In the spirit of the return of the Great British Bake Off I thought I
would write my first baking blog. If you have ever watched GBBO you will
know of the artistry of the macaron and what an utter pest they are. However,
if you have been to a French patisserie and experienced the beautiful crunchy
and yet satisfyingly chewy shell encasing a luscious filling, you will know
that they are something to be desired. As such over the course of the last
2 years I have tried to perfect how to make macarons. My first few attempts
were incredibly varied with issues such as spreading, ballooning, sticking,
cracking and not rising, some of which I will try and provide troubleshooting
for here. I will admit after my macarons working only 50% of the time, and not
knowing why, I went to a macaron course a few months ago and it very much
helped me to know what the consistency of the mixture should be and how they
should look when they are ready. As such the method given here is based on the
one I learnt at Tennents Training Academy Cook School. I will give forewarning
that macaron making is not an exact science and the smallest difference in an
oven, the humidity of your kitchen or even the type of baking paper you use can
change how they behave.
You will need:
100g ground almonds (the finer the better)
200g icing sugar
125g egg whites
75g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
A few drops of gel food colouring
Your choice of filling
Step 1: Grind down your icing sugar and almonds in the food processor
and sieve (just sieve if you don’t have a food processor).
Step 2: Beat your egg white to the soft peak stage and then add the
caster sugar and beat to achieve stiff peaks (basically you are making a French
meringue at this stage).
Step 3: Add your gel colouring to your meringue.
Step 4: Fold in your almond mix with a spatula and then continue to fold
until the mixture forms ribbons, be careful not to over or under mix.
Step 5: Add the mix to a piping bag (I use disposable ones because it is
highly messy).
Step 6: Holding the piping bag vertically, pipe out your mix to form a
small circle from one central point, allowing the mix to flow, (do not try and
pipe from the outside in or spiral out) and repeat until your tray is filled.
Step 7: Bang your trays off a surface a few times to get rid of big air
bubbles.
Step 8: Leave for 30 minutes to form a skin.
Step 9: Bake for 8-15 minutes at 130 degrees centigrade.
Step 10: Leave to cool completely on the tray (don’t be tempted to pry them off while hot, they will split or crack).
Step 11: Prepare your filling.
Ganache - 50:50 dark chocolate to double cream with golden syrup to
taste (I personally am a chocoholic, particularly for dark chocolate, so I add
very little).
Butter cream - 2:3 Butter to icing sugar with a touch of vanilla
extract or if you’re feeling fancy use vanilla powder or pods (caution though
this can be a little gritty). Play with flavours by adding jam or lemon
curd or melted white chocolate.
Step 12: Gently peel your macarons off the baking sheet. It may be easier to do this by peeling the paper from the bottom using the edge of the tray.
Step 13: Add your filling and enjoy!
Top Tips:
- See
if you can find the thicker vanilla extract that is like syrup as this
tends to be nicer.
- Use
gel food colouring, not liquid food colouring.
- Draw
circles on the back of your baking sheet as a guide until you are
confident enough to pipe completely freehand.
- Do
not use a silicon baking matt – I know it is tempting because they have
dimples to guide piping and stop spreading but the shiny, greasy surface
will prevent the macarons forming a proper foot. Also if the mix is
needing to be prevented from spreading the fact you have overmixed will
still cause other problems.
- You
can make the shells a few days ahead of filling, just be sure to keep them
in a dry cupboard in a sealed container.
Troubleshooting:
- They
fail to form a proper foot – this generally means they have been sitting out
too long before baking, or, have experienced grease exposure, too much
moisture in the air or over mixing.
- Spreading
– this is generally due to over mixing or moisture exposure.
- Cracks
– this is generally due to under mixing.
- Ballooning
– this may be due to the use of silicon mats, grease exposure, lack of
mixing or not banging your tray.
- Sticking
– this may be the result of using the wrong baking sheet, or, may suggest
they need longer cooling and/or cooking.
Good luck!