French Macarons

Years (and provinces) ago I found a recipe and tried it. It was an abysmal failure, epic some would say. Years later I moved and found the recipe and tried again....

I made them.
And then made them again.
Then I tinkered and made them a few more times.
By now T is getting more than a little irritated by my obsession to figure this recipe out.
Almond flour is expensive!

Now I think I've figured the recipe out and the process because honestly the process is almost as important as the actual ingredients.


Ingredients:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 2 large egg whites (aged, so crack separate them and leave them in the fridge for a few days or on the counter for a few hours, but in the fridge for a few days works better)
• Just a little cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup super fine (or berry) sugar

Directions:

1. Pulse together icing sugar and almond flour and then sift twice (more if needed or you made your own almond flour). I didn't think it was really necessary once and only sifted once. Do it twice, just follow this recipe to the letter for the best chance at success. Set aside for the time being.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk (or beat) egg whites on medium until foamy.
3. Add cream of tartar to the eggs continue whisking until soft peaks form. You don't need a lot, just a touch.
4. Add in the superfine sugar.
5. Increase speed to high until stiff peaks form.
6. Add colour here. Do not over beat
7. Sift flour mixture over whites and fold in by hand until smooth and shiny. This will take about 50-60 folds. You want the mixture to flow, like magma.
8. Transfer to piping bag (or ziplock bag with a corner cut off)
9. Pipe onto a parchment lined (or silpat works too, I prefer the parchment though) pan. about 1" rounds 1" apart. This might take a few to get the hang of it. Pipe about a quarter size and let it spread a little for about an inch in diametre. 
10. Let stand for 30-45 minutes. You want caps to form. The tops will be dull and have a crust on them. This is a KEY part to the macaron process. 
11. Preheat oven to 375°, drop to 325° when pan goes in. You might need to prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon or something in order to make sure the oven temp drops.
12. Bake for 5 minutes. Open the oven, pull the pan out and rotate. Put the pan back in for another  5 minutes. You do not want the tops to brown. You might have to sit in front of your oven and watch them the entire time they bake and change the length of time you bake your macarons until you get the hang of how your oven works.
13. Remove from the oven and give it a moment to rest. If macaron will not come off the parchment, use a little water on the underside of the paper to release.

** If you live in a humid climate, no matter how closely you follow this recipe, it just might not work. Choose a dry day if at all possible. 

Kinds I've made:
chocolate macarons (sub about 1/4 cups of the icing sugar for cocoa powder) with ganache centres.
mixed coconut flavour and toasted coconut into the ganache for an "Almond Joy" flavour.
Added Baileys to the ganache.

Made Buttercream (the kind with eggs, sugar, cooking and Jedi mind tricks) and added jams to the buttercream (Huckleberry was a fan favourite)

Used homemade lemon curd and dayglo yellow cookies



Just eaten them without filling/icing/centre, I like to think of them as "diet cookies" hahaha...