Salted caramel macarons

[Aix]

I am a novice at macarons and I'm open to all suggestion. I've sifted through a lot of very useful info about Paris-type macarons on e-gullet and elsewhere, but have not really found the ideal recipe.

So, I will use Hermé as a base recipe. I don't have access to powdered egg whites.

I would appreciate a technique for making the caramel macarons. I've had them at Laduré and fell in love...

Do all macarons fillings use the same base?

[Wendy DeBord]

As a host I just wanted to double check that you've done a search on this topic.........

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=Se...hlite=macaroons

Theres pages and pages of info. including recipes and everyones thoughts on macaroons laying in our files here at eg.

Maybe if you could detail what you've already tried recipe wise and how that didn't work or match what you were looking for it would help us help you more specificly.

I personally can't address the caramel macaroons search, I have no experience with that. Perhaps with a couple more details from you, someone will come forward with the answers you seek.

[Aix]

I have checked those pages Wendy. It seems the recipes that are most popular in these pages are those with dehydrated egg whites, which as I mentioned are not available to me. This is why I mention the larousse recipe, hoping for caveats or experiences. I made macarons many years ago with a recipe from a good pastry chef. He has since returned to France, and my pastry notebook got stolen. It's been an impossible task to rebuild it.

My main interest here is about the filling.

Another item which has not been addressed in these threads is the question of storage. How long ahead can macarons be prepared and stored unfilled? I've been asked to make some for a wedding; since I don't get any time off for this, I'd like to prepare as much as can a week ahead of time.

[nightscotsman]

I haven't done a caramel filling myself, but I have a few suggestions on the other questions:

I've found powdered egg whites at Whole Foods, so if there is store in your area you might try them. You can also try what has been discussed in the other threads - use old egg whites. Just set them out at room temp in an uncovered bowl for about 24 hours. The whites will lose some of their moisture and the resulting meringue will be stiffer and more stable, which is the reason for using the egg white powder anyway. We did this all the time in school and it's totally safe.

The unfilled cookies can be stored perfectly well in the freezer for weeks in airtight containers. Be sure to defrost in the fridge still in the container.

[Aix]

THANK YOU!! I never even thought of whole foods. I was going to try leaving the whites out for maybe a couple of days in the fridge and a day out. I remember reading something in a molecular gastronomy paper about Herme aging the eggs way beyond what we'd think is acceptable..

I'm going to try cooking a caramel with fleur de sel and cream. If it's stiff when it's cold, it'll probably be good for macarons..

[PaulaJK]

Aix, I once took a [cooky] cooking course given by

Mick Malgieri. Chatting as he instructed, he recounted

a story from one of his early jobs.....the egg whites

were kept in a container near the window. When they

were ready to make macarons, they drained out

the flies! This was an ode to 'aged egg whites'....and

at least has given me courage vs. doubt.

[ladyyoung98]

correct me if im wrong...but isnt meringue powder also a form of egg whites?..ive not really looked at it a great deal..but i was told it could be used where one would want to use egg whites....powedered or otherwise.....while im no expert on this by any means...i thought id check it any way..because if u can use meringue powder as a sunstitute then u can get that at just about any arts n crafts store that sells decorating supplies...u can also find it cake supply places or other bakery supply places...just a thought on this one

[Wendy DeBord]

Meringue powder usually contains sugar in addition to dried whites. You can't use it interchangably with dried egg whites. Although I bought some meringue powder from A Uster that doesn't seem to contain any sugar, it smells like pure dried egg whites........ the label doesn't tell exactly what the ingredients are.

Do you have enough time to but the whites over the internet? Some companies are really quick with shipping.

I forget what the percentage was- but Herme' uses something like 2/3 old whites and 1/3 fresh. I add more dried whites then his recipe calls for to make it thicker.

Ditto on freezing for a couple weeks, no problems.

Caramel filling-depends upon your tastes. I find the room temp. to be pretty darn important. I recall using a pistachio paste flavored meringue buttercream once that just fell apart in the room temp.

If your caramel recipe is stiff when cool that would be good. I probably wouldn't use fleur de sel in this application onless you were putting it on top of your macaroon.........reg. salt will do the same thing in a cooked caramel.

[dejaq]

I have experimented with egg whites as well, the best receipe I have been able to come up with is the following, bake one sheetpan at a time 300 F in a convection for about 12-15 min, sup out cacao for 10 x if using a different variety, this formula is super stabile, and has yielded exceptional results, good luck:

Almond flour 8.5

Powdered sugar 8.5

Mix:

Powdered Sugar 5.75

Cocao Powder 1

Whip:

Egg Whites 7

sugar 1.75

[mukki]

My main interest here is about the filling. 

←

Pascal Rigo's "American Boulangerie" has a recipe for salted caramel, which he suggests you use as a filling for caramel macarons.

[M. Lucia]

I, too, fell in love with the salted caramel macarons. Though I have never tried to make that particular filling.

I have made macarons successfully using old egg whites (let sit room temp uncovered 24 hrs) and without the dried whites.

As for storage, I know that LaDuree makes the macarons, fills them, and then lets them sit for 2-3 days. I have found that when I make them myslef they are best on the 3rd day, so you can certainly make them that far ahead.

However, I wouldn't make the cookies alone ahead of time because I have found that they harden. The exception would be that the cookies alone freeze well and defrost quickly, but I have never tried filling the defrosted cookies and I am not sure how the texture would be.

[JSkilling]

I use the Herme recipe and have added the powdered egg whites as well. I do like it better with but the results without are fine. I like them one day later. I fill mine with ganache and freeze them and thaw with no degradation in taste. They are spectacular.

[Anni]

I took a course on Macaroons at Ecole Lenotre last fall, so I'll chime in with their approach on storage... Generally they freeze the finished product on a well-wrapped sheetpan (well, for the factory they have custom-made plastic containers, but that's another topic), although you can freeze the macaroons separately and refrigerate or freeze your filling separately. When setting up the buffet table for display at the end of class, the finished macaroons were brought directly from the freezer and ended up thawing at room temp. I don't know if this is ideal or just the way things happened in class.

On the topic of egg whites, we used fresh at room temp and there was no mention of "aging" them. OTOH, those whites did sit out for 4+ hours...