Author Topic: Fancy French Macarons - Take 2!  (Read 1810 times)

Toffeemama

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Fancy French Macarons - Take 2!
« on: December 18, 2014, 01:42:56 PM »
I've been wanting to make some super-fancy cookies for Christmas goodies, and I've always wanted to try French macarons, so I decided to try my hand at baking them!  I read up on it, and knew they were tricky to pull off, but I figured how hard could it be?  My first try was... okay.  They were definitely too big, and seemed a little grainy, which I guess means I didn't sift/grind the almond flour enough?  And I'm pretty sure that I beat the eggs too much, since it wasn't quite as smooth as I thought it should be once I folded in the almond flour.  It's supposed to fall off the spoon in "ribbons", but it mostly plopped off the spoon instead.  I'm going to do a bit more reading up, try these cookies again, and get back with the results!

decembeir

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Re: Fancy French Macarons - Take 2!
« Reply #1 on: December 18, 2014, 02:52:49 PM »
I love french macarons! I have made them several times, and almost always get them to turn out well. I make my own almond flour by grinding whole almonds with the powdered sugar that the recipe calls for (if I want them to be fancier, and I have the time, I blanche the almonds first to remove the brown skins). The powdered sugar that the recipe calls for aids in the grinding process so that the almonds don't just make a sticky paste that refuses to become a finer texture. I also age my egg whites on the counter top for a few days before using them (just in a small bowl with a paper towel over the top), which seems to release some of their water content- and in general lower humidity seems to help. Here is a link to the recipe I primarily use, although I usually dollop lemon curd in the middle of the cookie and pipe the buttercream around it- http://delectabledeliciousness.blogspot.com/2010/04/meyer-lemon-macarons.html

Also, if you are looking for more troubleshooting advice, I have found this page helpful: http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/08/macaron-troubleshooting-new-recipe.html

I hope you post some pictures of your results!

Toffeemama

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Re: Fancy French Macarons - Take 2!
« Reply #2 on: December 18, 2014, 06:31:55 PM »
I love french macarons! I have made them several times, and almost always get them to turn out well. I make my own almond flour by grinding whole almonds with the powdered sugar that the recipe calls for (if I want them to be fancier, and I have the time, I blanche the almonds first to remove the brown skins). The powdered sugar that the recipe calls for aids in the grinding process so that the almonds don't just make a sticky paste that refuses to become a finer texture. I also age my egg whites on the counter top for a few days before using them (just in a small bowl with a paper towel over the top), which seems to release some of their water content- and in general lower humidity seems to help. Here is a link to the recipe I primarily use, although I usually dollop lemon curd in the middle of the cookie and pipe the buttercream around it- http://delectabledeliciousness.blogspot.com/2010/04/meyer-lemon-macarons.html

Also, if you are looking for more troubleshooting advice, I have found this page helpful: http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/08/macaron-troubleshooting-new-recipe.html

I hope you post some pictures of your results!

Thanks for the recipe; I think I'll try that one next time!  I separated my egg whites for my next batch just before dinner... do you think it would be okay if I used them today?

I finished my second batch this afternoon, here are my notes:  This batch turned out much smoother than last time; one thing I did differently was to give my almond meal an extra long go in the food processor, same deal with the sugar.  I did much better with the sizing, although I still have a long way to go in making it even and smooth.  I got several that were cracked on top; and the ones with the smoothest tops had no "feet".  I also need to get the correct amount of gel food coloring; they were much paler than I'd like.  They tasted really good though!  I made some buttercream filling, so I can try and get some nice macarons finished.

Once I do my second batch, I'll post a picture of the results!

 

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