I love making macarons. In this blog post I want to share my favourite macaron recipe with you all so you can have a go at home! I find the French method and recipe much easier than the Italian method. The process is relatively simple but the batter is temperamental and each step needs to be precise. It is only through lots of trial and error that I've gotten a feel for when it has been correctly mixed, for when it has reached just the right texture and consistency. Get it wrong and the shell might crack, or the shells might appear hollow or sink once baked or you might not get the signature crinkly bubbly feet on the bases of the macaron shells. They will still taste great but they might not have that perfect appearance that you want.
My top tips for success include:
1. Make sure that your bowls and utensils are scrupulously clean and free from any oily residues or your egg whites won’t whip properly.
2. You’ll also need to start a couple of days before you want to make the macarons as the egg whites are better when they have been aged. To do this, carefully separate your egg whites and yolks. I then put the whites into the fridge to rest and age for two days in an uncovered bowl. This allows some of the water in the whites to evaporate off. The leftover egg yolks I use in custard, to make lemon tart fillings or for a carbonara.
3. If using colourings, buy the concentrated pastes in little tubs. The liquid colourings will alter the texture of your batter too much.
4. When buying the almonds, get almond flour if you can find it, ground almonds are ok but almond flour is more finely ground and gives a better, smoother texture to the baked macaron. Basically, get as finely ground almonds as you can find.
The recipe below makes about 60 shells or 30 filled macarons that you can then fill with your favourite flavours.
Ingredients:
115g icing sugar
75g Ground almonds or almond flour
50g caster sugar
2 large egg whites
½ tsp vanilla/other flavouring of your choice
Colouring paste of your choice (optional)
Equipment:
Stand mixer or hand blender with whisk attachment
Food processor or mini chopper
Large mixing bowl
Plastic spatula
Piping bag with1cm round nozzle
Flat baking trays
Macaron mats or greaseproof paper for lining the baking trays
-Weigh out all your ingredients and keep them to one side. Have your piping bag and nozzle prepared and make sure your baking trays are lined and ready to one side. If you don’t have macaron mats and want evenly sized macarons then trace out 4cm circles on the underside of your greaseproof paper to use as guides when piping. Space the circles at least 2cm apart as the batter will spread after you have piped it.
-Put the icing sugar and ground almonds into your food processor or mini chopper and blend in short pulses until well mixed. Don’t blend for more than 1 minute in total or it will get oily. This blends the icing sugar and almonds together so it's less likely to clump in the batter. It also makes the almonds a bit finer.
-Put the egg whites into your mixing bowl and start beating them on a medium speed until foamy. This will only take about 20-30 seconds. See photo on the left for an idea of the foamy stage.
Foamy egg whites.
-Once you get to this stage start adding the caster sugar gradually a teaspoon at a time. Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved and the meringue is holding very stiff peaks.
Stiff peak meringue stage.
-Once you have achieved stiff peaks, tip the almond and icing sugar mix into the egg whites and fold in gently by hand with a spatula. You can add a couple of drops of colouring and/or your flavourings at this point too. You need to mix the batter gradually and slowly so that you don't knock out all the air. The almonds and icing sugar should be completely incorporated but just a couple too many turns of the spatula can mean your batter is over mixed. This is the tricky part! The batter should be smooth, thick and glossy but not too liquid. If you tip the bowl the batter will move slowly like lava but not pour too quickly. It will drop slowly from the spatula as shown in the photo below.
Macaron batter
-If you want to add swirls of colour to your batter you can do this by painting thin lines of your colouring paste on the inside of your piping bags. Scrape your batter into the piping bag. Pipe the batter onto your baking trays. Keep the nozzle perpendicular to the trays. Half fill each circle, bearing in mind the batter will spread. Once you have piped a full tray, bang the tray firmly on the counter top a few times. I lay tea-towels down on the counter to muffle the noise. The batter will spread and any air bubbles will rise to the surface of the batter. Pop any bubbles that do not pop themselves with a toothpick.
Piped and resting macarons.
-Let the trays rest uncovered for an hour. The resting time will help to form a shell on the batter and in turn help to form lovely little feet on the macarons. Depending on the weather they might dry in less or more time. When you touch one gently, it should not stick to your finger. If they are not quite dry, rest for another 15mins and check again.
-Preheat the oven to 150C. Bake the shells for 16 mins, turning the trays halfway through the baking time. Once the time is up, nudge one gently, it should not move or wobble. The shell and the foot should be set together. If there is still a slight slide to the shells, bake for another minute until they are set. Test again and bake again in minute increments until they are fully set.
-Allow the shells to cool on their trays fully before lifting off the mats/paper. Keep the cooled shells in an airtight box until you are ready to fill them. They will keep for up to a week unfilled.
-I fill mine with either ganache, buttercream, fresh cream or cream cheese and whatever additional seasonal flavours I fancy. With the ganache and buttercream fillings, the macarons taste best when filled and allowed to rest in the fridge for a couple of days before eating. This allows the flavours to develop and the shells to soften slightly. Any more than three days and the shells will become too soft. Fresh cream and cream cheese fillings are best eaten within a couple of hours of filling as they will seep into the shells much more quickly.
Blackberry Macarons
I hope you guys have fun with the recipe! Let me know how it goes!
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