layer I am asking about. I followed all the instructions and they were perfect and smooth in terms of shape. it is the inside that disturbed me. I baked them for 13 minutes (160 degree) on a silicon mat.

keychris · July 20, 2013

the insides of your look perfectly awesome to me - the cafe ones look like the ones with the problem IMHO

I'm no expert though. And if someone uttered the phrase, 'tastes like cadbury chocolate bar' to a ganache I made, I think I would punch them right inna nose, because I can make infinitely better tasting things than crapbury

Rana · July 20, 2013

Thanks :blush: !

trouble is it is unpleasantly crunchy, the other one is "creamy" which we all like the macaron to be, regardless of the filling, I am wondering how to get that creamy layer right under the thin shell.

piracer · July 22, 2013

Did you try letting your macarons sit around for a day before you ate them?

I know some macaron shops such as Pierre Herme lets his macarons age for 3 days before they go into the shop. Ive also noticed that, the macs get much better after at least a day in the fridge before eating. The filling kinda becomes super cohesive with the filling and it all oozes into a more homogenous package.

minas6907 · October 24, 2013

I was wondering if someone could aid me in my macarons cracking. I started making macarons at the beginning of this year, and have had very good success. Just last week, though, my shells started to crack, first time ever. I have been using a french meringue, and I can tell only a few subtle differences between these batches and the all my previous. The first two batches I saw cracking were when I didnt want to make a full batch (fill recipe weighing around 450g total). So I made a half batch, noticed about 12 or so shells were cracked. Then a few days later I made another half batch and got the same result. What was different in the second batch was that I had used some almonds from my freezer that I has blanched myself a while back, where as I normally use blanched almond slivers (Trader Joes). After some googling, I saw a comment that moisture in the almond meal could contribute, which would have been on my almonds from the freezer (just some ice crystals), so I concluded that was a factor. But the previous batch was didnt use those almonds, but my normal packaged almond slivers. Anyways, overall, I came to the conclusion that by making a half batch I probably whipped the egg white more then I should have. Do any of these reasons sound plausible?

Today I went ahead and tried the macaron with an Italian meringue. I really enjoyed the way it came together, how stable the meringue felt, as well as it seeming much easier to make larger batches. But from these, about 70% of the shells cracked in the most horrible way, they look absolutely horrid. So....I'm not really feeling too confident right now. I made a normal batch of French meringue macs, and thankfully they came out well, no problems.

Overall, I'm just looking for some direction, I am starting to really hate these cookies. I was thinking of getting Pierre Hermes Macaron book, that seems like a pretty common guide everyone's using, and I think it may be time. Anywho, any tips, pointers, suggestions are appreciated.

pastrygirl · October 25, 2013

My impression is that not drying them enough leads to cracking. Has it been humid lately?

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