Macaron: the good and the bad

[Almondmeal]

These macarons are made for a market function at Melbourne. I thought that I have finally perfected the look, the flavor and taste for a perfect macaron, then one day, not one but 98% of my friends opened up and told me that they are too sweet and find the texture incomparable to those that they have tried somewhere else. How do you tell what is a perfect macaron? I know it should be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. but yet with the same texture of two macaron from two totally different method of making, yet people can differentiate the good and the bad? HELP! my self esteem has shattered as the one and only friend's cafe that bough the macaron I made to sell has cease to buy any from me because another chef he knows makes better ones

[Mjx]

Do you use salt? In sweets, a pinch of salt often makes the difference between insipid and incredible.

I have nothing to offer on the texture front, but I'm sure someone can recommend a reliable recipe, and for whatever it's worth, they really do look lovely.

[rarerollingobject]

I wouldn't describe the good ones as being chewy on the inside. In fact, chewy is a sign of a sub-optimal one, in my very experienced if not very expert macaron-eating opinion.

The shell should crackle a little under your teeth but the innards give way to a firm-ish meringue, that seems hefty but is actually quite light.

Not sure if this helps, but on an extended macaron tour of Tokyo last year (best macarons in the world, IMO), I took copious photos of their insides, which you can see here at various spots scrolling down through this page:

[Almondmeal]

Hi Mjx, I did not realize that salt can be part of a macaron recipe too. !! That is actually a pretty good idea. I will give it a try and see hot it goes this time. Thank you!!!

Rarerolling, a macaron tour sounds awesome!!!! I wish there is a standard way of telling if you have made a perfect macaron. I mean, it can be so bias for some people might think that the chewiness is the key point of judging the best macaron and some may pay attention on the crunch on the skin. Hmmm....

[gap]

I notice you say you're from Melbourne. You can try macarons from Ganache (www.ganache.com.au), Lindt Cafe (Chadstone, Doncaster Shoppingtown or City) or La Belle Miette (http://labellemiette.com.au/mac/) which all have good macarons.

[rarerollingobject]

But don't bother with the ones from Laurent patisserie in the city, they ARE too chewy. In Sydney, the better ones are Lindt Cafe and Zumbo. But these don't really compare to the Pierre Herme, Mulot, or Laduree hallmarks.

Honestly, I think the best way to resolve this is if you mail a large box of your macarons to me in Sydney, and I provide you detailed reviews on all aspects. Yes indeedy.

[Almondmeal]

Rarerolling! If you are up for a delivery of macaron to your place, I am up for it , please send me a postal address because so happens that I just got a call from a good friend who wants some macaron for her daughter's birthday this sunday. The problem is, I just hope that when the macaron arrives it would still be intact! lol But that is if my macaron is successful for its been months that I haven't been baking them

Hmmm, no offence but I am not sure about Zumbo macaron but I will soon be traveling to sydney to try his specialties. Watch his show here in MElbourne every thursday. Interesting though especially the hamburger macaron... mmm..... Don't want to be judge before I try it myself.

Gap, I did not realize that Ganache has macaron!!!!!!!, but so far I have only tried the ones at Laurent and Cacao's. I still need to know what a macaron should really taste like and the real texture.

[thampik]

I have been meaning to try this Pierre Herme macaron recipe but never got around to it :-)

[Almondmeal]

Sometimes I wonder if famous macaron places like pierre or laduree would really give out genuine good recipe for their product....or maybe there is a special equipment involved that doesn't allow normal domestic people like me to perfect them.

[AAQuesada]

Don't dispare, Macaron's are like learning to ride a bike. Really hard and frustrating while you learn and experiment. Then you 'get it' and wonder how you ever flubbed it.

[RWood]

It takes lots of experimentation and failures to get what will work for you. When I first starting making these years ago, there was a lot of wasted almond flour. And can still be at times.

I don't know which type of recipe you are using, but I found the Italian meringue recipe too hard and too sweet. And there are a lot of people on here that swear by it and love it. Everyone makes them different, and everyone has an opinion on what is "perfect".

I got a marriage proposal from a French women (who now lives here) on mine, so I'll take that to say I got them right

Edited March 1, 2011 by RWood (log)

[ctown13]

When it comes down to it, everyone has different tastes and if it is good, then it's good! Make sense?! Of course to call it a macaron, it must have the prerequisites, such as feet, smooth glossy shell, etc. I do think that the shell must have a crisp outside and soft inside. I have been baking macarons in my home kitchen for over a year now and I still have bad days! That's what makes baking them so intriguing. They are a mystery and so finicky! I much prefer the Italian meringue method (Pierre Herme's way), but they do tend to be more sweet than the French meringue method. I have found that the IM shells hold up much better and seem to have the more preferable texture. Good luck!

[Almondmeal]

Hey ctown 13, u know, ure right. What may be delicious to someone may just be alright for the other. I am using the italian method too for I am too impatient to boil the suugar although it doesn't take long to reach 120 degrees. And because of all the reccomendations above, I went to try macarons anywhere I can find. Its true, they all have their own delicious way even though they look pretty similar! I am more relieved now! Thank u so much!!!!!!

[Eat.Choui]

Is there a proper way to reduce the sugar content(to make them less sweet) without losing texture for the macaron shells? I went with the French meringue method and reduced the powder sugar, filled and let them sit in the frig overnight, but the outer shell is really thin and delicate and would get squish really easily.

[Almondmeal]

Hi Eat.Choui,

I was told that going for the TPT formula works like wonder. TPT is a french word which stands for Tant Pour Tant which means equal amount. As for Macaron shell, instead of using recipes that uses more icing sugar than almond meal, you change that to equal amount of icing sugar and almond meal. That way when mixed through the meringue, the batter would come out firmer and do not not require a long waiting time for skin to form and when you bake them, the shell just pop up with a wonderful feet! And this formulated macaron actually tasted more like almond meal than sugar! I have only discovered this amazing TPT formula after the market which kinda sucks because I can't convince people that my macaron aren't as sweet anymore... oh well hehehehe

[ctown13]

You are so very welcome! Your macarons are beautiful and don't give up on trying for perfection! I've found that my own mind is the only thing that holds me back and I am learning to try and just go for it, instead of being scared of messing up.

This came in the mail yesterday and I am dying to make the chocolate macarons. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a love of parisian treats, whether or not you want to make them. The book is absolutely stunning!

[Almondmeal]

ctown13!

You know, I actually almost bought that book from dymocks bookstore but they do sell it rather pricy. I saw this chocolate gateux they have in that book that looks delicious!! but I have seen many other macaron books that are pretty good too. Going to dymocks again to check out the author and title and will let you know!

I do wonder sometimes if famous places are actually willing to just sell out their secret recipe in a book! If they do, why would they do that? hmmmm

[gastronaut]

Drying of macarons is not needed to produce high quality, light, shelled while keeping a meringue texture. Most macaron failures are due to batter being mixed incorrectly and oven temperatures/cooking times.

[Scout_21]

To sell the books... You can check out PH10, Pierre Herme's professional book and the recipes from his Macaron. They are pretty much identical except for the addition of egg white powder in the professional recipes...though it would be hard to measure out .25 grams of egg white powder (unless you've got a scale like those used modernist cuisine) as the recipes in Macaron are scaled down to home kitchens so they just omitted the eqq white powder.

Just giving the recipe is one thing. Having years of experience and sourcing the ingredients make the pastry at the higher end shops what they are...macarons themselves are a simple concept but the execution is the key.

Edited March 23, 2011 by Scout_21 (log)

[Almondmeal]

I just found out too that macarons baked off from a silpat comes out with better feet compare to baking them off with baking paper after knocking down the macaron batter to make them flat. I also find that if you were to knock the macaron on a baking paper, while knocking, it kinda crease around the macaron batter that makes the paper stick on the side and hard for the macaron to form a feet when baked.

True that Scout-21 , my chef always say that having the recipe is one thing, having the true skill is another. Skills takes practice and years of experience, and I reckon even if I have the best macaron recipe in the world, I still lack the skills to perfect them. Which comes down to "Practice makes perfect"!

[ctown13]

Yes, I have wondered if they would truly give the recipe for their macarons! I love Pierre Hermes macaron book, which has many more amazing recipes. I did make the chocolate macarons out of the Laduree book and they came out pretty well! My first attempt at chocolate! The feet were a bit too spread out and messy, but people raved about them and I think the texture and flavor were pretty spot on! Laduree's recipe uses the french meringue technique and I must say that I still am a bigger fan of the Italian meringue, even though it is more labor intensive. Boy, I sure do love making macarons....I think I'm obsessed!

[Almondmeal]

That looks amazing! Yummm..... Yea, making macaron is really addictive, once you start you can;t stop! lol!!!