Psst - you there! Want to learn how to make this little pink and green clouds of yumminess? Step this way for your macaron (you may know them as macaroons) recipe!
You will need:
-Clean hands / apron / hair tied back
-Weighing scales
-Two mixing bowls
-Electric whisk
-Spatula or wooden spoon
-Sieve
-Piping bags - homemade or shop-bought
-Metal tray / grease-proof paper / macaron silicone mat
Ingredients:
MACARONS
-75g ground almonds
-115g icing sugar
-2 eggs (medium / large)
-50g granulated sugar
-Gel food colourings - I recommend the SugarFlair ones. Liquid food colouring just won't work with delicate macaron mixture!
-Flavourings: try vanilla, almond, orange, mint or lemon extract, or cocoa powder.
BUTTER CREAM
-butter / margarine
-icing sugar
-your food colourings / flavourings
Method:
1. Push your ground almond through a sieve into your mixing bowl to get rid of gritty larger chunks. The almonds should end up looking like fine sand in your bowl.
2. Add your icing sugar to the mixture and stir well. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, separate your egg whites and throw away the yolk. You can use several methods for this - I learned a new one recently: crack the egg into your hand and let the whites run through your fingers. You end up losing very little egg white this way!
4. Weigh out granulated sugar and keep
it nearby.
5. Put your egg whites into a clean, dry, grease free bowl and whisk on lowest speed for around thirty seconds. Increase the speed to medium and whisk until soft peaks form - pull the whisk out and the egg whites should come to a peak then flop back into the mixture.
6. Continue whisking on medium adding 2 tablespoons of sugar at a time in 10 second intervals until all the sugar is incorporated. Turn the speed up to high and whisk until glossy. Stiff peaks should form and stay (even when wobbled) when the whisk is lifted out the mixture.
7. Now is the time to add any colouring or flavourings. You should only need half a teaspoon of flavouring and a smidgen of gel colour in order not to overpower the macarons.
8.
Gently fold a third of the almond mixture into the meringue until
just combined, very slowly - you want your spatula to come under and
go over the mixture, not through it! Do the same with the next third
and the last third being careful not to knock all the air out your
lovely macaron mixture, when there are no dry bits left check the
consistency by using the spatula to pick some macaron mixture up and
see how it falls back into the bowl - does it drop in a blob and
still look quite grainy? If so keep gently folding your mixture very
lightly until it just flows off your spatula to leave a ribbon trail
that will settle and almost disappear after 30 seconds. Again DO NOT
OVERMIX!! You don't want a runny mixture!
9.
Spoon your mixture into a piping bag. I made a green almond flavour
mix and a pink raspberry flavour mix.
10.
Carefully pipe the mixture onto your silicone mat. Alternatively,
trace circles onto baking paper to guide you as you pipe the macaron
mix. (See below).
11. Bang your baking tray on your counter top to remove air bubbles and settle the macarons.
12.
Now this is the really important bit leave your macarons out to dry
on the counter top until they form a non sticky surface - this acts
as a barrier when they are in the oven and helps them rise, produce
even feet and prevents them cracking. Drying time can be anywhere
between 30mins and 2hrs but keep checking so they don't completely
dry out as this will make them hollow. A slightly warm
dry atmosphere will make the drying process quicker whereas a cold
damp atmosphere will be a slower drying time.
13.
Preheat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius when your macarons have just
started to dry slightly. When your macarons have a non sticky surface
you can touch without getting anything on your fingers you can put
them in your preheated oven for 5 minutes before turning the
temperature down to 135 degrees, bake for a further 5-7 minutes until
the macaron doesn't wiggle when gently pushed.
14.
Remove from oven and leave to cool on the baking trays then transfer
the baking paper to a cool surface or wire cooling rack to completely
cool - if the macarons are even slightly warm they will stick to the
paper.
15.
Once cool gently and carefully peel back the baking paper from the
macarons and match up like sized macarons in pairs.
BUTTER CREAM
Butter cream is always a bit of guess work. I would start with a tablespoonful of stork or softened butter, and shake about 115g of icing sugar into the same bowl. Cream them both together and add a teaspoon of cold water to help the mixture along if it is too thick. Keep on back and forth adding icing sugar and water until the mixture sticks to the spoon and drops off it with a slight shake of the hand.
I added raspberry coulis to my icing for flavour.
Sandwich together by piping a
round of butter cream or chocolate ganache on one half and gently
apply even pressure with your hands by cupping the macarons and using
a gentle twisting motion. Ta da! Leave your macarons in a cool, dry place for the butter cream to solidify.
Enjoy!
À Bientôt !
x
