Macaron

Macaron

Prep Time: 40 min      Cook Time: 15 min     Ready in: 55 min

Serving Size: 40

This is by far the most difficult recipe I have came across. I have failed a total of 8 times but I have finally master the trick to making these macarons! But don't be afraid, I will share what I have learned with you so you do not have to fail!  I usually feel guilty when I pay $1.25/ macaron at neighbouring cafes, so I have decided to make them on my own. Believe me, once you know how to make them they are definitely not worth $1.25 per bite! To all of you out there who crave for some, I am more than happy to charge you half their asking price : )

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 Cup of Confectioner Sugar

1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar

1 Cup of Finely Ground Blanched Almond Ready for Baking (Bulk at Save-On-Foods for $2.99/100grams)

3 Egg Whites

1 Pinch of cream of tartar (sub salt if you do not have cream of tartar)

FLAVORS

Green Tea - 1 Tea Spoon of Green Tea Powder

Strawberry- 4 Drops of Strawberry Extract and 3 Drops of red food colouring

Chocolate - 3 Tbs of Coco Powder

Lemon - 4 Drops of Lemon Extract and 4 Drops of yellow food colouring

FILLINGS

Green Tea Frosting - 3 Tbs. Betty Crocker Vanilla Frosting + 1Tsp of Green Tea Powder

Strawberry Jam

Chocolate Frosting - 3Ttbs. Betty Crocker Vanilla Frosting + 1Tbs of Coco Powder 

Lemon Frosting - 3Ttbs. Betty Crocker Vanilla Frosting + 5 drops of Lemon Extract

You can definitely make your won flavors and fillings of Macarons, the variations are endless!

DIRECTIONS

Beat the 3 egg whites until soft peak, add in cream of tartar and granulated sugar. Beat the egg white mixture until stiff peak and fold in flavorings. In a bowl, mix all other dry ingredients. Fold dry ingredients into the egg whites with a spatula. Make sure that you are folding the ingredients and NOT mixing at this stage. The purpose of folding is to allow a mixture to come together with out deflating all the bubbles that are whipped into the egg whites. The air bubbles are vital to keeping the Macaron  light and airy.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper, some recipe calls for double lining but I found no difference. I have lined 5 baking sheets per batch of Macarons. Fit a pastry bag with a round tip. I have used Wilton round tip #12 and fill with batter. Pipe loonie size disks 1 inch a part.  I found it easier if I had a loonie laid on the kitchen counter so I would know how big of a disk I needed.  I'd also find it really hard to pipe consistent disk size macaron, but I know it comes with practice.

Pre-heat your oven to 275 degrees. Once all the piping is done, let the batter sit on the baking sheets for 30min at room temperature. The batter will spread a little. This is another important step that you do not want to skip. Leaving the batter out at room temperature allow the batter to dry and harden at the surface. This process will allow the shiny Macaron surface turn dull. If you bake the Macaron without letting it sit, your Macarons will crack.

Depending on the oven that you have at home, you may need to tweak the temperatures. My oven tend to have a higher temperature than 275 once it is pre-heated. I found out the hard way because my first batch would always crack but my second batch will turn out great. So my trick to this is to lower my oven to 250 after it has gone up to 275. I have also open the oven door to let it cool down a bit to speed up the process. So when the temperature is lowered, it is safe to put the Macaron into the oven, let it stand for 10 minutes and then turn back up the heat to 300 this time and cook for 5 more minutes. The increase in temperature will help cook the batter. Trust me, you would want your batter to cook well otherwise your macaron will stick to the parchment paper.

If you have a really nice oven at home, then you probably don't have the same issues as I do so you can just bake your Macaron at 275 for 15minutes.

Let macaron cool down for 15 minutes and they are ready to be matched up and filled. The macarons should come off the parchment paper easily. If you have to force it, then it was under cooked. The macaron should not have any cracks. If there are cracks, you may not have let the batter rest at room temperature long enough or your oven temperature was too high at the beginning of the baking cycle.

Because I am not a professional baker, my piping skill were lacking and not all of my macarons turned out to be the same size. I had to match up my macarons that were similar in size and placed a dollop of filling in between.

Even I had failed 8 times, I did not give up on this recipe. Let me know how yours turn out.