Macarrés

[nicolekaplan]

tan - working at herme was quite an experience. everything was made at his lab and driven over to the store to be finished. you would be surprised how little of the day is spent on production other than macaroons. i would say it is typical of any bakery, everything is made in large quantities, cut down and finished. they do however take great pride in their ingredients such as milling their own almond flour. but i am always surprised at the amount of energy that goes into making what is basically a cookie to use your leftovers. i myself have rarely been excited by macaroons and yet they probably make 5000 a day. i now forget the exact details but we would make about a dozen flavors. hundreds of each that would be baked and filled for sale the next day. the only time they were really good was standing in the walkin eating them just after we finished for the day. by the next day if you ate them in the shop they no longer held the same mystique

[tan319]

nicole...

Thanks so much for the inside look!

Some more questions, if it's ok.

When you speak of leftovers, are you talking about what goes into the maccaroon flavors?

I still admire the French way, for utilizing all they can to reduce food costs, make money, etc.

Did you get to make other things. like some of those wild a__ed cakes, etc.?

The Istaphan?

Great stuff, thanks for posting about it

[nicolekaplan]

by leftovers, i mean all of those egg whites that are always hanging around. All that a macaron really is, is meringue bound by a bit of almond flour and sugar. I'ld rather have a brownie any day. The fillings at herme differ quite a bit from lauduree, herme prefering alot more ganaches and buttercreams to laudurees preference for caramels and jams. I can only begin to tell you how many istaphans were made every day, including the last drop of glucose to resemble dew dropping off the rose petals.

[chefpeon]

Ok, first off......

what the heck is an Istaphan?

I tried doing a Google search and couldn't come up with anything......

Secondly......this whole macaroon adventure I am having (woo hoo!) made me realize that there's yet another thing that fits into what I call the "Mexican Food Phenomenon".

The theory:

Mexican food seems to consist of some very basic components:

rice

beans

tortillas

guacamole

sour cream

chicken

beef

lettuce

cheese

If you have some beans, beef, cheese and lettuce on a flat corn tortilla, it's a tostada.

If you have the same components rolled up in a flour tortilla, it's a burrito

If they're in a flour tortilla shell, it's a Taco Salad

If they're in a corn tortilla shell it's a Taco

and on and on and on......

same components......it's just the varying shapes and presentations that make them different.

So it seems for a lot of things in the pastry shop. Like I don't see much difference in a macaroon vs. japonaise other than the japonaise is baked off in sheets or rounds, whereas the macaroon

is piped out to be a cookie.

And then there's the title of this here thread.....Macarres.....a square macaroon....

A similar item made with almond flour and egg whites: Financiers.....if they are brick shaped....

but if they're baked in cylindrical molds or muffin tins, they're called Friands......

yipes. Just hope I can keep it all straight!

[rickster]

Try doing a search on "Ispahan", even here on Egullet, and you'll be more successful

[chefpeon]

Try doing a search on "Ispahan", even here on Egullet, and you'll be more successful

←

Thanks Rickster! For the correct spelling too!

No wonder I couldn't find it at first.

Hmmmmm.

Rose and Lychee. Think I better go to the "Making things you Hate" thread.

Lychees.....yuk!

And believe it or not, I have no idea what "rose" tastes like......

It sounds interesting, for sure....and really pretty.

But I still ain't eatin' it.

[tan319]

Opps, sorry about the misspelling...

Annie, you don't like Lychees?

I had them for the 1st time a couple of months ago, have to say I really liked them.

like a very perfumey grape.

hassle to seed but...

[chefpeon]

Opps, sorry about the misspelling...

Annie, you don't like Lychees?

I had them for the 1st time a couple of months ago, have to say I really liked them.

like a very perfumey grape.

hassle to seed but...

←

My husband LOVES 'em.....when we first dated, he said, "Here you have to try one!"

So I did.....almost spat it out......TOO sweet!

I know that sounds funny coming from a PC and all......!

I want to find a picture of one of those things though.....they sound like they are really

neat looking!

[tan319]

They're very nice looking.

If you didn't have a fresh one, it might have been the syrup (if they were packed in syrup)

I live close to a really great international grocer and they had Lychees by the pound, fresh ones.

Not too expensive either.

[ComeUndone]

This is a little off-topic but I have also just completed 350 macaron wedding favors last weekend. Not trying to be a show-off but here are a couple of pictures for your viewing pleasure:

The macarons are filled with chocolate ganache and each measures 5cm diameter. Slightly larger than what I would normally make but they fit the silver basket perfectly.

I'm still amaze that I finished this on time!

Back on topic of macarre: I will register for the half day macaron class at Lenotre in late October. Perhaps I can ask the instructor?

Edited September 22, 2004 by ComeUndone (log)

[chefpeon]

Love the wedding favors Candy! Beautiful job.....!

But we wanna see what's INSIDE the silver baskets!!

Definitely ask that instructor what the deal is with Macarres!!!!

Then share with us!!

[artisanbaker]

a square tip would work. if someone knows a source i would appreciate a pm or post.

[Wendy DeBord]

Oh how I miss all the little extras in upscale weddings.........thanks for the photos ComeUndone.

[ComeUndone]

The great mystery is solved!

According to chef Francois Schmitt at Lenotre's Ecole de Cuisine & de Patisserie, the pros use a special plastic sheet mold to form the macarre. Each sheet is covered with many shallow (5mm) "squares". See diagram.

When the macarre bakes up, it will puff up and expand to a square.

To pipe a macarree freehand, simply use a no 7 tip and pipe three parallel rows of 3 cm slightly apart. The batter will fill out the groove when baked.

[Drewman]

Gee, it's pretty much exactly as I said I made way way back in the tenth post 2 months ago.