Macarons – The delicate French invention.

[JeanneCake]

CookieBoy, your croquembouche is wonderful! It gives me an idea for what I can do for our local "Taste of the City" event. Last year I did a panna cotta with a red wine berry sauce, but this is far more eye-catching and unique.

Can you explain how you attached the macarons and how people were able to remove them?

Thanks!

[iii_bake]

CookieBoy, your croquembouche is wonderful! It gives me an idea for what I can do for our local "Taste of the City" event.  Last year I did a panna cotta with a red wine berry sauce, but this is far more eye-catching and unique.

Can you explain how you attached the macarons and how people were able to remove them?

Thanks!

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May i pitch in?

Le Notre here uses the tiny stick pinned in the macaron and then onto the cone tower. The guest can then easily take it out.

I do not knoe if cookie boy does the same.

iii

[LittleIsland]

Another question for Patrick, hopefully you see this:

What do you think you are doing that gives you such high, frilly feet? Mostly the feet on my macarons (if they sprout) are pretty low. I've noticed yours have pretty much consistently high feet.

And, does anyone know why some macarons' feet puff out horizontally a little - so that there is a little rim around the bottom - instead of just rising upwards? The ones with the rimmy feet look better, I think.

I've now made the CDBPH recipe twice - once as written, and the second time using Italian meringue... both times they developed cracks, but only the Italian Meringue version developed teeny tiny feet.

[Patrick S]

Another question for Patrick, hopefully you see this:

What do you think you are doing that gives you such high, frilly feet?  Mostly the feet on my macarons (if they sprout) are pretty low.  I've noticed yours have pretty much consistently high feet.

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Having made macarons so many times, tried so many recipes, and engaged in such seemingly endless discussion on this matter, you'd think there would be a simple answer. But if there is a simple answer, I dont know what it is. All I can do is tell you what I do. I usually use an insulated baking sheet -- but not always. I always beat whites or meringue until very stiff. Except for Lebovitz's recipe, which go into the oven right after piping, I always let the piped cookies sit for at least 30 minutes before baking.

I also don't have a definitive reason why the CDBPH recipes sometimes yields cracked macarons. The very first time I made macarons, I used this recipe, and I also got cracks. I've used the same recipe many times since, and rarely are there any cracks. The only thing I know for sure that I did different the first time is that I did not let them dry before baking.

[CookieBoy]

CookieBoy, your croquembouche is wonderful! It gives me an idea for what I can do for our local "Taste of the City" event.  Last year I did a panna cotta with a red wine berry sauce, but this is far more eye-catching and unique.

Can you explain how you attached the macarons and how people were able to remove them?

Thanks!

←

May i pitch in?

Le Notre here uses the tiny stick pinned in the macaron and then onto the cone tower. The guest can then easily take it out.

I do not knoe if cookie boy does the same.

iii

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Sorry for the delay in replying... It's been a while since I've logged on.

My croquembouche was just a display one so I glued the macaroons with white chocolate.

I started out with a 'tower' looking matal frame that cost something like $8 from the cheap shop. Then I rolled plastic icing onto the frame. From there I smoothed over the plastic icing with some white chocolate. Then I used some more white chocolate to stick the macaroons to the structure.

If you could get a polystirene (spell?) cone that would save a little mucking around, but I don't know where to get one and how much it would cost?

Using sticks would be a great idea.

The whole project was so time consuming that I don't know if I'd want to do it again. But the hardest thing is getting them all perfectly lined up. Even if you think that they are all evenly piped, it's always going to be a task to get everything perfectly lined up.

If you end up doing it, let us know how it all works!

[iii_bake]

Having made macarons so many times, tried so many recipes, and engaged in such seemingly endless discussion on this matter, you'd think there would be a simple answer. But if there is a simple answer, I dont know what it is. All I can do is tell you what I do. I usually use an insulated baking sheet -- but not always. I always beat whites or meringue until very stiff. Except for Lebovitz's recipe, which go into the oven right after piping, I always let the piped cookies sit for at least 30 minutes before baking.

I also don't have a definitive reason why the CDBPH recipes sometimes yields cracked macarons. The very first time I made macarons, I used this recipe, and I also got cracks. I've used the same recipe many times since, and rarely are there any cracks. The only thing I know for sure that I did different the first time is that I did not let them dry before baking.

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More Qs then: Dear Patrick.. whenever my macaron had beautiful high feet..it came with air pocket but if the feet was not that high, the air pcoket seemed to be small or none. I then concluded from my experience that the high frill draws the batter out from the macaron and there come the air pocket...

How does this sound to you, or any of us?

[Patrick S]

I don't know -- the CDBPH recipe usually have good "feet", but lack the air pocket. My hypothesis, just speculation really, is that it has to do with the rigidity of the macaron shell -- if it becomes too rigid, the inside of the cookie pulls away from the shell as it cools. If it is not rigid, then the shell is pulled-in as the cookie cools, creating little wrinkles.

[LittleIsland]

Well here are my efforts from the CDPH recipe. This time there was only a tiny bit of cracking across the tops of a few macs. The things I did differently:

1. Subbed some granulated sugar for the powdered. Am not sure whether this made the difference, can't really think how it could have. Wouldn't want to bother with this again in the future as it's a pain to grind down.

2. Dried out the almond/sugar mixture in the oven for a while before using - think this might have been the difference

3. Used italian meringue

4. Lowered oven temp to about 150 deg C

Feet are very small still but at least visible and with no air pockets. Teeny bit of wrinkling but not enough to bother me I'm thinking the key must be drying out the TPT because it's so humid here in the tropics. Though I wouldn't know why a moister TPT would cause cracking. Opinions on this theory?

Edited October 12, 2006 by LittleIsland (log)

[iii_bake]

When i first made these, they cracked too.

And my observation was that i did not leave them to dry enough.

It is humid here, very. It can take forever for the macaron to dry.

PH recipe require just a brief of resting time ( if i remember it correctly) and that short a time did not have any effect on the top at all..just the same as when i finished piping!

[Liron,C.]

hi all !

i'd like to know your opinion about the type of meringue you use for making macaroons. i want to use martha stuart, or pascal rigo recipe, and i would like to know : which type of meringue is better for macaroons, the italian, or the french one. i think the italian would get me a sweeter and firmer macaroon, and the french one will be softer and milder in taste. i think pierre herme uses the italian meringue, but i want to know if it's better.

thanks,

Liron

Edited October 17, 2006 by Liron,C. (log)

[Liron,C.]

my second try at macaroons. i'd really like your help at finding out what went wrong. the taste is great, and also the texture is quite good (crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle). but they look like little hamburgers. they don't have the frilly feet, and the surface is not smooth and shiny.

i used 200 gr of conf. sugar, 150 gr almonds, 4 egg whites that i left outside the fridge for a day.i used french meringue.

pics attached. really would like your help, so next time they will be perfect.

Edited October 20, 2006 by Liron,C. (log)

[RuthWells]

Those look delicious! I am by no means an expert in macarons, but I do get the best "feet" when I use an Italian meringue. The other tricks that are important are not being shy about knocking air out of the meringue while you incorporate the almonds -- unlike most meringue applications, you really do want to lose a lot of the air. For a final texture of the batter, think a loose toothpaste. From the high domes of your macarons, it looks like you got more "puff" than you want.

As for the smooth tops, the Italian meringue will help that as well. I also recommend letting the piped trays of cookies sit on the counter to dry for at least 30 minutes before you bake them. The drying makes for more surface tension on the top of the cookie, which keeps the puff down and gives you a nice tight top.

Good luck -- let us know how your third attempt goes!

[Liron,C.]

thank you !

for the third try, i'll use italian meringue. i got confused about the meringue, because i read alot of recipes. some say whisk to soft peaks, some say the opposite. some say incorporate the almons and sugar very slow and without knocking out the air out of the batter. some say the opposite. but i noticed that as the batter less stiff, the tops get more smooth and less airy without the little holes on them. so next week i'll try to follow your helpfull tips .

thanks,

Liron

[miladyinsanity]

I'm guessing, but having had the same thing happen to me, I think you didn't fold it enough, so it's more like a meringue than a macaron.

[yunnermeier]

Macaroons bought from the little neighbourhood French bakery in Paris. Only 2 euro per 100 grams I think

[ColleenD]

Made my first macarons last night. Lesson learned: read the forums more thoroughly before baking!

I used David Lebovitz's recipe from his blog. I left my egg whites out on the counter for about 8 hours, used almond flour that I also ran through the food processor with the powdered sugar. I did not let the batter rest before baking, but dropped the pan on the counter a few times before baking.

They turned out pretty well, but I'd like them glossier and smoother. I think my first mistake was not mixing well enough...

Second mistake: I piped in circles (from a makeshift plastic pastry bag ). I guess when I get the consistency right, I can pipe in mounds and let the tip sink.

All in all, it was a success--they tasted great, especially the ones that I had enough patience to let sit overnight! I'm going to try Pierre Herme's recipe next. Thanks for the tips!

PS-sorry if multiple photos or no photos--had a little trouble with that.

[Dora S]

Here's what I made over the weekend... I have never tasted macarons before, so I have no idea if they turned out all right!!!

I had a tough time getting them to dry before putting them in the oven.. left them out for more than an hour and even tried using a hair dryer but the second batch refused to form complete dried tops.

When I took the macarons out of the fridge, the tops started becoming very damp! That is not supposed to happen, I believe..?

[ColleenD]

Wow, Dora! They look great! What are the flavors?

[Dora S]

Wow, Dora!  They look great!  What are the flavors?

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Raspberry! My favourite! I just used a teaspoon to scoop on the buttercream so it was a tad messy but so yummy!

[iii_bake]

Here's what I made over the weekend... I have

I had difficulties drying at first...then it gets better when i whipped the white more stiff and dry in the air conditioned room.

How is your environment though?

[Dora S]

Very humid unfortunately (~80% range)... I intend to to do all prep work in a/c in the future, hope that will help. Will try whipping the whites more stiff too!

[miladyinsanity]

I am an idiot.

I decided I wanted to make caramel macarons.

Step 1: Make caramel.

Step 2: Let cool.

Step 3: Grind Caramel with almonds.

Except that:

1. It's the monsoon season. Humidity 100%.

2. Caramel was sticky right away. After grinding, caramel + almonds clumped.

I happily continued in my stupidity and tried to dry the stuff in the oven. Shoot me people. Shoot me.

Or better still, tell me what to do with my caramel/almond mixture.

[RuthWells]

Oh dear! Well, let's see. Do you have a solid caramel/almond mixture, or is it chewy?

[miladyinsanity]

It's solid today. Chewy too. I think I'll just eat it. It's not like I eat a lot of candy anyway, right? I think if I give it a few more days in this weather, I can press it into a pan and then cut it into squares.

Also, I found a new macaron recipe. At least, I think it's new to this thread.

Click here

This recipe makes an Italian meringue with only half the egg whites, then folds the remaining half in with the almond/powdered sugar.

I'll try to try this next week, because I suddenly find myself with a big jar of egg whites--I'm not sure how or why, but I no longer need to find uses for egg yolks.

[Wholemeal Crank]

After a first quite unsuccessful attempt at macarons (heavy/gooey, nuts were damp out of the freezer), I found this thread and have been trying to assimilate the immense amount of often contradictoryinformation herein, along with browsing in selected cookbooks.

A couple of questions:

Re: leaving egg whites out to dry overnight: anyone know what the desired degree of water loss should be? Should one be looking for 5% decrease in weight, 10%, 20%?

And if you're measuring the whites by weight or by volume, do you measure before or after this drying period?

Also on the subject of moisture, if you were to substitute brown sugar for white sugar, do you need to dry the whites more to make up for the extra moisture in the brown vs white sugar?

And regarding the texture of the ground nuts--several posts and recipes suggest sieving the nuts berore use: is this simply to make the cookies smoother and more delicately textured, or is it about the way the larger bits of nuts affect the heft of the meringue?

If substituting other nuts for almonds, do recipes need to be adjusted for the different oiliness or moisture content of different nuts?

And regarding baking temperatures, there is some controversy over whether they should be baked at low temperatures only (160-175 degrees); high temp (375-425) briefly then a cooling oven (opening oven door), or moderate temperatures (300-350 degrees) for the entire cooking time.

(These variations remind me we used to make meringue cookies called "forgotten kisses" which were baked by putting the meringues in a preheated 325 oven and turning the oven off after a few minutes--again the hot start/cool finish to dry them.)

The point seems to be crisp outside, softer inside. Does anyone know what the internal temperature of a perfectly done macaron is? This might give a more predictable target for doneness than time/temperature of the oven given varations in the density of various batters, the insulation of a particular oven (important for the "open door and let finish baking" or "turn off the oven after x minutes" techniques) and the humidity of the kitchen, etc.