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Saturday, April 14, 2012

French Macarons

For months now I have been researching and planning to French Macarons. Macarons, so delicious and beautiful, yet extremely delicate. If overbeaten by a few strokes, and it's ruined. Done. You must start over. Yet, this was first attempt on this delicate dessert and I must say it's really not as challenging as it's hyped-up to be. If you plan & follow the recipe (and weather), you should do just fine. I'm not going to lie, when they started to form feet in the oven, I was ecstatic! Grinning ear to ear! After all my research I have found, my two favorite resources of information are Not So Humble Pie & Pastry Pal. You can find the links below. As for now, I'll share you the recipe I used from Pastry Pal. Bon appétit!




The final product!






Ingredients:

  • 1 c (100g) almond flour, or nut flour of choice
  • 1 1/2 c (175g) icing sugar
  • 3 large AGED egg whites (about 3-5days stored in airtight container in fridge, make sure to bring to room temperature before you begin)
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
Recipe:
  1. Prepare 2 strong baking sheets with either Silpats or parchment paper
  2. Prepare your pastry bag with a plain circular tip (ateco #12 works great!)
  3. Sift the icing sugar and almond flour together & any other DRY flavorings or dye. **My almond meal seemed oily, so I put it in the oven at 200F for 30 minutes... before it resembled couscous...literally) If you have about a teaspoon or so remaining in the sieve, discard.
  4. In a separate or aluminum bowl, whisk or beat the whites. (At first I started to whip with a whisk, but then my hand got really sore, so I moved on to the mixer)
  5. Once the whites start to get meringue-like, sprinkle in the 2 tbsp sugar, it helps stabilize the whites.
  6. Continue to whisk! You want a FIRM peak! Without, you will result in a weak, liquid batter. A big no-no!
  7. Once that whites have been whipped to a FIRM peak, incorporate the dry ingredients in thirds slowly. 
  8. With a rubber spatula, start to fold the dry carefully with the whites. The whites will begin to look broken and deflated, but that's okay. Make sure you do a couple 360 turns with the bowl & be reminded that it's okay if they deflate a bit! You want the batter to resemble a magma-like consistency.
  9. Now the fun part! With your prepared pastry bag, fill the macaroon batter carefully and pipe nickel-sized circle a good half inch apart onto your Silpat/parchment paper. Give the pan a good couple of whaps onto your counter to help remove any air bubbles present. 
  10. Allow the macarons to rest for about 30-60 minutes to form a skin. if you touch them lightly, not batter should stick to your finger. This is important!
  11. Bake baby bake! Bake at 280F for about 19 minutes, one pan at a time. You want to bake them for a tad bit longer because when filled and allowed to rest for 24 hours in the fridge, it's through osmosis that creates a macaron at it's best. Once baked, they should be smooth and have developed feet. 
  12. Let rest for a good 30-45 minutes and then flip over to prepare to fill.
  13. Pipe or spread your choice of filling (nutella, lemon curd, frosting, ganache, jellys, preserves, even peanut butter!) and sandwich together!
  14. You can eat them then and there, but macarons are at their best when allowed to mature for a full 24 hours to let the flavors really mingle and develop. 
  15. Enjoy & give yourself a good pat on the back because you deserve it! You have mastered the French Macaron.
In the oven

Preparing to be filled on Silpat

Fresh out of the oven on parchment

My beautiful French Macarons filled with nutella, peanut butter frosting, and berry jams
Not So Humble Pie's Fabulous 'Macaron 101'
http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/04/macarons-101-french-meringue.html 
Pastry Pal's 'Master the French Macaron'


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