Macarons

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!